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…

Theo van Doesburg

Van Doesburg pushed Mondrian's Neo-Plasticism into dynamic diagonals. His palette remains the De Stijl canon — red, blue, yellow, black, and white — but tilted into movement.

Palette: #50432D #7E6B45 #CBB27B #AA7E4D #D5AA2B #A8221D #BE6228 #916A24

  • Portrait of Christian Leibbrandt (1908): #634D3B #8D7353 #42362E #7E5932 #2B2724 #1B1A19
  • Female Nude (1904): #E7BD6B #4B443D #CD8E44 #4A391F #91612E #604922
  • Portrait of a Man (1904): #332D30 #574A45 #966C4D #714A3F #4F3434 #1F1A1E
  • Portrait of Agnita Feis (1904): #3C2C32 #B5894F #967554 #271921 #764E42 #583333
  • Self-Portrait with Hat (1910): #6E540E #090804 #B09344 #3A2C05 #9E6E14 #151705
  • Portrait of a Man with Hat (1908): #4F3822 #544435 #362918 #261D0D
  • Dutch Peasent Girl (1913): #556753 #3D473A #2B2F27 #CBA265 #1B1A16 #6B5846
  • Haystacks (1913): #A1BCD4 #7B6740 #3F3F37 #A18C59 #626557 #262420
  • Self-Portrait with Beard (1905): #12190E #060804 #333A2C #595D4D #838475 #1B2610
  • Portrait of Agnita Feis with Closed Eyes (1906): #A9834B #50503F #7E785B #303125 #866135 #1D1A12
  • Portrait of a Boy en Profil (1906): #50473A #3A2F25 #937150 #282420 #655136 #776E5D
  • Man with Moustache and Cap (Self-Portrait?) (1907): #3F3628 #856E41 #5D5544 #644E2E #25221A #A69065
  • Self-Portrait with Hat. (1909): #11371F #0A2212 #74811D #224C33 #AD8F30 #937021
  • Smiling Man (Self-Portrait?) (1907): #3F392F #5F523C #7C673E #9C7845 #211F1B #73522F
  • Self Portrait (1928): #A79377 #837569 #967353 #605754 #4B3E3E #39272D
  • Self-Portrait (1906): #3C3333 #6F5849 #1F1B1E #977351 #59433D #B68751
  • Tree (1906): #453F30 #252521 #786C36 #665E44 #9B8030 #0F0F0E
  • Self-Portrait with Hat. '`Uniq--Ref-00000004-Qinu` (1909): #3A4042 #A5925E #21272C #5F645F #827149 #655D48
  • Contra-Compositie XII (1924): #EDECE1 #261922 #1B0B16 #C93F10 #4162A0 #413F49
  • Pure Painting (1920): #F4ECE6 #E95050 #FBCF1E #436163 #252D8F #E3D1CB
  • Selfportrait with Hat (1906): #A9A488 #43382A #827454 #241D1A #674E31 #58311B
  • Simultaneous Counter-Composition (1930): #021F4F #C80203 #F8C203 #E1DEE0 #061719 #051636
  • Composition III (Still Life) (1916): #67694E #DDC297 #D2C3B3 #888A72 #867048 #B6A075
  • Composition (1923): #6B5D3D #D6D6D7 #121215 #01337C #B1AFB5 #AF4D2D
  • Composition in Half-Tones (1928): #F3EEEB #DAD9F2 #0C151B #011D7D #DDBA12 #887E75
  • Card Players (1916): #0B0612 #E0E5E0 #BAA87B #0C2162 #0C4C43 #B63711
  • Compositie XI (1918): #C4B692 #2C2E4C #8A6C2F #81421C #E1D7B5 #5F2C0B
  • Composition (1917): #B5AD9C #945D2B #1F1B16 #87745B #3A322B #0E0A06
