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…

William Merritt Chase

Chase brought European virtuosity to American subjects. His park scenes and fish still lifes display a dazzling command of reflected light — iridescent scales, dappled shade, the shimmer of white fabric.

Palette: #A0937A #80623A #393629 #513416 #867856 #40281A #664713 #CEA760

  • At the Seaside (ca. 1892): #B0AAAB #AAB9D1 #769BC8 #D6D0CA #8C7772 #656D8B
  • Lady in Black (1888): #221C18 #7D6133 #573D21 #3E2C1E #F5CD9C #B9955D
  • James Abbott Mcneill Whistler (1885): #664413 #4F3312 #100D0E #3C2612 #291C11 #836038
  • Bessie Potter (ca. 1895): #121415 #867555 #27221A #3B3021 #584933 #C2AE80
  • For the Little One (ca. 1896): #926E45 #9D8B6F #ACA595 #715135 #58442F #7B6E58
  • Carmencita (1890): #4E2D08 #0C0504 #351B07 #210E05 #70460D #AB895C
  • Still Life: Fish (1908): #110F0B #322A20 #9A8060 #493D2D #735F47 #092010
  • Seventeenth Century Lady (ca. 1895): #242019 #84774F #423725 #5E5436 #B3A174 #321F15
  • Alice Gerson in Prospect Park (1886): #54391D #362819 #8C7957 #615017 #211D17 #6E5A35
  • Roland (ca. 1902): #633417 #F4EBBB #9E7F44 #C6B47C #482415 #DAA853
  • Edward Guthrie Kennedy (ca. 1895): #1F1D1D #38322A #95705D #BF9A83 #634B3F #4F332A
  • Portrait of Dora Wheeler (1882-83): #CFAC63 #563722 #282521 #446F6F #9D7E44 #8B8770
  • The Old Road to the Sea (ca. 1893): #B7C3BD #A89D75 #80835B #7FA7B1
  • Portrait of My Daughter Alice (ca. 1895): #473227 #745334 #CAB599 #653327 #AA8B67 #2D2B24
  • Gray Day on the Bay (ca. 1886): #A09A84 #675946 #847A63 #473E2F
  • Marine (ca. 1888): #9E977F #857C65 #675D47
  • For the Little One (1896): #8F6B43 #9E8A6D #B0A999 #6B4E33 #7B725E #5B4D37
  • In the Park (a By-Path) (1889): #878069 #4E6037 #2E422C #6D7453 #4A5F47 #172D1E
  • Thomas e. Kirby (ca. 1900): #1A1817 #30291B #27211A #9D8465 #4F412C

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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