All that I have done as a poet does not fill me with special pride. Excellent poets lived at the same time as me, even better ones lived before me and, of course, will live after me. But that in my age I am the only one who knows the truth about the difficult science of colors - I cannot but attach importance to this, it gives me a sense of superiority over many.

J.V. Goethe.

Goethe did not agree with Newton's color theory and believed that he had to fight against his "delusions". He was looking for the principle of color harmonization not in physical laws, but in the patterns of color vision. In many ways he was right; No wonder he is considered the founder of physiological optics and the science of the psychological effects of color.

Newton proved that White color consists of seven colors of the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. To do this, he conducted a simple experiment. He made a hole in the screen, through which a ray of light penetrated, and passed it through a prism. The light was divided into seven colors.

Goethe decided to repeat Newton's experiment. But I saw something completely different. When the scientist looked through the prism at the illuminated area of ​​the table, the table did not become multi-colored. It remained white, and only the colors of the rainbow were visible around the edges. It turned out that colors appear only on the border or along the edges of something.

Goethe worked on his "Teaching about Color" for 20 years (from 1790 to 1810). The main value of this work lies in the formulation of subtle psychological states associated with the perception of contrasting color combinations. Goethe singled out 2 types of color effects on a person:

- physiological (on the human body),

- psychological (on his spiritual world).

According to R. Steiner, I.V. Goethe was the first to propose a clear system describing the effect of various color impressions on the human psyche.

The scientist's concept was met with hostility by his contemporaries. Goethe was accused of dilettantism and advised to do his own thing. Goethe complains about the cold attitude of his contemporaries to his theory in one of his letters to Schiller.

Goethe describes in his book the phenomena of color induction - luminance, chromatic, simultaneous and successive - and proves that the colors that appear in successive or simultaneous contrast are not accidental. All these colors seem to be embedded in our organ of vision.

The contrasting color arises as the opposite of the inducing one, i.e. to the imposed eye, just as inhalation alternates with exhalation, and any contraction entails expansion. This manifests the universal law of the integrity of psychological being, the unity of opposites and unity in diversity.

Each pair of contrasting colors already contains the entire color wheel, since their sum - white - can be decomposed into all conceivable colors and, as it were, contains them in potency. From this follows the most important law of the activity of the organ of vision - the law of the necessary change of impressions. “When the eye is offered the dark, it demands the light; he demands the dark when he is presented with the light, and he manifests his vitality, his right to grasp the object by giving birth to something opposite to the object.

Goethe's experiments with colored shadows showed that diametrically opposite (complementary) colors are precisely those that mutually evoke each other in the mind of the viewer. Yellow calls for blue-violet, orange calls for cyan, and magenta calls for green, and vice versa.

Goethe also built a color wheel, but the sequence of colors in it is not a closed spectrum, like Newton's, but a round dance of three pairs of colors. And these pairs are additional, i.e. half-spawned human eye and only half independent of man.

The most harmonious colors are those that are located opposite, at the ends of the diameters of the color wheel, it is they who evoke each other and together form integrity and completeness, similar to the fullness of the color wheel. Harmony, according to Goethe, is not an objective reality, but a product of human consciousness.

Goethe believed that color has an effect on the state of mind of a person. Therefore, he assigned to certain colors certain psychological states of a person.

Goethe divides colors into:
- positive (yellow, orange,), they create a lively and cheerful mood;
- negative (blue, red-blue), they create a restless and dreary mood.

Green Goethe attributed to the "neutral" colors.

Psychological characteristics of colors according to Goethe.

Yellow

It is the color closest to the light. He is always distinguished by clarity, cheerfulness and soft charm. Yellow produces exceptionally warm and pleasant impression. Therefore, in painting, it corresponds to the illuminated and active side of the picture.

However, when it is contaminated, if yellow shifts towards cold tones (the color of sulfur), it acquires a negative sound and negative symbolic meaning.

Red-yellow (orange)

Yellow, thickening and darkening, may intensify to a reddish hue. The energy of the color is growing, and it seems to be more powerful and beautiful in this shade. Red-yellow gives the eye a feeling of warmth and bliss. Therefore, he is pleasant in surroundings and joyful in clothes.

yellow red

The active side reaches its highest energy here, and it is not surprising that energetic, healthy, stern people are especially happy with this color. This color evokes a feeling of shock.

Blue

Blue always carries something dark with it. This color has a strange and almost inexpressible effect on the eye. It combines some kind of contradiction of excitement and rest.

The blue surface seems to be moving away from us. We willingly look at the blue, because it draws us along.

Blue makes us feel cold, just as it reminds us of a shadow.
Cleanly furnished rooms Blue colour, seem to a certain extent spacious, but, in essence, empty and cold.

Red-blue (lilac)

Blue, thanks to red, acquires something active, although it is on the passive side. But the nature of the excitement it causes is completely different from that of red-yellow - it does not so much enliven as it causes anxiety.

With this color, you want to find a place where you could relax.

blue red

The impression of anxiety grows. long time it is very difficult to keep this color.

Red

This color gives the impression of seriousness and dignity, as well as benevolence and charm. It produces the first in its dark condensed form, the second in its light diluted form. Dark red symbolizes old age, and light red - youth.

Speaking of purple, Goethe points out that this color is the favorite color of rulers and expresses seriousness and grandeur.

Green

If yellow and blue are mixed in equal proportions, then green is obtained. Our eye finds real satisfaction in green, the eye and soul rest. Therefore, for rooms in which you are constantly located, green wallpapers are usually chosen.

Thus, the significance of the "Teachings about Color" for the psychology of color is very great. Color in Goethe is no longer a symbol of the divine, mystical powers. He gave the perceived color the status of a symbol of the person himself, his feelings and thoughts. And this symbol is not poetic, but psychological, having a certain, specific content.

Irina Bazan

Literature:
J.V. Goethe "On Color".
B.A. Bazyma "Color and Psyche"

The doctrine of color J.V. Goethe

It is known that Goethe himself valued his color work above his own. poetic creativity. great poet He did not agree with Newton's theory of light and color and, in contrast, created his own. Goethe's interest in color has been noted since childhood. As W. Voigt and W. Zukker (1983) note, Goethe's sensuously visual method was the reason why Goethe's concept was met with hostility by his contemporaries. Goethe was accused of dilettantism and advised to do his own thing. Goethe complains about the cold attitude of his contemporaries to his theory in one of his letters to Schiller. We are primarily interested in that part of Goethe's teaching, which he calls the ʼʼSensual-moral action of flowersʼʼ.

