Color Vision and Pointillism

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Color VisionandPointillism
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Color

• Visible spectrum of light, as seen through a
  prism. (Newtons experiment, 1671.)

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Visible Light Frequency and Wavelength
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The Human Eye
Rod and cone cells in the retina.
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Photoreceptors Rods Cones

• Rods scotopic vision (in low light)
• Cones color vision

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The Subtractive Color Model

• Colors made by mixing different pigments on the
  palette.
• Primary colors red, yellow, blue
• Secondary colors orange, green, violet
• Red yellow blue gives black.

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Different cones respond to different wavelengths
of light
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The Additive Color Model

• Colors are made by combining different colors of
  light.
• Primary colors red, green blue
• Secondary colors cyan, magenta, yellow
• Red green blue gives white.

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Example of Additive Colorred blue magenta
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Early Color Photography
Photograph below by Thomas Sutton, (1861)
James Clerk Maxwell, physicist (1831-1879)
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Maxwell and Color Photography

• Ribbon was photographed three times, with
  different filters over the lens.
• Images were then projected simultaneously onto a
  screen.

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19th c. Writings on Optics

• Hermann von Helmholtz, Handbook of Physiological
  Optics
• James Clerk Maxwell, Treatise on Electricity and
  Magnetism (1873)
• Interpretations Specifically for Artists
• Michel Eugène Chevreul, The Principles of Harmony
  and Contrast of Colours, and Their Applications
  to the Arts (1855)
• Ogden Rood, Modern Chromatics, with Applications
  to Art and Industry (1879)
• Charles Blanc, The Grammar of Painting and
  Engraving (1889)

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Pointillism (Divisionism)

• Small dots of color produce a 2-d image.
• Optical mixing at a distance, two colors fuse
  into a third.
• Neo-Impressionism late 19th century. Georges
  Seurat and Paul Signac.
• First exhibit 1884, at the Société des Artistes
  Indépendants, in Paris.

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Georges Seurat, Boats, Low Tide, Grandcamp,1885.
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/8 in.
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• Georges Seurat, Circus Sideshow, 1887-1888,
• Oil on canvas, 39 1/4 x 59 in.

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A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande
Jatte, Georges Seurat, 18841886Oil on canvas,
81.7 121.25 in.
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Detail in Grande Jatte
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On display, at the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Paul Signac, Port of St. Tropez (1901)
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Other Neo-Impressionists
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Italian Divisionists

• Group of painters in Milan, 1891-1910.
• Inspired by French pointillism.
• Main contributors
• Vittore Grubicy de Dragon,
• Giovanni Segantini,
• Gaetano Previati.

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Giovanni Segantini, Return from the Woods, 1890
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Dutch Luminists

• Group of painters in The Hague, 1880s - 90s.
• Also inspired by French pointillism.
• Main contributors
• J. Thorn Prikker,
• Piet Mondrian, Jan Toorop
• Theo van Rijsselberghe.

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Theo van Rijsselberghe, Family in an Orchard,
1890. Oil on canvas, 115.5 x 163.5 cm.
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Piet Mondrian, Windmill in Sunlight, 1908. Oil
on canvas. 114 x 87 cm.
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Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night over the Rhone,
1888
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Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889. Oil on
canvas, 73 92 cm.
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A More Modern Takeon Pointillism
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Sigmar Polke, Freundinnen, 1965-1966.
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Photo Mosaics

• A photo mosaic is a photograph made of many
  smaller photographs.
• Requires mathematical algorithms to match not
  only color, but shape.
• Freeware available online e.g. MacOSaiX,
  AndreaMosaic (windows)

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Lewis Lavoie, ADAM - One Blood, Many Nations,
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London, Royal Albert Hall (puzzle)