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…

Paul Klee

Klee treated color as a living language. His palette shifts from the desert pinks and ochres of his Tunisian watercolors to the deep blues and geometric blacks of his Bauhaus period.

Palette: #A0846C #CDA880 #8E6042 #664631 #B1793A #8E3B25 #D07A52 #3D5A86

  • Colorful Architecture (1917): #CFD1CE #938472 #9E6555 #AE9CAD #8C8151 #DFA845
  • In the Current Six Thresholds (1929): #3A3634 #4D3327 #6C3B1A #2C2924 #953925 #706C52
  • Open Book (1930): #AA8771 #775443 #9D704D #84532C #5E311F #3F3336
  • Acrobats (1915): #CCB293 #D1B174 #CC9378 #9CA7A5 #9E876C #BD7768
  • Night Feast (1921): #372017 #2A1918 #1B0F12 #270E0A #55402E #482A0E
  • Red Balloon (1922): #9F956D #84734A #665B3D #757D73 #C3B98D #7C4633
  • Landscape (1905): #BE9E75 #A0755F #354856 #A9ABBC #434143 #202C40
  • Ships Departing (1927): #221E1D #141212 #9E6136 #5C2F1C #7C4529 #13385A
  • Tree Culture (1924): #D5CBBB #A27951 #CA955B #CDA47F #C6744D #634D3B
  • Cat and Bird (1928): #A67C4A #ADA08A #96541F #9B8468 #664E32 #843B10
  • Fire in the Evening (1929): #38383D #2D292B #5A5457 #223C66 #563532 #473543
  • Equals Infinity (1932): #E1B697 #D59C60 #BD8E70 #D3C4AF #A9957E #BB8047
  • Chapel Quaking (1924): #443029 #CC8649 #DCB4A4 #96603E #6B493A #A57A6D
  • A Couple of Gods (1924): #4D3122 #3B382C #565E51 #22322C #7C513B #A28268
  • Friendly Game (1933): #BDC9A9 #82A18D #A5D9E0 #A09E7C #E5B998 #D5CD31
  • Cosmic Composition (1919): #50230E #73250A #49321D #933711 #6A3C19 #804218
  • Fragment of a Mural Painting (1933): #EFEAE4 #E7D3B5 #B19D99 #636D7C #D99795 #A1A9B9
  • Translucencies, Orange-Blue (1915): #6C6042 #996A3A #3E554C #859B8A #E98040 #433B26
  • Young Woman in the Armchair (1912): #E2CEB5 #D6A895 #D38E81 #CDBF85 #A68873 #B97973
  • C. = Fish (1931): #ECDCC7 #C7AD95 #9C7F69 #68594A #4A3E31 #7B563E
  • Will Awaken (1935): #D5C9B6 #B39D94 #997A71 #78635E #86544E #61423C
  • Salon Tunisien (Traffic on the Boulevard Tunis) (1918): #BB9D6C #312D24 #5A3C2B #866947 #A47849 #914E3E
  • Garden Gate K. (1932): #CBBFBE #B8A195 #9B8F8D #91716E #90594A #6F3B26
  • Vegetable-Analytic (1932): #A7918D #C4B9B1 #85827C #E2DFD9 #C1B293 #645C5C
  • Ara. “Cooling in a Garden of the Torrid Zone (1924): #E0C8AB #AD957B #4D3C2F #7A6553 #EBC88B #2C1F18
  • Room Perspective Red-Green (1921): #767B58 #C0A666 #9D925D #465746 #585134 #2A332A
  • The Firmament Above the Temple (1922): #42483D #88845D #B9A578 #5A654C #E6B483 #746542
  • Tower in Orange and Green (1922): #25311D #7A7542 #151E11 #586840 #E18F45 #A88545
  • Mural from the Temple of Longing ↖Thither↗ (1922): #E2CEB8 #DFDCD4 #B0AFA5 #CEA68B #849494 #8F816F
  • Adam and Little Eve (1921): #DEC8AB #A8AA9D #CE895B #7B8E8D #A39276 #996034
  • Episode at Kairouan (1920): #B9955E #C8BB97 #BB942D #A3784A #A0533E #7B5D31
  • Harmonized Region (1938): #B99778 #8E978C #BF8465 #959A63 #678464 #BD9A3D
  • In the Magic Mirror (1934): #CAB1A0 #B18F76 #B74D38 #754738 #996B50 #4B1F1F
  • Asiatic God (1924): #3B4440 #58443E #1E2E29 #8D655B #302C29 #3B241F
  • Schoolhouse (1920): #090906 #6D6D50 #1F2015 #454334 #3F4719 #3A0F06
  • Fleeing Ghost (1929): #CD835C #B75F3A #DFA786 #B1795C #9E4022 #955035
  • Sunset (1930): #B2A17E #9F7D5C #7B7C65 #AACAC1 #AA714D #77808A
  • Animal Terror (1926): #B8A7A1 #A0837E #8E6261 #8B4643 #786A60 #614D41
  • But the Red Roof (1935): #8C6946 #675138 #86482D #343226 #7E5337 #4A3D29
  • Fish Magic (1925): #192216 #3E3B23 #2A3425 #0A130C #655B3F #8F7C67
  • Prestidigitator (Conjuring Trick) (1927): #AD2914 #CBA299 #C3483D #B2826E #C77263 #A9523C
  • Village Carnival (1926): #2D1314 #171011 #471515 #B8191F #5B1416 #701016
  • Camel (in Rhythmic Landscape with Trees) (1920): #998E90 #A58B6D #5A1017 #896653 #764642 #0C1413
  • Heroic Strokes of the Bow (1938): #466196 #151515 #677195 #222C3C #424C74 #274A8F
  • Rotating House (1921): #B49041 #D0B199 #C78B57 #8B713A #C7A273 #C27332
  • Omega 5 (Traps) (1927): #4D2326 #301F24 #8E7163 #6D3A36 #631A24 #C2A195
  • View Onto a Square (1912): #BCCCD6 #7D9ABA #8D949C #DADACD #B7AF9A #D8D1AD
  • Still Life with Dice (1923): #222020 #A49CA5 #3B3633 #68696D #DDB57B #504D4D
  • Arab Song (1932): #B99870 #B6795A #626554 #946A4A #CE683C #36332E
  • Tree Nursery (1929): #8E836E #B2835A #9A6D61 #63594C #885639 #25201D
  • The Way to the Citadel (1929): #6A503D #9E7D63 #7E7A72 #A86C4C #7F563B #575753
  • Resting Ships (1927): #4C626E #3C597A #2D4875 #272A35 #5E3022 #953320
  • Bad Band (Schlechte Musik Kapelle) (1920): #CCA691 #E1C9B0 #B67C68 #DEAF84 #9C5D46 #9C7668
  • Sicilian Landscape (1924): #E3D2C1 #B6B0B3 #C6AF96 #948D92 #ECCD97 #8480A1
  • Two Red Flowers (1932): #C2A89F #EFE0D3 #AF7E6F #B9B6BE #94827D #685853
  • Historic Ground (1939): #EFEAD9 #D4B58A #DBA166 #AA8356 #935E2F #E6D4B3

The Palette

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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