Goethe believed that color ʼʼregardless of the structure and form of the material (to which it belongs - author's note) has a certain effect ... on the mood of the soulʼʼ (#758). Thus, the impression caused by color is determined, first of all, by itself, and not by its subject associations. ʼʼIndividual colorful impressions... must act specifically and... cause specific statesʼʼ (#761). And further, in #762: ʼʼcertain colors cause special states of mindʼʼ. According to these provisions, Goethe associates certain colors with certain psychological states of a person. Goethe illustrates a similar property of color by describing those changes in ʼʼ state of mindʼʼ, which occur with a sufficiently long exposure to color on a person, for example, through colored glasses.

Based on these basic provisions of the psychological section of his teaching, Goethe divides colors into ʼʼpositiveʼʼ - yellow, red-yellow (orange) and yellow-red (red lead, cinnabar) and ʼʼnegativeʼʼ - blue, red-blue and blue-red. The colors of the first group create a cheerful, lively, active mood, and the second - restless, soft and dreary. Green Goethe attributed to ʼʼneutralʼʼ. Let's take a closer look at psychological characteristics flowers given by Goethe.

Yellow. If you look through the yellow glass, then ʼʼ the eye will be delighted, the heart will expand, it will become cheerful in the soul, it seems that... it blows with warmthʼʼ (#769). Pure yellow is pleasant. At the same time, when it is contaminated, shifted towards cold tones (the color of sulfur) or applied to an ʼʼignorantʼʼ surface, yellow acquires a negative sound and a negative symbolic meaning. According to Goethe, such yellow symbolizes debtors, cuckolds and belonging to the Jewish nation.

Orange. What is said (positively) about yellow is also true for orange, but in a more high degree. Orange ʼʼmore energeticʼʼ pure yellow. Perhaps in this regard, this color, according to Goethe, is more preferred by the French than by the British and Germans.

Yellow-red. The pleasant and cheerful feeling evoked by orange rises to unbearably powerful in bright yellow-red (#774). The active side in this color reaches its highest energy. As a result of this, according to Goethe, energetic, healthy, severe people especially "rejoice" (prefer) this paint. This color attracts savages and children. Causes a sense of shock.

Blue. ʼʼAs a color it is energy: however it stands on negative side and in its greatest purity is like an exciting nothingʼʼ (#779). Goethe subtly feels the "mysticism" of blue and writes about it as creating a strange, inexpressible effect. Blue, as it were, entails, ʼʼleavesʼʼ from a person. Blue as the idea of ​​dark is associated with the feeling of cold. Rooms with a predominance of blue seem spacious, but empty and cold. If you look at the world through a blue glass, then it appears in a sad form.

Red-blue (lilac). This color evokes a feeling of anxiety. The color is lively, but bleak.

Blue-red. The impression of anxiety is greatly increased. Goethe believed that to withstand a given color for a long time very difficult if it is not diluted.

Pure red Goethe considers as a harmonious combination of the poles of yellow and blue, and in connection with this, the eye finds in this color ʼʼideal satisfactionʼʼ (#794). Red (carmine) gives the impression of seriousness, dignity or charm and benevolence. Darker symbolizes old age, and lighter symbolizes youth.

Speaking of purple, Goethe indicates that it is the favorite color of rulers and expresses seriousness and grandeur. But if you look at the surrounding landscape through the purple glass, then it appears in a terrifying form, as on the day ʼʼ doomsdayʼʼ (#798).

Green. If yellow and blue are in an equilibrium mixture, green appears. The eye, according to Goethe, finds real satisfaction in it, the soul "rests". I don't want to and can't go any further (#802).

The impact of individual colors, causing certain impressions and states in a person, thus, in Goethe's terminology, ʼʼlimitsʼʼ the soul, which strives for wholeness. Here Goethe draws a parallel between color harmony and the harmony of the psyche. As soon as the eye sees any color, it comes into an active state. It is in its nature to produce another color which, together with the given one, contains the whole of the color wheel (#805). So the human soul strives for wholeness and universality. These provisions of Goethe, in many respects anticipate the results of experimental studies by S.V. Kravkova links between color perception and vegetative activity nervous system(VNS) of a person. Goethe identifies the following harmonious color combinations: yellow - red-blue; blue - red-yellow; purple - green.

Based on Goethe's teachings on color harmony and wholeness, we can conclude that the psychological effect of, say, yellow requires the effect of red-blue (violet) to balance it. There are complementary relationships between the harmonic color pair. These six colors make up Goethe's ʼʼcolor circleʼʼ, where harmonious combinations are located opposite each other diagonally.

In addition to harmonious color combinations (leading to integrity), Goethe distinguishes ʼʼcharacteristicʼʼ and ʼʼuncharacteristicʼʼ. These color combinations also cause certain spiritual impressions, but unlike harmonious ones, they do not lead to a state of psychological balance.

ʼʼCharacteristicʼʼ Goethe calls such color combinations that make up the colors divided into color wheel with one paint.

Yellow and blue. According to Goethe - a meager, pale combination, which lacks (for integrity) red. The impression, ĸᴏᴛᴏᴩᴏᴇ it creates, Goethe calls ʼʼordinaryʼʼ (#819).

The combination of yellow and purple is also one-sided, but cheerful and gorgeous (#820).

Yellow-red in combination with blue-red causes excitement, the impression of bright (#822).

Mixing the colors of a characteristic pair generates a color that is (on the color wheel) between them.

ʼʼUncharacteristicʼʼ Goethe calls combinations of two adjacent colors of his circle. Their proximity leads to an unfavorable impression. So yellow with green Goethe calls ʼʼfun cheerfulʼʼ, and blue with green - ʼʼfoul-nastyʼʼ (#829).

Goethe assigns an important role in the formation of the psychological impact of color on a person to the lightness characteristics of colors. The ʼʼactiveʼʼ side (positive colors) when combined with black wins in terms of impression strength, and the ʼʼpassiveʼʼ (negative colors) loses. And, on the contrary, when combined with white, the passive side wins more, becoming more ʼʼʼʼʼ and ʼʼcheerfulʼʼ (#831).

Touches on Goethe and intercultural differences in color symbolism and the psychological impact of color. He considers love for the bright and colorful to be characteristic of savages, ʼʼunculturedʼʼ peoples and children. At educated people, on the contrary, there is not ĸᴏᴛᴏᴩᴏᴇ ʼʼdisgustʼʼ for colors, especially bright ones. Goethe associates the color of clothing both with the character of the nation as a whole and with the individual. Lively, lively nations, Goethe believes, prefer the intensified colors of the active side. Moderates are straw and red-yellow, with which they wear dark blue. Nations seeking to show their dignity - red with a bias towards the passive side. Young women prefer light shades - pink and blue. Old men - purple and dark green (#838-848).

