Munsell
Munsell’s color system is based on human visual perception, and was first published as “A Color Notation” in 1905, followed by an Atlas in 1913/1915, and then the influential “Munsell Book of Color” in 1929. It is still used today.
It defines colors using three independent dimensions:
- Hue (color name): Fve principal hues (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple) and five intermediate hues (YR, GY, BG, PB, RP).
- Value (lightness/darkness): Ranging from 0 (pure black) at the bottom to 10 (pure white) at the top.
- Chroma (purity/saturation): Measures the distance from the neutral gray axis outwards, with higher numbers indicating more intense, saturated colors.
- The goal here is consistent identification of colors
Note that Munsell doesn’t insist on, or impose, symmetry. Also his system was designed for practical purposes where color matching was important or informational – in art, industry, and agriculture, as seen in the soil chart above.
See also:
- Art Meets Science: Munsell’s Colour System: The Enduring Legacy of Colour Theory, Science, and Art
- Smithsonian: Atlas of the Munsell color system
- The Public Domain Review: Atlas of the Munsell Color System (1915)
Ostwald
Originalmodell von 1918
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Farbdoppelkegel
Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald was a German chemist and passionate amateur painter, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1909.
Munsell’s “Color Atlas” inspired Ostwald to create his own classification system published in Die Farbenfibel (The Colour Primer) in 1916.
- Based on the premise that all colors are combinations of full color, white, and black
- Four primary sensations: yellow, red, blue, and sea green, which are expanded into 24 evenly spaced hues
- 8 shades, from white to black, are used
- One of the goals is “harmonious” combinations, produce by an orderly arrangements of colors
While this system was ultimately not as successful or long lasting as Munsell’s, it did have an influence on the Bauhaus (which is why Albers’ mentions it).