THE SCIENCE OF BEAUTY, AS DEVELOPED IN COLOURS.

There is not amongst the various phenomena of nature one that more readily excites our admiration, or makes on the mind a more vivid impression of the order, variety, and harmonious beauty of the creation, than that of colour. On the general landscape this phenomenon is displayed in the production of that species of harmony in which colours are so variously blended, and in which they are by light, shade, and distance modified in such an infinity of gradation and hue. Although genius is continually struggling, with but partial success, to imitate those effects, yet, through the Divine beneficence, all whose organs of sight are in an ordinary degree of perfection can appreciate and enjoy them. In winter this pleasure is often to a certain extent withdrawn, when the colourless snow alone clothes the surface of the earth. But this is only a pause in the general harmony, which, as the spring returns, addresses itself the more pleasingly to our perception in its vernal melody, which, gradually resolving itself into the full rich hues of luxuriant beauty exhibited in the foliage and flowers of summer, subsequently rises into the more vivid and powerful harmonies of autumn’s colouring. Thus the eye is prepared again to enjoy that rest which such exciting causes may be said to have rendered necessary.

When we pass from the general colouring of nature to that of particular objects, we are again wrapt in wonder and admiration by the beauty and harmony which so constantly, and in such infinite variety, present themselves to our view, and which are so often found combined in the most minute objects. And the systematic order and uniformity perceptible amidst this endless variety in the colouring of animate and inanimate nature is thus another characteristic of beauty equally prevalent throughout creation.

By this uniformity in colour, various species of animals are often distinguished; and in each individual of most of these species, how much is this beauty enhanced when the uniformity prevails in the resemblance of their lateral halves! The human countenance exemplifies this in a striking manner; the slightest variety of colour between one and another of the double parts is at once destructive of its symmetrical beauty. Many of the lower animals, whether inhabitants of the earth, the air, or the water, owe much of their beauty to this kind of uniformity in the colour of the furs, feathers, scales, or shells, with which they are clothed.

In the vegetable kingdom, we find a great degree of uniformity of colour in the leaves, flowers, and fruit of the same plant, combined with all the harmonious beauty of variety which a little careful examination develops.

In the colours of minerals, too, the same may be observed. In short, in the beauty of colouring, as in every other species of beauty, uniformity and variety are found to combine.

An appreciation of colour depends, in the first place, as much upon the physical powers of the eye in conveying a proper impression to the mind, as that of music on those of the ear. But an ear for music, or an eye for colour, are, in so far as beauty is concerned, erroneous expressions; because they are merely applicable to the impression made upon the senses, and do not refer to the æsthetical principles of harmony, by which beauty can alone be understood.

A good eye, combined with experience, may enable us to form a correct idea as to the purity of an individual colour, or of the relative difference existing between two separate hues; but this sort of discrimination does not constitute that kind of appreciation of the harmony of colour by which we admire and enjoy its development in nature and art. The power of perceiving and appreciating beauty of any kind, is a principle inherent in the human mind, which may be improved by cultivation in the degree of the perfection of the art senses. Great pains have been bestowed on the education of the ear, in assisting it to appreciate the melody and harmony of sound; but still much remains to be done in regard to the cultivation of the eye, in appreciating colour as well as form.

It is true, that there are individuals whose powers of vision are perfect, in so far as regards the appreciation of light, shade, and configuration, but who are totally incapable of perceiving effects produced by the intermediate phenomenon of colour, every object appearing to them either white, black, or neutral gray; others, who are equally blind as to the effect of one of the three primary colours, but see the other two perfectly, either singly or combined; while there are many who, having the full physical power of perceiving all the varieties of the phenomenon, and who are even capable of making nice distinctions amongst a variety of various colours, are yet incapable of appreciating the æsthetic quality of harmony which exists in their proper combination. It is the same with respect to the effects of sounds upon the ear—some have organs so constituted, that notes above or below a certain pitch are to them inaudible; while others, with physical powers otherwise perfect, are incapable of appreciating either melody or harmony in musical composition. But perceptions so imperfectly constituted are, by the goodness of the Creator, of very rare occurrence; therefore all attempts at improvement in the science of æsthetics must be suited to the capacities of the generality of mankind, amongst whom the perception of colour exists in a variety as great as that by which their countenances are distinguished. Artists now and then appear who have this intuitive perception in such perfection, that they are capable of transferring to their works the most beautiful harmonies and most delicate gradations of colours, in a manner that no acquired knowledge could have enabled them to impart. To those who possess such a gift, as well as to those to whom the ordinary powers of perception are denied, it would be equally useless to offer an explanation of the various modes in which the harmony of colour develops itself, or to attempt a definition of the many various colours, hues, tints, and shades, arising out of the simple elements of this phenomenon. But to those whose powers lie between these extremes, being neither above nor below cultivation, such an explanation and definition must form a step towards the improvement of that inherent principle which constitutes the basis of æsthetical science.

Although the variety and harmony of colour which nature is continually presenting to our view, are apparent to all whose visual organs are in a natural state, and thus to the generality of mankind; yet a knowledge of the simplicity by which this variety and beauty are produced, is, after ages of philosophic research and experimental inquiry, only beginning to be properly understood.