The value of ʼʼTeachings about Colorʼʼ for the psychology of color is very great. What was blamed on Goethe - artistic method, subjectivism, allowed the great German poet to consider the subtle relationships between color and the human psyche. The metaphor of the ʼʼluminiferous soul of manʼʼ received convincing confirmation in Goethe's work. Goethe's color is no longer a symbol of divine, mystical powers. It is a symbol of the person himself, his feelings and thoughts, and, moreover, the symbol is not poetic, but psychological, having a certain, specific content.

The doctrine of color J.V. Goethe - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Teaching about color by J.W. Goethe" 2017, 2018.

Colors also have a symbolic meaning. Historically, colors have been used as a link between an object and nature, between nature and man, between man and the universe. That's why in determining the meaning and meaning of color historical, religious conditions have always been taken into account.

(For example, in China and India - white color (i.e. nothing - the absence of color) is a symbol of mourning).

Research has established the following psychological and symbolic characteristics of colors:

Red color - active, exciting, loud, burning. A symbol of anxiety, struggle, vitality of action, power, might.

Orange color – warming, activating, ardent and brilliant. A symbol of energy, prosperity, joy, prosperity and wealth.

Yellow - shining, the color of the sun. Symbol of the sun, fun, Have a good mood, youth, youth, lightness, envy, jealousy.

Green color - soothing, refreshing, modest, calm, the color of nature. Symbol of hope, security, abundance, nature.

Blue - cool, remote, damp. A symbol of water, air, peacefulness, fragility, softness, innocence, tenderness.

Blue colour - cold, serious, fresh, receding. A symbol of calmness, greatness, fidelity, sadness.

Purple - gloomy, gloomy. A symbol of old age, fidelity, conscience, sadness, longing.

White color - light, fresh. A symbol of purity, chastity, innocence, a sign of the otherworldly.

Black color - a symbol of mourning, death, severity, efficiency, seriousness, reliability, humility.

Grey colour - a symbol of dignity, importance, nobility, neutrality.

Color harmony.

The word harmony itself is of Greek origin, meaning connection, proportion, consonance. AT general sense harmony expresses the consistency of the parts of a single whole.

Color harmony is understood as the emotional appeal, compatibility and consistency of colors that create a sense of color unity.

When people talk about color harmony, they are evaluating the impression of two or more colors interacting. Painting and observations on subjective color preferences various people talk about ambiguous ideas about harmony and disharmony.

Throughout history, attempts have been made to create a theory of color harmony, but it turned out that it was impossible to create it. Such attempts were made many times, but were not confirmed by life, because. they tried to establish the norms of harmonic combinations without taking into account specific conditions.

Examples are the theories of Goethe and Ostwald.

Goethe theory

Goethe was the first to notice psychological color aspects. It is known that Goethe himself valued his work in color above his own poetic creativity.

Goethe acted very simply. He took colored glasses (red, yellow, green, blue) and looked through them at the world. Then he analyzed the feeling and mood he received, and in addition to this he drew conclusions from observations of the life around him. Goethe associates certain colors with certain psychological states of a person. Goethe illustrates this property of color by describing those changes in the “state of mind” that occur with a sufficiently long exposure to color on a person.

Goethe divides the colors into "positive" - ​​yellow, red-yellow (orange) and yellow-red (red lead, cinnabar) and "negative" - ​​blue, red-blue and blue-red. The colors of the first group create a cheerful, lively, active mood, and the second - restless, soft and dreary. Green Goethe referred to the "neutral".

Goethe identifies the following harmonious color combinations: yellow - red-blue (purple); blue - red-yellow (orange); purple - green. Based on Goethe's teachings on color harmony and wholeness, we can conclude that the psychological effect of, say, yellow, requires the effect of red-blue (violet) to balance it. Between a harmonic color pair has a relationship complementarity . These six colors make up Goethe's "color wheel", where harmonious combinations are located opposite each other.

In addition to harmonious color combinations (leading to wholeness), Goethe highlights "characteristic" and "uncharacteristic" . These color combinations also evoke certain spiritual impressions, but unlike harmonious ones, they do not lead to a state of psychological equilibrium .

"Characteristic » Goethe calls such color combinations that make up colors separated in the color wheel by one paint .

yellow and blue . According to Goethe - poor, pale combination , which lacks (for integrity) red. The impression it creates is what Goethe calls "ordinary".

Combination yellow and purple also one sided but fun and gorgeous

Orange combined with purple causes excitement, the impression of a bright .

Mixing the colors of a characteristic pair generates a color that is (on the color wheel) between them.

"Uncharacteristic" Goethe calls combinations of two adjacent colors of their circle. Their proximity leads to an unfavorable impression. So yellow with green Goethe calls "gone merry" , and blue with green - "vulgarly nasty"

Goethe assigns an important role in the formation of the psychological impact of color on a person to the lightness characteristics of colors. The "active" side (positive colors) when combined with black wins in terms of impression strength, and the "passive" side (negative colors) loses. And, on the contrary, when combined with white, the passive side wins more, becoming more “cheerful” and “cheerful”.

Ostwald theory considered to be a normative theory. He led the concept full color combinations(these colors are optimal in saturation and lightness). Ostwald arranged the colors in 24-step circles, in which he placed complementary colors diametrically. He believed that the colors should be located at the same distance from each other (or equally spaced). Therefore, the selection of color combinations was carried out using a circle, setting aside equal distances. This color harmony is based on the principle of geometric segments. Harmonious combinations give two colors lying opposite each other. or three colors located at an angle of 60 0 .

Ostwald's theory has advantages and disadvantages. He reduced the theory of harmony to geometry - this is not correct in principle. But at the same time, full-color saturated colors harmoniously combine with white and black, and non-full colors with gray colors.

Harmony also depends on the area of ​​the spot. Colors that are similar in lightness and colors that are similar in saturation are well combined.

» Goethe's doctrine of color

© I.V. Goethe

To the doctrine of color. Chromatics.
Essay on the doctrine of color (excerpts)

Sensually-moral action of flowers

758 Since color occupies such a high place among the primordial phenomena of nature, undoubtedly fulfilling the simple circle of actions assigned to it with great variety, we will not be surprised if we learn that in its most general elementary manifestations, regardless of the structure and form of the material, on the surface of which we perceive it, has a certain effect on the sense of sight, to which it is predominantly confined, and through it on the mood of the soul. This action, taken separately, is specific, in combination it is partly harmonious, partly characteristic, often also inharmonious, but always definite and significant, adjoining directly to the realm of the moral. Therefore, taken as an element of art, color can be used to promote higher aesthetic goals.

759 Colors in general cause great joy in people. The eye needs them just as it needs light. Remember how we come to life when, on a cloudy day, the sun suddenly illuminates part of the area and the colors become brighter. From a deep feeling of this inexpressible pleasure, the idea was probably born that colored precious stones have healing power which was attributed to them.