  • Girl with Buttercups (1914): #E3C2B5 #9F9C84 #D79C8F #0C1519 #4B0517 #70051D
  • Composition XXI (1923): #0D0E08 #D7D6D4 #AAAEB4 #8E2D15 #1E205C #6E231E
  • Still Life (Composition V) (1916): #C2BFB5 #1B1C1A #792522 #B8772B #747063 #383A2D
  • Simultaneous Composition (1929): #C9C6C1 #999A99 #CBBF61 #3A4B69 #2B2B2C #474640
  • L'Aubette (1927): #CACDC9 #A7ADB2 #A49E8B #957A39 #DEB11D #0C100B
  • Composition Décentralisée (1924): #BFC2BF #6D6B5E #939690 #383635 #B0A07D #253883
  • Variation on Composition XIII (1918): #D8D5D0 #4A5F8A #BDB581 #BE8680 #0B0C0A #828E9E
  • Two Dogs (1899): #8D8D6F #736D45 #5B4D32 #2F211A #443528 #180E0B
  • Portrait of a Woman with White Collar (1900): #0C100A #21271D #3C4336 #A68757 #5A5F4E #86663E
  • Study for Composition X (1917): #1D211E #7B6643 #8C908A #42392A #52554D #2C4248
  • Still Life (1918): #ACAF9E #080907 #63776E #B6A35B #191E17 #9D996A
  • Rhythm of a Russian Dance (1918): #E8E8ED #D2D3D8 #C59C23 #1C307E #AD304F #0C0C0D
  • Counter-Composition XX (1928): #1F1018 #D5D5D7 #5F1A26 #D09428 #37242E #68524E
  • Sacks (1912): #B8BDA4 #938A5D #525542 #2D3129 #6C613B #82856C
  • Counter-Composition of Dissonances XVI (1925): #CAC6C3 #0C0A0D #A0A29F #AC812E #263579 #97201D
  • Composition in Dissonances (1918): #A8A1AD #639377 #BC7011 #495F94 #D6989B #0D0A0D
  • Composition XXII (1922): #BC851E #1B1B2C #EADEBC #788364 #0B0A06 #A93123
  • Contra-Compositie X (1924): #C69F31 #060508 #921A05 #222E7D #141D57 #732518
  • Composition VII (the Three Graces) (1917): #0F0E15 #CBB268 #E4E0D0 #1E3267 #982D21 #A6986E
  • Composition XX (1920): #215091 #1E1B22 #B64722 #D8CF66 #A5A8BA #E3E4E1
  • Still Life. (1906): #1C2923 #101817 #595D28 #2E3D27 #3F4926 #6E793E
  • Compositie I (1916): #9E95AD #3C5333 #7B7DA8 #D3DADB #0F0C0E #57516A
  • Dune Landscape (1912): #151A0C #839740 #7A9762 #3E5025 #2D3816 #202811
  • Dog (1899): #7E7449 #312A24 #9F9568 #504636 #5B4F2F #16120F
  • Counter-Composition XV (1925): #0A1410 #DFDCD4 #D00124 #F4D003 #053263 #BBB8B1
  • Counter-Composition V (1924): #AE231A #171715 #DBD9D8 #1B206C #D4B65E #B8B2B6
  • Composition VIII (the Cow) (1918): #D9D5D3 #C1A44C #28272B #486759 #37506F #8F4C39
  • Mouvement Héroïque (1916): #576883 #384141 #BA6840 #994534 #2B2E2F #475C57
  • Composition II (1916): #BDC9D4 #2D3E51 #809DBC #587AA0 #3E5879 #681B21
  • Counter-Composition XIII (1925): #0E0C0A #B0290D #E7E2D5 #C1C2C6 #817D7B #D3A608
  • Composition XVII (1919): #3B9095 #94A7B1 #9D7E3C #9B8BA1 #778790 #1A2120
  • Portrait of Een Man Met Baret (1908): #985F37 #6D3B28 #8C3723 #C88C56 #130B07 #D7AB76

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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