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…

Stuart Davis

Davis translated the rhythms of American jazz and urban signage into flat planes of bold primary color. His palette is the American street — red, blue, yellow, black, and commercial white.

Palette: #6A5035 #A9774F #1A438D #712D24 #A42321 #B04B22 #D1B423 #B1851F

  • Waterfront Landscape (1936): #F2EAF3 #657ACA #A82A30 #515091 #3F1E29 #71282E
  • Impression of the New York World's Fair (Mural Study, Communications Building, World's Fair, Flushing (1938): #E3DBCF #5F71AC #A64328 #8D8E2A #D5B320 #B8801F
  • Boats, Gloucester (1917): #D1C0A8 #625440 #483725 #2F2216 #15110B #38392A
  • Multiple Views (1918): #423B37 #A9B1A8 #7E6A54 #5C3B2F #737C7F #858F73
  • Abstraction (1937): #151511 #50371B #EFDEA8 #B35821 #D4A81E #7A4E23
  • Pad -1 (1946): #CDBCA9 #171310 #C7B22D #9DB5B4 #CD6B54 #D29C5F
  • Abstraction (1937): #EEDDA5 #5A3D1D #B3521E #815327 #D6AD20 #B8B6AC
  • Boats, Gloucester (1917): #544532 #DAC8AE #322517 #7A6F5C #16120B #A89A87
  • Lucky Strike (1921): #0F2512 #070202 #D8EDB8 #A40302 #D0630D #589289
  • Garage No 1 (1917): #83896D #4A5542 #AEB291 #3F5365 #2F3323 #151716
  • Steeple Street (1922): #C0BFA8 #5C707F #E9C6AC #9B9271 #323135 #484A48
  • Early American Landscape, By (1925): #3B454D #8C9395 #32302D #9FAC77 #321D1B #502621
  • Egg Beater No. 1, By (1927): #D0C9C7 #C2B59B #393837 #03603B #5A4035 #A47F3C
  • Fine Arts 5c 1964 Issue U.s. Stamp (1964): #EAE8DC #170F16 #142A85 #A61F21 #06156D #344B9E
  • Gloucester Landscape (3052931259) (1919): #C5C0AF #909BA0 #89341A #5C381B #975C10 #6D2313
  • Multiple Views (1918): #453F3C #AEB2A8 #AF9475 #84715C #638760 #291B1D
  • New Mexican Landscape, By (1923): #DB9DA4 #6DB2BE #E0A775 #DBCFB7 #1A4239 #B19A7E
  • Place Pasdeloup, By (1928): #AEB0AE #F3EFE8 #9BCFE7 #089575 #FAEEAC #E7A41C
  • Bar House, Newark (1913): #3E3A2B #24261B #675338 #786B4F #92764B #161C14
  • Landscape (1923): #AAA392 #5C8096 #414F4D #256287 #746047 #777A71
  • Rue des Rats -1, 1928 8 25 17 -Artsmia (26751186548) (1928): #C6C9CA #9D9F9F #6D959B #BF9E91 #313D47 #421229
  • Detail Study for Cliche (1964): #F3F3E9 #1F252E #114292 #C23738 #2259A6 #0E2B6A
  • Waterfront Landscape (1936): #F2EAF3 #6579CA #AA2C34 #4F4E91 #1E1928 #65242B

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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