The Colorist
Archive

A living archive of how artists work with color across time. Each artist profile scans publicly available works to trace dominant colors, a chromatic fingerprint, and the arc of a palette across a lifetime.A living archive of how artists work with color across time, tracing palettes, fingerprints, and lifetime arcs from public works.

Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.

Scanning works…

Jacques-Louis David

David weaponized classical color for revolution. His palette of Roman red, marble white, and patriotic blue made painting a political act.

Palette: #C6B397 #805434 #B08C65 #563A24 #867A67 #9D7245 #DEC191 #732D16

  • Portrait of an Elderly Lady (ca. 1820): #110E09 #715F3A #282118 #4A391C #5F5A58 #45413D
  • Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) and Marie Anne Lavoisier (Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze, 1758-1836) (1788): #35322D #585246 #3B2212 #691D15 #17100C #231F18
  • Bridge and Castle (date not known): #B09E83 #88755C #5C4B38 #33261A #1E140B
  • Caernarvon Castle (date not known): #C7B79E #675746 #95856F #463829 #30251A
  • Landscape (date not known): #80593A #B5926E #E3CFB1 #5D3820 #452612 #200F07
  • Landscape with Flock of Sheep (date not known): #A27B58 #6D4629 #D1B38F #502E16 #EBD9C0 #391D0D
  • Open Landscape (date not known): #99714C #D6B793 #6E4729 #BE9A73 #432412 #58331C
  • A Bridge (date not known): #9C7B5B #735136 #583822 #C1A485 #402515 #E2D2BA
  • Landscape with Windmill and Man Ploughing (date not known): #D5BA9A #F0E2CB #735134 #A58361 #462917
  • Landscape with Windmill (date not known): #E1CEB2 #835F41 #B49472 #5D3C25 #442715 #2B1408
  • Harlech Castle, Wales (?) (date not known): #E2D2AE #BB9669 #5F442A #826240 #D9B988
  • A Harbour (date not known): #DCCDB4 #6D5038 #96795C #B99F81 #49301D #351F0F
  • Beckenham Church, Kent (c.1842): #4C412E #6F5C39 #362E28
  • Moorland Road (1851): #6C5A5C #BCD1F0 #968174 #50444D #B6A493 #9FADCD
  • A Windy Day (1850): #B3C2D2 #9F7842 #8BA7C2 #BAA285 #562F18 #897A6D
  • The Road Across the Common (1853): #9D8C6D #4B3929 #765D42 #C5B088 #6D6B5A
  • River Scene with Boys Fishing (date not known): #C6C6BA #E4E0C9 #6B6047 #A09FA0 #907C50 #443B30
  • Calais: Street Scene with Lighthouse (ca. 1829-32): #C6BDA8 #9B8465 #655541 #9F9A88 #2D2319
  • Westminster from Battersea (date not known): #EFE2C7 #836143 #DBC3A0 #B1906D #563925 #362114
  • Caernarvon Castle with Boats (date not known): #DBC29F #B89268 #956D46 #754F30 #5D3920 #46250E
  • Buildings on the Banks of the Thames (date not known): #E8D7B7 #704F33 #947350 #B1926C #CDB38E #503520
  • Still Life (date not known): #C4B293 #A28F71 #27201E #594B40 #81705C #7A3F2C
  • Windmill (date not known): #DEC8A4 #795D42 #543A27 #342418 #A3815D #875133
  • Houses at Dulwich (date not known): #7F6852 #513E32 #CAB292 #281E19 #AC9477 #352418
  • A Welsh Funeral, Betwys-Y-Coed (c.1847-50): #CDC4C9 #8D7658 #69573F #343332 #51463A #9F9AA0
  • Boy Opening Gate for Sheep (date not known): #E5E3D6 #9B8666 #D4B994 #6C573A #CBBFAC #483821