760 The colors that we see on objects are not something completely alien to the eye, by means of them it is for the first time, as it were, determined to this sensation; no. This organ is always disposed to produce these colors by itself, and enjoys a pleasant sensation when something in accordance with its nature comes to it from without, when its purpose is expressed in a significant way in a certain direction.

761 From the idea of ​​the opposite of a phenomenon, from the knowledge that we have acquired about its special conditions, we can conclude that individual colorful impressions cannot be confused, that they must act specifically and in a living organ cause unconditionally specific states.

762 And it's the same in my heart. Experience teaches us that individual colors evoke special spiritual moods. They say about a witty Frenchman: // pretendoit, que son ton de conversation avec Madame etoit change depuis qu "elle avoit change en cramoisi le meuble de son cabinet qui etoit bleu ( He believed that the tone of his conversation with Madame had changed since the furniture in her office was a different color: crimson instead of blue.).

763 In order to fully experience these individual significant effects, one must completely occupy the eye with one color, for example, to be in a one-color room, to look through colored glass. Then you identify yourself with the color, it adjusts the eye and spirit in unison with itself.

764 Colors positive side the essence is yellow, red-yellow (orange), yellow-red (red lead, cinnabar). They evoke a cheerful, lively, active mood.

Yellow

765 It is the color closest to the light. It occurs by the slightest attenuation of light, whether by a cloudy medium or a slight reflection from a white surface. In prismatic experiments, it alone extends far into light space and can be observed there, when both poles are still apart from each other and yellow has not yet mixed with blue into green, in the most perfect purity ...

766 In its highest purity, yellow always has a light nature and is distinguished by clarity, cheerfulness and soft charm.

767 At this stage, it is pleasing as an environment, whether in the form of clothes, curtains, wallpaper. Gold in perfect pure form gives us, especially if brilliance is added, a new and lofty idea of ​​this color; likewise, a bright yellow tint, which appears on shiny silk, for example, on satin, makes a magnificent and noble impression.

768 Experience shows that yellow makes an exceptionally warm and pleasant impression. Therefore, in painting, it corresponds to the illuminated and active side of the picture.

769 This warm impression can be felt most vividly when looking at some place through yellow glass, especially on gray winter days. The eye will rejoice, the heart will expand, the soul will become more cheerful; it seems that warmth is blowing directly on us.

770 If this color in its purity and clarity is pleasant and joyful, in its full strength it has something cheerful and noble, then, on the other hand, it is very sensitive and gives an unpleasant impression if it is dirty or to a certain extent shifted towards cold tones. . So, the color of sulfur, giving off green, has something unpleasant.

771 Such an unpleasant impression is obtained if yellow paint is imparted to impure and ignoble surfaces, like ordinary cloth, felt, and the like, where this color cannot manifest itself with full force. A slight and imperceptible shift turns the beautiful impression of fire and gold into a disgusting one, and the color of honor and nobility turns into the color of shame, disgust and displeasure. This is how the yellow hats of bankrupt debtors, the yellow rings on the cloaks of the Jews, could have arisen; and even the so-called color of cuckolds is, in fact, only a dirty yellow.

red yellow

772 Since no color can be considered unchanged, yellow, thickening and darkening, can intensify to a reddish hue. The energy of the color is growing, and it seems to be more powerful and beautiful in this shade.

773 Everything we said about yellow applies here, only to a higher degree. Red-yellow, in essence, gives the eye a sense of warmth and bliss, representing both the color of more intense heat and the softer glow of the setting sun. Therefore, he is also pleasant in surroundings and more or less joyful or magnificent in clothes. A faint shade of red gives yellow an immediate different look; and if the English and Germans are still content with a pale yellow, light color of the skin, then the Frenchman, as Father Castel already remarks, loves the yellow color, intensified towards red, as in general everything that stands on the active side pleases him in colors.

yellow red

774 Just as a pure yellow color easily changes into red-yellow, so the latter rises irresistibly to yellow-red. The pleasant cheerful feeling that red-yellow gives us rises to unbearably powerful in bright yellow-red.

775 The active side reaches its highest energy here, and it is not surprising that energetic, healthy, stern people especially rejoice at this paint. A tendency to it is found everywhere in wild peoples. And when the children, left to themselves, begin to color, they do not spare cinnabar and minium.

776 It is enough to look closely at a completely yellow-red surface, so that it seems that this color really hit our eye. It causes incredible shock and retains this effect to a certain degree of darkening.

Showing a yellow and red handkerchief disturbs and makes the animals angry. I also knew educated people who, on a cloudy day, could not bear to look at a man in a scarlet cloak when they met.

777 The colors of the negative side are blue, red-blue and blue-red. They cause a restless, soft and dreary mood.

Blue

778 Just as yellow always brings light with it, so blue can always be said to always bring something dark with it.

779 This color has a strange and almost inexpressible effect on the eye. Like a color it's energy; but it stands on the negative side, and in its greatest purity is, as it were, an agitating nothingness. It combines some kind of contradiction of excitement and rest.

780 As we see the heights of the heavens and the distance of the mountains as blue, so the blue surface seems to be moving away from us.

781 Just as we willingly pursue a pleasant object that eludes us, so we look at the blue, not because it rushes at us, but because it draws us along with it.

782 Blue makes us feel cold, just as it reminds us of a shadow. We know how it is derived from black.

783 The rooms, finished in pure blue, seem to a certain extent spacious, but, in essence, empty and cold.

784 Blue glass shows objects in a sad way.

785 It cannot be called unpleasant when positive colors are added to a certain extent to blue. Greenish color sea ​​wave rather nice paint.

Red blue

786 Just as in yellow we very easily found the increase in color, so in blue we notice the same phenomenon.

787 Blue is potentized very gently into red, and thus acquires something active, although it is on the passive side. But the nature of the excitement it causes is completely different from that of red-yellow - it does not so much enliven as it causes anxiety.

788 Just as the growth of color itself is unstoppable, so one would like to go further with this color all the time, but not in the same way as with red-yellow, always actively stepping forward, but in order to find a place where one could rest.

789 In a very weakened form, we know this color under the name of lilac; but even here he has something alive, but devoid of joy.

blue red

790 This anxiety increases with further potentiation, and one might perhaps argue that a wallpaper of a perfectly pure saturated blue-red color will be unbearable. That is why, when it is found in clothes, on a ribbon or other decoration, it is used in a very weakened and light shade; but even in this form, according to its nature, it makes a very special impression.

791 Of the higher clergy, who appropriated this restless color, one can perhaps say that along the restless steps of an ever-increasing ascent, they unrestrainedly strive for the cardinal's purple.

Red

792 With this name, everything that in red could give the impression of yellow or blue should be removed. Imagine a perfectly pure red color, perfect carmine dried on a white porcelain saucer. We have often called this color, for the sake of its high dignity, purple, although we know that the purple of the ancients gravitated more towards blue.

