There has never been a time when colours did not fascinate people and it has always been regarded as one of life's greatest mysteries.
Studies on colour span numerous scientific fields, such as optics, physiology, evolutionary biology, chemistry, mathematics, and visual psychology.
I find it captivating to trace back the evolution of colours, so today, I will dip my toes into the pool of colour history and the origins of colour theory.
I say "dip" because the subject is too vast and intricate to cover in just one blog.
So, when did we first start painting to express what we see in our lives?
How were colours used and where did we first paint?
Colours have always played a significant role and ancient people began to paint in caves even before they were settled in houses.
These cave paintings were created during the stone age from 10,000 to 40,000 years ago.
Many illustrations have been found on all continents and show how animals were crucial for the survival of human beings in the prehistoric era.
Most paintings were made with fingers on soft walls or with flint tools on hard surfaces, such as caves. The colours were either red or black pigments which were made with iron oxides for reds (hematite), whereas manganese dioxide and charcoal were used for the blacks.
Cave art is generally considered to have had a symbolic or religious function, sometimes both.
The exact meanings of the images remain unknown, but some experts think they may have been created within the framework of shamanic beliefs and practices.
The first cave with paintings was discovered in Altamira, Galicia (northwest Spain), in 1875, 30 km west of the city Santander.
In the tholos of the cave, many huge animals were painted with black and red ochre.
The outlines and black areas were made with charcoal.
Bison in the cave of Altamira
In ancient Egypt, around 4000 B.C., paints were used to decorate tombs, temples, public buildings, and ceramic pottery.
The colours used were highly symbolic and the painters had only six colours in their palette to rely on:
Red, green, blue, yellow, white and black.
Red, the colour of power, indicated life and victory, plus anger and fire.
Green symbolized new life, growth, and fertility.
Blue represented creation and rebirth.
Yellow stood for the eternal, such as the sun and gold.
It was the colour of Ra and of all the pharaohs, hence their sarcophagi were constructed from gold to symbolize the everlasting and eternal pharaoh who was now a god.
White hues represented purity, symbolized all things sacred, and were usually used in religious objects by priests.
Black was the colour of death and symbolized the underworld and the night.
The Egyptians not only coloured the walls of New Kingdom tombs but endowed the houses and palaces of the living with great beauty.
Wonderful landscape frescos featuring reeds, water, birds, and animals enhanced the walls, ceilings, and floors of the palaces of Amarna and elsewhere.
Egyptian tomb painting
Other forms of painting were also practised, albeit on a smaller scale, such as painting on papyrus, furniture, and wooden coffins, which endured until the latest periods of Egyptian history.
Colour was also explored for its healing properties.
Egyptian papyrus painting
Around 330 B.C. Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher and polymath, was one of the first to explore colours, emersing himself in colour theory.
He suggested all colours were a mixture of white and black (lightness and darkness) and related them to the four elements: water, air, earth, and fire.
Among the five colours (besides black and white) recognized by Aristotle was purple.
He proposed it as the strongest colour-energy after light itself.
Aristotle's colour wheel
Around 2000 years later, the English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton put aside his studies of Gravity and Calculus, to investigate the theory of colour.
His colour wheel is one of the major reasons we now understand why and how colour works.
The fact that every child knows the colours of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, is the result of Newton’s discovery.
In the 1660’s colour was thought to be a product of the mixing of light and dark, with red being the “most light” and blue the “most dark”.
Newton saw that this theory was flawed, and while in isolation as the bubonic plague ravaged Europe, began testing the properties of white light.
In his classic prism experiment, he noted that white light is composed of seven visible colours - the colours we see in a rainbow.
Isaac Newton's colour wheels
Whilst it was not entirely accurate, this theory was influential in the development of later colour wheels, including the ones used today.
Isaac Newton's colour wheels
Well after Newton’s publication of his book “Opticks” in 1704, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the famous German poet, playwright, novelist and scientist began his own experiments with colour.
His own experience as a painter and artist led to a fascination with the phenomena of colour much like that of Newton’s, though he passionately disagreed with Newton’s idea that darkness was just an absence of light.
Instead, he resolutely proclaimed that darkness was an active ingredient in the production of colour.
Interestingly, Goethe’s studies of colour mirrored that of Newton’s.
The 1810 publication “Theory of Colours”, although not strictly scientific, was monumental in its breadth of data and investigation.
Goethe conducted numerous experiments with colour to address the gaps he perceived in Newton’s theory.
It was a holistically scientific approach like the precise and thorough execution of Newton’s prism experiments.
His contribution was the first systematic study on the physiological effects of colour.
Due to his background in poetry and the arts, Goethe also went into detail about the psychological aspects of colours and their relationship to human emotions and behavioural traits.
He especially hoped his investigation would aid painting, which he deemed “an art which has the power of producing on a flat surface, a much more perfect visible world than the actual one can be.”
These observations led Goethe to develop his own colour wheel, which is more akin to the one we use today.
In his wheel, colours opposing each other have a visually antagonistic role.
This observation later became the foundation for our knowledge of how colour is interpreted by the human brain.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's colour wheel
Today, colour theory is a practical combination of art and science which is used to determine what colours work well together.
Artists and designers use these to create a particular look or feel by using the colour wheel.
We understand much better how colours affect our overall being and use colours to decorate our homes. Psychology often lies behind the use of colour, not just from an artistic point of view, but also from a wellbeing and commercial aspect.
In the upcoming articles I will delve into the history of the psychology, the pioneers and healing practices of colours.
Furthermore, we will explore the meaning of individual colours and the connection between colours and emotions.