  • Waiting for the Ferry Boat (ca. 1835): #DECDA6 #7D6542 #CBC5B5 #BDA274 #483721 #A5885D
  • A Mountain Landscape (date not known): #937968 #BEA58F #685241 #ACA6AE #48362A #7D6C6C
  • A River Scene (date not known): #C7B899 #1C130E #8E7A62 #3D261C #5C4333 #B69067
  • A Country Scene (date not known): #908F79 #403C22 #666143 #BEB9A2 #262211 #141109
  • Tour d’Horloge, Rouen (1829): #877968 #C0B19C #5D5344 #AE9472 #C0C6BF #41372C
  • Rhyl Sands (c.1854): #C1C3C1 #A68560 #9BA5B7 #C4AA8C #8C6F51 #8296B6
  • Bathers; Westminster Bridge in the Distance (date not known): #DBC8A7 #B8A080 #9A8061 #6D5339 #482F1C
  • A Church, ?at Wrexham (date not known): #C5AA8D #A07F5C #78593E #5E422D
  • Cottages by a River (date not known): #7F6A52 #B39A7B #3F3329 #594532
  • A Train on a Viaduct (date not known): #D5C0A4 #B18D6F #A99C8D #89634A
  • The Rookery, Sutton Coldfield (date not known): #CCA171 #67412A #99633C #7E4828 #C78B51 #4B2D1C
  • Napoleon am Großen St. Bernhard (1801): #726859 #2A221A #B6A992 #9D774B #422916 #BC3D1A
  • Musée des Beaux-Arts de Narbonne: #322315 #3F1E0C #23150C #CEC3B9 #DBA27B #B6815C
  • Napoleon Crossing the Alps Detail (1800): #E2AB5B #33302D #544130 #BCB6A1 #9E744B #F0DFC5
  • The Death of Socrates (1787): #2C251C #1A150F #532714 #53422D #351E11 #6E593A
  • Portrait of French Politician and Soldier Étienne Maurice Gérard (1816): #131516 #9C4831 #5B421F #748271 #733322 #2D3325
  • Detail Portrait of Count Stanislas Potocki (1781): #261D17 #3E2A1A #161210 #5A4028 #7C6545
  • Jacques-Louis David: #1C1A16 #191E24 #111213 #886C4C #A98E71 #433829
  • The Oath of the Horatii (1784): #06040D #3A2E27 #51493B #A78159 #C7A576 #511617
  • Apelles Painting Campaspe in the Presence of Alexander the Great (Unkn): #202719 #4C5849 #5D431D #AC9677 #131810 #333C2A
  • Apelles Painting Campaspe in the Presence of Alexander the Great: #5C5236 #212C1D #BFA473 #42513E #553518 #8E5D30
  • Portret Konny Stanisława Kostki Potockiego (1781): #42382B #291E17 #422E1A #563F22 #775D39 #655F57
  • Copy of the Oath of the Horatii (1786): #6F5B4D #321F23 #1B0A15 #D29466 #B37543 #985427
  • Portrait of Jean-Pierre Delahaye (1815): #100B05 #1F1304 #7B5A33 #BF8A56 #4C3315 #A39067
  • Suzanne le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau (1804): #54402E #23191C #39261E #100405 #D1AF97 #E4D3D0
  • The Anger of Achilles (1819): #B24228 #78482B #827768 #A96F4A #4C1E0E #D7966E
  • The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis (1818): #1A1811 #AB9178 #793A35 #84654C #5F4125 #102632
  • The Sisters Zénaïde and Charlotte Bonaparte (1821): #3E301D #201911 #535450 #744E2C #33090A #BB997B
  • Portrait Of (1824): #F1E566 #372401 #423401 #976004 #CA8807 #CDB23B
  • Bélisaire Reconnu par Un Soldat: #99723C #563F20 #6A3E0B #7E6D50 #484134 #B1A68A
  • Portrait d'Un Jeune Homme: #3B3621 #171719 #27272A #232018 #5C4B33 #D3D4CA
  • Painting of Napoleon Bonaparte (1813): #201F27 #53403B #CAAFA8 #F6E4D7 #A26B3F #9D816F

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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