793 Anyone who knows the prismatic origin of purple will not consider it paradoxical if we assert that this color, partly actually, partly potentially, contains all other colors.

794 If we have seen the tendency of yellow and blue to rise to red, and in doing so have noticed our feelings, then we can foresee that the conjunction of the potentized poles will bring a real calm, which could be called ideal satisfaction. Thus, in physical phenomena, this highest of color phenomena arises through the approaching of two opposite ends, which themselves, little by little, prepared themselves for union.

795 As a pigment, it is ready and most perfect red in the form of cochineal; however, this material, when chemically treated, tends to be either positive or negative, and, perhaps, it can be considered that only in the best carmine is there a complete balance.

796 The effect of this color is as unique as its nature. He gives the same impression of seriousness and dignity, as well-willedness and charms. It produces the first in its dark condensed form, the second - in a light diluted form. And thus the dignity of old age and the courtesy of youth can be clothed in one colour.

797 The story tells us a lot about the addiction of rulers to purple. This color always gives the impression of seriousness and magnificence.

798 Purple glass shows a well-lit landscape in terrifying light. Such a tone should have covered earth and sky on the day of judgment.

799 Since both materials, which are predominantly used in the dyeing business in obtaining this color, kermes and cochineal, tend to a greater or lesser extent to plus or minus, which can also be promoted in one direction or another by treatment with acids or alkalis, it should be noted that the French are on the active side, as shown by the French crimson, tinged with yellow; the Italians, on the other hand, remain on the passive side, so that their purple gives a premonition of blue.

800 A similar alkaline treatment produces crimson, apparently a color very hated by the French, since the expressions sot en cramoisi, mechant en cramo / s / 25 they denote the extreme degree of vulgarity and malice.

Green

801 If yellow and blue, which we consider the first and simplest colors, are combined together at their first appearance in the first stage of their action, then that color will arise, which we call green.

802 Our eye finds real satisfaction in it. When the two mother colors are in a mixture just in balance in such a way that neither of them is noticed, then the eye and the soul rest on this mixture, as on simple color. I don't want to and I can't go any further. Therefore, for rooms in which you are constantly located, green wallpapers are usually chosen.

Wholeness and harmony

803 So far, for the purposes of our presentation, we have assumed that the eye can be forced to identify itself with some particular color, but this is only possible for a moment.

804 For when we see ourselves surrounded by a single color that arouses in our eye a sense of its own quality and compels us to remain in the state identical with it, then our eye is reluctantly in this forced situation.

805 As soon as the eye sees any color, it immediately enters into an active state, and it is natural for its nature, as unconsciously as it is inevitable, to give rise to another color, which, together with the given one, contains the wholeness of the entire color wheel. One particular color excites in the eye, by means of a specific sensation, the desire for universality.

806 And so, in order to see this wholeness, in order to satisfy itself, the eye searches for the colorless next to the colored space in order to evoke the required color in it.

807 This, therefore, is the basic law of any harmony of colors, which everyone can see on own experience, having become acquainted in detail with those experiments that we presented in the section on physiological colors.

808 When the wholeness of color is presented to the eye from without as an object, the eye rejoices in it, since the sum of its own activities is presented to it here as a reality. Therefore, we will focus primarily on these harmonic comparisons.

809 In order to grasp this most easily, one need only imagine a movable diameter in the indicated color wheel26 and move it around the whole circle: both ends of it will successively show colors that require each other, which, however, can ultimately be reduced to three simple opposites.

810 Yellow calls for red-blue, blue calls for red-yellow, purple calls for green, and vice versa.

811 When the arrow suggested above is displaced from the middle of one of the colors arranged by us in a natural order, then with the other end it moves further from the opposite division, and with the help of such a device for each requiring color it is easy to find the one required by it. It would be useful to make a color wheel for this, which would not be discontinuous as ours, but would show colors in their continuous advancement and transition into each other, for here we are talking about very important issue deserving all our attention.

812 If, when considering individual colors, we were to a certain extent morbidly excited, carried away by individual sensations and feeling now animated and striving, now soft and yearning, now elevated to the noble, then drawn down to the vulgar - now the need for wholeness, innate in our body, takes us out of this limitation, the organ liberates itself, causing the opposite of the solitary impression imposed on it and thereby a peaceful wholeness.

813 How simple, therefore, are those actually harmonic opposites that are given to us in this narrow circle, how important is the hint that nature tends to lead us to freedom through wholeness and that in this case we directly receive a natural phenomenon for aesthetic use.

814 Assuming, therefore, that the color wheel, as we assume it, already in its material evokes a pleasant sensation, it will be appropriate to mention here that the rainbow has so far been incorrectly cited as an example of color integrity: because it lacks the main color, pure red, purple , which cannot arise, since in this phenomenon, as in the traditional prismatic picture, yellow-red and blue-red cannot reach each other.

815 In general, nature does not give us a single all-encompassing phenomenon, where this color wholeness would be quite evident. With the help of experiment, this can be called up in all its perfect beauty. But how such a phenomenon is located in a circle, it will be best understood if pigments are applied to paper, until at last, with a certain ability and after some experience and exercise, we are completely imbued with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthis harmony and feel it perceived by our spirit.

Characteristic color combinations

816 In addition to these purely harmonic combinations, which arise by themselves and carry wholeness in themselves, there are still others that are created by arbitrariness and which are most easily characterized by the fact that in our color wheel they are located not in diameter, but in chords, and, moreover, first of all so that one intermediate color is skipped.

817 We call these combinations characteristic, because in all of them there is something significant that imposes itself on us with a certain expression, but does not satisfy us, because any characteristic arises only because it stands out as a part of the whole with which it is connected, without dissolving. in him.

818 Knowing the colors both in their origin and in their harmonic relations, we can expect that the characteristic of arbitrary combinations can turn out to be of the most varied significance. Let's consider each combination separately.

yellow and blue

819 This is the simplest of these combinations. We can say that it is too scarce, since there is not a trace of red in it, then it is too far from wholeness. In this sense, it can be called pale and - since both poles are on the lowest rung - ordinary. But it has the advantage that it is closest to green, and therefore to real satisfaction.

Yellow and purple

820 Has something one-sided, but fun and gorgeous. Both ends of the active side are visible next to each other; but continuous becoming is not expressed. Since a yellow-red color can be expected from their mixture in pigments, they replace this color to a certain extent.

Blue and purple

821 Both ends of the passive side with the overweight of the upper end to the active side. Since the mixture of both produces blue-red, the combination of them approaches this color.

Yellow-red and blue-red

822 In combination, they, like the potentized ends of both sides, have something exciting, bright. Purple is anticipated in them, which arises from them in physical experiments.

823 Thus all four combinations have this in common, that if they were mixed, the colors of our circle lying between each pair would be obtained; this is what happens when the combined paints consist of small parts and are viewed from a distance. A surface with narrow blue and yellow stripes appears green at some distance.

