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…

Jean-Antoine Watteau

Watteau's fêtes galantes shimmer with the most delicate palette in French painting — rose silks, silver-green foliage, and pearlescent skies that seem perpetually on the verge of twilight.

Palette: #544A34 #271F16 #AE9878 #7D7054 #3D3122 #735937 #7C8888 #AF7945

  • Mezzetin (ca. 1718-20): #393120 #373F2B #272219 #564428 #756A48 #555E41
  • The French Comedians (ca. 1720): #63574A #7F7D7C #3D3328 #AB9B8E #231C15 #874F3F
  • The Italian Comedians (ca. 1720): #2F250D #4D3F20 #6B7066 #ABA98B #190E01 #0A0400
  • (Happy Age! Golden Age) (1716-20): #7F8581 #7B603D #463C2A #66604F #0E0A06 #9D8B6E
  • The Love Song: #41342C #66513F #D6BFA7 #A4744F #897963 #3D2419
  • Bivouac: #40220C #553518 #311707 #526641 #907139 #6C3714
  • Gathering in a Park: #0A0707 #231813 #423424 #564B34 #766B4D #DCCFAA
  • Pleasures of Love: #5B4B26 #3C3620 #1E1A12 #807E4F #0B0907 #856C33
  • The Feast of Love: #2C1E12 #170E08 #54321B #4B3B23 #71603B #AC9468
  • The Italian Comedians (prob): #584B39 #3B3022 #BA987A #1E180E #857257 #9F6C39
  • The Love Lesson ((171): #232315 #ACA78C #554F31 #3A3922 #7B826E #7E6E46
  • Les Plaisirs du Balles Plaisirs du Bal: #645C35 #909576 #2D150F #887941 #E1F4E3 #B4C7AD
  • Les Plaisirs du Balles Plaisirs du Bal: #43362E #1A0B0B #665646 #2B1B18 #968168 #0A0202
  • The Scale of Love: #614538 #41342E #864C3B #2E1A18 #462822 #8A6C5A
  • Ceres Alternative Title(s): Summer (1717-18): #79583F #BC9775 #E2E2E2 #0F0906 #87765F #423021
  • The Halt During the Chase (ca. 1718-20): #303120 #4E4D2C #AEA99E #6D6536 #947F3C #1B1F18
  • Fêtes Venitiennes (1718): #322C1E #514831 #776E54 #181812 #9E977B #6C502D
  • Heureux Age! Age d'Or (Happy Age! Golden Age) (c. 1): #7D817E #776850 #3D3428 #15100D #7D5634 #A08E72
  • L'Amante Inquiète: #907E5A #C1AD81 #6C5B3D #483B2F #2D2221 #191315
  • The Country Dance (abou): #342D28 #1E1B1B #524233 #767162 #0F0D11 #734D2E
  • L'Indiscret ((171): #251F16 #827951 #453A24 #5E5C3D #15130E #6F562F
  • Nymphe de Fontaine: #B79F7A #706349 #7C9182 #957E5D #493C2A #2E231A
  • Landscape with an Old Woman Holding a Spindle, After Domenico Campagnola: #E1C5AC #C7A088 #AA806A
  • Mezzetin: #3B301E #353B29 #252017 #5E4B2B #555D40 #837C60
  • The Country Dance (18<s): #5D4322 #3E341F #41290A #2D1C05 #7D6A4C #201404
  • The French Comedians: #6A6B66 #A18F78 #3B3935 #76624A #909CA6 #55422D
  • Nymphe de Fontaine (1718): #719099 #BCA28F #6A5E53 #9A8073 #4E3C34 #7A5D50
  • Fete Champetre: #100D08 #1F1309 #545742 #76745A #321206 #342612
  • Les Plaisirs du Bal (c. 1): #857A56 #525035 #5E4B29 #292821 #C2BDB0 #956F2F
  • La Mariée de Village (1710): #2D1923 #502B2B #9B8558 #A7A9C5 #DDD1C8 #71644B

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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