824 If the eye sees blue and yellow next to each other, then it in a strange way all the time he tries to call green, but without success, and therefore he cannot achieve peace in particular, but in general - a sense of integrity.

825 So, it is clear that we have not without reason called these combinations characteristic, as well as the fact that the nature of each combination depends on the nature of the individual colors from which they are composed.

Uncharacteristic color combinations

826 We turn now to the last kind of combinations which are easy to obtain on our circle. These will be those that are marked by smaller chords, when they do not jump over the entire intermediate color, but only through the transition from one to another.

827 Such combinations can indeed be called uncharacteristic, because they are too close together to make a significant impression. But still most of to a certain extent, they are legitimate, because they indicate a certain progressive, but little noticeable, movement.

828 Thus, yellow and yellow-red, yellow-red and purple, blue and blue-red, blue-red and purple express the next stages of potentization and culmination, and in certain proportions of the masses can have a good effect.

829 Yellow and green in combination always have something vulgar-cheerful, and blue and green - even vulgar-nasty; therefore, our good ancestors called this last combination a stupid color.

The ratio of combinations to light and dark

830 These combinations can be diversified by the fact that both colors are taken light, both dark, one light, and the other dark; and, however, what had general meaning for these combinations, is preserved in each particular case. Of this infinite variety which is present here, we shall only mention the following.

831 The active side, when combined with black, wins in strength; passive - loses. Active, when combined with white and light, loses its strength; passive in this combination wins in gaiety. Purple and green with black have a dark and gloomy look, with white, on the contrary, it is joyful.

832 To this is added the fact that all colors can be more or less polluted, to a certain extent made unrecognizable, and in this form partly compared with each other, partly with pure colors; and although the ratios thus vary to infinity, yet everything that has been said about pure colors remains valid here.

Historical remarks

833 Since the main provisions on the harmony of colors were stated above, it will not be unreasonable to repeat once again everything that has been said in connection with observations and examples.

834 These main provisions were derived from human nature and from recognized correlations of color phenomena. In experience we encounter many things that correspond to these basic propositions, and many things that contradict them.

835 Savages, uncultured peoples, children have a great inclination towards color in its highest brightness, and therefore especially towards yellow-red. They also have a penchant for variegation. Variegated is obtained when the colors in their greatest brightness are combined without harmonic balance. If, however, this balance, instinctively or accidentally, is found, then a pleasant action occurs. I remember how a Hessian officer, returning from America, painted his face with pure colors, following the example of savages, which resulted in a kind of wholeness that did not cause an unpleasant impression.

836 The peoples of southern Europe wear clothes very bright colors. Silk goods, cheap with them, contribute to this inclination. Especially women, with their bright corsages and ribbons, are always in harmony with the locality, and they are not able to outshine the brilliance of heaven and earth.

837 The history of the art of dyeing teaches us that certain technical conveniences and advantages had a very great influence on the clothes of nations. Thus, the Germans often wear blue, because it is a durable cloth dye; also in some localities all the peasants are in green teak, because the latter is well painted with this paint. If the traveler would pay attention to this, he would soon be able to make pleasant and instructive observations.

838 As colors create moods, so they themselves also adapt to moods and circumstances. Lively, lively nations, such as the French, love intensified colors, especially on the active side; the moderates, the English and the Germans, like straw and red-yellow, with which they wear dark blue. Nations, like the Italians and Spaniards, who want to show their dignity, wear red cloaks with a bias towards the passive side.

839 The character of a person is judged by the nature of the color of clothing. Thus, one can observe the relationship of individual colors and their combinations to complexion, age and position.

840 The female youth keeps pink and blue; old age - purple and dark green. The blonde has a penchant for purple and light yellow, the brunette has a penchant for blue and yellow-red, and everyone is right.

Roman emperors were very jealous of purple. The clothes of the Chinese emperor are orange, woven with purple. Lemon yellow may also be worn by his servants and clergy.

841 Educated people have some aversion to flowers. This may be due partly to a weakness of the eye, partly to an indefiniteness of taste which readily takes refuge in complete nothingness. Women now go exclusively in white, men in black.

842 In general, it will be useful to note here that a person, no matter how willingly he stands out, is just as willingly lost among his own kind.

843 The black color was supposed to remind the Venetian nobleman of republican equality.

844 To what extent the cloudy northern sky has little by little expelled the color may also yet be explored.

845 The use of pure dyes is, of course, very limited; but polluted, dead, so-called fashionable colors reveal endless row tones and shades, most of which are not devoid of pleasantness.

846 It should also be noted that women, when using pure colors, are in danger of making an already faded complexion even more dull; as in general, they are forced, wanting to maintain balance with a brilliant environment, to enhance the color of their complexion with the help of rouge.

847 Here one more work should be done, namely, on the basis of the above provisions - an assessment of the uniform dress, liveries, cockades and other badges. One could generally say that such clothes and badges should not have harmonious colors. Uniform dress should be distinguished by character and dignity; liveries could be vulgar and conspicuous. There will be no shortage of examples of good and bad sorts, since the color wheel is limited and has already been tested quite often.

Aesthetic action

848 From the sensual and moral impact of colors, both singly and in combination, as discussed above, follows their aesthetic impact on the artist. We will also give only the most necessary indications about this, after we first consider general terms and Conditions pictorial image, light and shadow, which are directly adjacent to the phenomenon of color.

Chiaroscuro

849 Chiaroscuro, clair-obscur, we call the phenomenon of bodily objects, when only the influence of light and shadow on them is considered.

850 In a narrower sense, sometimes the shaded part, illuminated by reflection, is also called so; but we use the word here in its first, more general sense.

851 The separation of chiaroscuro from all color phenomena is possible and necessary. The artist will more easily solve the riddle of the image if he first imagines chiaroscuro regardless of colors and studies it in its entirety.

852 Chiaroscuro makes the body look like a body, and it is light and shadow that give us the impression of the density of the body.

853 At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the most bright light, the middle line, the shadow, and with the latter again the body's own shadow cast on other bodies, and the illuminated shadow or reflex.

854 To compose yourself general concept, a sphere would be suitable as a natural example for chiaroscuro; but it is not sufficient for aesthetic purposes. The merging unity of such a rounding causes a vague impression. To create an artistic effect, we need to create surfaces so that the parts of the shadow and light side are more separate.

855 The Italians call it il plazzoso; it could be called "superficial". If the ball is thus an example of natural chiaroscuro, then the polyhedron is an example of artificial, where you can see all kinds of illuminated, semi-illuminated, shadows and reflections.

856 The vineyard is also recognized as a good example of a pictorial whole in chiaroscuro, the more so because in its form it can form an excellent group; but it is suitable only for a master who knows how to see in him everything that he is only capable of doing.

857 To be clear on the simplest example, for which the polyhedron is still too complicated, we offer a tube, three visible sides which, separately from each other, show the illuminated, middle line and shadow side.

858 But, in order to move on to the chiaroscuro of a complex figure, we choose for example open book which brings us closer to greater diversity.

859 antique statues the heydays are very expediently made to produce such an effect. The illuminated parts are treated simply, but the shadow sides are all the more interrupted to make them susceptible to various reflections; in this case, we can recall the example of a polyhedron.

860 To this are added examples of ancient painting - Herculan paintings and Aldobrandini's wedding.

861 Modern examples are found in the face of some figures of Raphael, in entire paintings by Correggio, the Netherlandish school, especially Rubens.

The pursuit of color

862 In painting, paintings made in black and white are rare. Some of the works of Polydor, as well as our engravings and prints, may serve as an example of such. These works, insofar as they pay attention to forms and postures, have their value; however, they are not pleasing to the eye in that they arise from powerful abstraction.

863 If the artist surrenders to his feeling, something colorful immediately appears. As soon as black becomes bluish, there is a need for yellow, which the artist then instinctively separates and partially adapts in order to revive the whole in a pure form for illuminated places, partly in the form of a reddish and polluted, Brown color for reflexes as it seems to him the most expedient.

864 All types of kamaye, or paint in paint, ultimately come down to the fact that the required contrast or some kind of color effect is added. Thus, Polydorus, in his frescoes, painted in black and white, introduced a yellow vessel or something of the kind.

865 In general, in art, people instinctively always strive for color. One has only to observe daily how draftsmen move from ink or black chalk on white paper to colored paper, then apply different crayons, and finally turn to pastels. Nowadays, one can see pencil portraits animated by red cheeks and colorful clothes, even silhouettes in colorful uniforms. Paolo Uccello painted colored landscapes with colorless figures.

866 Even the sculpture of the ancients could not resist this need. The Egyptians painted their bas-reliefs. The eyes of the statue were made of colored stones. Porphyry robes were added to marble heads and limbs, and pedestals of colorful limestone were taken for busts. The Jesuits did not fail to compose their St. Aloysius in Rome in the same way, and the latest sculpture distinguishes the body from the clothes by means of coloring.

Location

867 If in linear perspective the gradual removal of objects is depicted by reducing them, then the aerial perspective shows the gradual removal of objects with the help of greater or lesser clarity of their image.

868 And although distant objects, in accordance with the nature of our eye, we do not see as clearly as closer ones, nevertheless, aerial perspective is based essentially on the important position that all transparent media are to some extent cloudy.

869 The atmosphere is therefore always more or less cloudy. This is especially noticeable in the southern regions with high position barometer, dry weather and a cloudless sky, when one can observe a very noticeable gradual distinctness of objects even at their slight distance from each other.

870 This phenomenon is generally known to everyone; the artist, on the other hand, sees this gradualness at the slightest difference in distance, or believes that he sees it. In practice, he accomplishes this by depicting parts of a body, for example, a face completely turned forward, with different strengths. This is where lighting comes into its own. It is considered falling from the side, while the perspective position is from the front in depth.

coloring

871 Turning now to colorization, we assume that the painter is generally familiar with the outline of our doctrine of color and has fully mastered those chapters and rubrics that especially concern him, for only then will he be able to easily deal with both theoretical and practical and in the knowledge of nature and in its application to art.

Color of the place

872 The first manifestation of color is found in nature at the same time as the location in space, because the aerial perspective rests on learning and turbid environments. The sky, distant objects, even close shadows, we see blue. Simultaneously luminous and illuminated objects seem to us to have all shades from yellow to purple. In some cases, the physiological demand for colors immediately arises, and a completely colorless landscape, in connection with this and other contradictory definitions, will turn out to be completely colorful before our eyes.

The color of objects

873 The colors of objects are common elementary colors, but specified depending on the properties of the bodies and their surfaces on which these colors are visible.

874 It makes a big difference whether you see dyed silk or wool in front of you. Every kind of manufacture and weaving already brings differences. Roughness, smoothness, gloss - all this must be taken into account.

875 Therefore, a very harmful prejudice in art is the notion that a good painter should not pay attention to the material of clothing, but should always paint, as it were, abstract folds. Doesn't this take away all the characteristic diversity, and is the portrait of Leo X28 less successful because in this picture velvet, satin and moire are presented next to each other?

876 In the works of nature, the colors are more or less modified, specified, even individualized; this is well observed on stones and plants, on bird feathers and animal hair.

877 The main thing in the artist's art always remains the ability to imitate the appearance of a certain material and to destroy the general, elementary in the color phenomenon. The greatest difficulty in this case is when depicting the surface of the human body.

878 Its color is generally on the active side, but bluish shades of the passive also intervene here. In the body, the color left its elemental state and was neutralized.

879 Harmonize the color of the place with the color of the subject for thinking artist after considering everything that has been said in the doctrine of color, it will become easier than it has been until now, and he will be able to depict infinitely beautiful, diverse, and, moreover, real phenomena.

characteristic color

880 The juxtaposition of colored objects, as well as the coloring of the space in which they are located, should occur in accordance with the goals that the artist sets himself. For this, knowledge of the effect of colors on the senses, both individually and in combination, is especially necessary. Therefore, the painter must be imbued with both universal duality and particular oppositions; he also had to learn in general what we said about the properties of colors.

881 The characteristic can be understood under three main headings, which we shall designate for the moment: powerful, delicate, and brilliant.

882 The first is obtained by the predominance of the active side, the second by the passive, the third by integrity and the representation of the entire color wheel in balance.

883 A powerful effect is achieved with yellow, yellow-red and purple, which is still on the positive side. You can add some purple and blue, as well as green. A gentle effect is caused by blues, violets and purples, with a bias, however, towards the negative side. There may be a small amount of yellow and yellow-red, but a lot of green is required.

884 If it is desired to invoke both effects in their full meaning, then you can additional colors reduce them to a minimum and show them only to the extent that this, as it seems, is unquestioningly required by a premonition of integrity.

Harmonic color

885 Although both just mentioned characteristic kind can also be called harmonious to a certain extent, yet a real harmonic action occurs only when all neighboring colors are brought into balance with each other.

886 This can evoke both the brilliant and the pleasant, but both, however, will always have something universal and in this sense devoid of character.

887 This is the reason why the coloring of most of the new artists is uncharacteristic; for when they follow only their instinct, then the final thing for them, where it can lead them, is the integrity, which they more or less achieve, but because of this, at the same time, they miss the character that the picture could still have. .

888 If, on the contrary, we keep in mind the fundamental principles mentioned, then it is clear how a different color scheme can be chosen for each object. True, such an application requires endless modifications, which only one genius can succeed if he is imbued with these fundamentals.

True tone

889 If we continue to borrow the word "tone" from music, or rather "tonality", and use it in painting, then this can be done in a better sense than hitherto has been done.

890 Not without reason one could compare the picture of a powerful effect with musical piece in major, and a canvas of gentle effect with a piece in minor, just as other comparisons could be found for modifications of these two main effects.

False tone

891 What has hitherto been called tone was, as it were, a veil of a single color spread over the whole picture. It was usually taken yellow, when, by instinct, they wanted to shift the picture in a strong direction.

892 If the picture is viewed through yellow glass, then it will appear to us in this tone. It is worth doing this experiment and repeating it in order to find out exactly what actually happens during such an operation. This is a kind of night lighting, strengthening, but at the same time clouding the positive side and pollution of the negative.

893 This fake tone came from instinct, out of a misunderstanding of what to do, so that instead of wholeness, uniformity was created.

Weak color

894 It is this uncertainty that causes the colors of the paintings to be so weakened that they write from gray and back to gray and color is used as weakly as possible.

895 In such paintings, harmonic juxtapositions of colors are sometimes quite successful, but lack courage, as they are afraid of variegation.

Motley

896 A painting can easily become motley if colors are placed next to each other in all their strength purely empirically, under the influence of vague impressions.

897 If, on the contrary, weak colors are applied next to each other, even if they are nasty, then the unpleasant effect, however, is not striking. They transfer their uncertainty to the viewer, who, for his part, can neither praise nor blaspheme.

898 It is also important to take into account that even if it were possible to arrange the colors in the picture correctly, the picture would still have to become variegated if the colors were falsely applied in relation to light and shadow.

899 Such a case can happen all the more easily since light and shadow are already given by the drawing, as if contained in it, while colors still remain subject to discretion and arbitrariness.

Fear of the theoretical

900 Even to this day, one can detect in artists a fear, even a resolute aversion to any theoretical consideration of colors and everything related here, which, however, did not go to their detriment. For until now the so-called theoretical has been groundless, unstable and with hints of empiricism. We wish that our efforts would somewhat lessen this fear and encourage the artist to test the proposed basic provisions in practice and put them into practice.

Final goal

901 For without seeing the whole, the final goal will not be reached. Let the artist be imbued with all that we have set forth so far. Only thanks to the consistency of light and shadow, perspective, correct and characteristic placement of colors, can the picture, from the side from which we are currently considering it, turn out to be perfect.

More about the psychology of color:

1. Bazyma B.A. Color and psyche. Monograph. KhSAC. - Kharkov, 2001. -172s.
2. Rowe K. The concept of color and color symbolism in the ancient world.

© I.V. Goethe. Selected works in natural science. M., 1957. p. 300-340.

" and subsection " " of the article Colors in the interior in the light of Goethe's Teachings on Color. Earlier, we already touched a little on the issue of color combinations in the interior (for example, in the article "Kitchen Design"). Now let's talk about the colors in the interior in more detail.

So, the combination of colors is either a complex science or an art, formed on the verge of painting and psychology. Accordingly, color combinations are usually based on various psychological premises of various psychological schools. While there are many alternative ways to combine colors. One of which we will talk about in the current article.

The colors in the interior in the light of Goethe's "Teachings on Color" are distinguished by a slightly different theoretical base. In his book The Teaching of Color, Goethe describes color induction phenomena(the phenomenon of afterimages) - luminance, chromatic, simultaneous and sequential - and proves that the colors that appear in sequential or simultaneous contrast are not random. All these colors seem to be embedded in our organ of vision.

The contrasting color arises as the opposite of the inducing one, i.e. to the imposed eye, just as inhalation alternates with exhalation, and every action entails a reaction. Each pair of contrasting colors already contains the entire color wheel, since their sum - white - can be decomposed into all conceivable colors and shades.

A little more about color induction(the appearance of afterimages). it small font, so you can not read if you understand what I'm talking about. So, you probably noticed such a phenomenon - if you look for some time (for example, a minute) at some bright object, and then look at a neutral light background (for example, at the ceiling), then there will be a color spot in front of your eyes (on the ceiling) (the same afterimage) of a similar shape and contrasting, opposite color. So, if you looked at the red circle, then there will be a greenish spot in front of your eyes. And, of course, vice versa. This is color induction. More details will be in future articles.

Goethe's experiments with colored shadows showed that diametrically opposed colors are just those that mutually evoke each other in the mind of the viewer. Yellow calls for blue-violet, orange calls for cyan, and magenta calls for green, and vice versa. Goethe believed that color, "regardless of the structure and form of the material, has a certain effect on the mood of the soul.

Thus, the impression caused by color is determined, first of all, by itself, and not by its objective associations. "According to these provisions, Goethe associates certain psychological states of a person with certain colors.

Again, a little more about experiments with colored shadows. The experiment is done very simply - an object is taken that will cast a shadow. It is illuminated by a neutral light source (a candle, a directional lamp - anything to make a clear shadow appear). Specifies the color of the shadow. And then colored glass is placed in front of the light source. For example, red. The color of the shadow is determined (it becomes green). And so on. Differences are better seen in neutral light and when the shadow falls on a light background. I recommend doing experiments, a very interesting effect.

Based on these basic provisions of the psychological section of his teaching, Goethe divides colors into

• "positive" - ​​yellow, red-yellow (orange) and yellow-red (red lead, vermilion) and
• "negative" - ​​blue, red-blue and blue-red.

The colors of the first group create a cheerful, lively, active mood, and the second - restless, soft and dreary. Green Goethe referred to the "neutral".

There is also a division of colors into

• "characteristic" and
• "characterless".

The former are pairs of colors located in the color wheel through one color, and the latter are pairs of adjacent colors.

Harmonic color, according to Goethe, occurs when "when all neighboring colors are brought into balance with each other."

Goethe's teaching on color also contains several very subtle definitions of color. For example, in painting there is a method of shifting all colors to any one color, as if the picture were viewed through colored glass, for example, yellow. Goethe calls such coloring false.

For reference: color is the nature of the color elements of the image, their relationship, consistency of colors and shades. Coloring can be according to the nature of color combinations calm or tense, cold(with the predominance of blue, green, purple tones) or warm(with the predominance of red, yellow, orange), light or dark, and according to the degree of saturation and color strength - bright, restrained, faded, etc.

Goethe worked on his "Teaching about Color" from 1790 to 1810, i.e. twenty years, and the main value of this work lies in the formulation of subtle psychological states associated with the perception of contrasting color combinations. It is known that Goethe himself valued his work in color above his own poetic creativity. The great poet did not agree with Newton's theory of light and color and, in contrast, created his own theory.

According to http://ias.kiev.ua/interior_style/507