Light may be considered as an active, and darkness a passive principle in the economy of Nature, and colour an intermediate phenomenon arising from their joint influence; and it is in the ratios in which these primary principles act upon each other, by which I here intend to explain the science of beauty as evolved in colour. It has been usual to consider colour as an inherent quality in light, and to suppose that coloured bodies absorb certain classes of its rays, and reflect or transmit the remainder; but it appears to me that colour is more probably the result of certain modes in which the opposite principles of motion and rest, or force and resistance, operate in the production, refraction, and reflection of light, and that each colour is mutually related, although in different degrees, to these active and passive principles.

White and black are the representatives of light and darkness, or activity and rest, and are therefore calculated as pigments to reduce colours and hues to tints and shades.

Having, however, fully illustrated the nature of tints and shades in a former work,[22] I shall here confine myself to colours in their full intensity—shewing the various modifications which their union with each other produce, along with the harmonic relations which these modifications bear to the primaries, and to each other in respect to warmth and coolness of tone, as well as to light and shade.

The primary colours are red, yellow, and blue. Of these, yellow is most allied to light, and blue to shade, while red is neutral in these respects, being equally allied to both. In respect to tone, that of red is warm, and that of blue cool, while the tone of yellow is neutral. The ratios of their relations to each other in these respects will appear in the harmonic scales to which, for the first time, I am about to subject colours, and to systematise their various simple and compound relations, which are as follow:—

From the binary union of the primary colours, the secondary colours arise—

Orange colour, from the union of yellow and red.

Green, from the union of yellow and blue.

Purple, from the union of red and blue.

From the binary union of the secondary colours, the primary hues arise—

Yellow-hue, from the union of orange and green.

Red-hue, from the union of orange and purple.

Blue-hue, from the union of purple and green.

From the binary union of the primary hues, the secondary hues arise—

Orange-hue, from the union of yellow-hue and red-hue.

Green-hue, from the union of yellow-hue and blue-hue.

Purple-hue, from the union of red-hue and blue-hue.

Each hue owes its characteristic distinction to the proportionate predominance or subordination of one or other of the three primary colours in its composition.

It follows, that in every hue of red, yellow and blue are subordinate; in every hue of yellow, red and blue are subordinate; and in every hue of blue, red and yellow are subordinate. In like manner, in every hue of green, red is subordinate; in every hue of orange, blue is subordinate; and in every hue of purple, yellow is subordinate.

By the union of two primary colours, in the production of a secondary colour, the nature of both primaries is altered; and as there are only three primary or simple colours in the scale, the two that are united harmonically in a compound colour, form the natural contrast to the remaining simple colour.

Notwithstanding all the variety that extends beyond the six positive colours, it may be said that there are only three proper contrasts of colour in nature, and that all others are simply modifications of these.

Pure red is the most perfect contrast to pure green; because it is characterised amongst the primary colours by warmth of tone, while amongst the secondary colours green is distinguished by coolness of tone, both being equally related to the primary elements of light and shade.

Pure yellow is the most perfect contrast to pure purple; because it is characterised amongst the primary colours as most allied to light, whilst pure purple is characterised amongst the secondaries as most allied to shade, both being equally neutral as to tone.

Pure blue is the most perfect contrast to pure orange; because it is characterised amongst the primary colours as not only the most allied to shade, but as being the coolest in tone, whilst pure orange is characterised amongst the secondaries as being the most allied to light and the warmest in tone. The same principle operates throughout all the modifications of these primary and secondary colours.

Such is the simple nature of contrast upon which the beauty of colouring mainly depends.

It being now established as a scientific fact, that the effect of light upon the eye is the result of an ethereal action, similar to the atmospheric action by which the effect of sound is produced upon the ear; also, that the various colours which light assumes are the effect of certain modifications in this ethereal action;—just as the various sounds, which constitute the scale of musical notes, are known to be the effect of certain modifications in the atmospheric action by which sounds in general are produced:

Therefore, as harmony may thus be impressed upon the mind through either of these two art senses—hearing and seeing—the principles which govern the modifications in the ethereal action of light, so as to produce through the eye the effect of harmony, cannot be supposed to differ from those principles which we know govern the modifications of the atmospheric action of sound, in producing through the ear a like effect. I shall therefore endeavour to illustrate the science of beauty as evolved in colours, by forming scales of their various modifications agreeably to the same Pythagorean system of numerical ratio from which the harmonic elements of beauty in sounds were originally evolved, and by which I have endeavoured in this, as in previous works, to systematise the harmonic beauty of forms.

It will be observed, that with a view to avoid complexity as much as possible, I have, in the arrangement of the above series of scales, not only confined myself to the merely elementary parts of the Pythagorean system, but have left out the harmonic modifications upon (¹⁄₁₁) and (¹⁄₁₃), in order that the arithmetical progression might not be interrupted.[23]

The above elementary process will, I trust, be found sufficient to explain the progress, by harmonic union, of a primary colour to a toned gray, and how the simple and compound colours naturally arrange themselves into the elements of five scales, the parts of which continue from primary to secondary colour; from secondary colour to primary hue; from primary hue to secondary hue; from secondary hue to primary-toned gray; and from primary-toned gray to secondary-toned gray in the simple ratio of 2:1; thereby producing a series of the most beautiful and perfect contrasts.

The natural arrangement of the primary colours upon the solar spectrum is red, yellow, blue, and I have therefore adopted the same arrangement on the present occasion. Red being, consequently, the first tonic, and blue the second, the divisions express the numerical ratios which the colours bear to one another, in respect to that colourific power for which red is pre-eminent. Thus, yellow is to red, as 2:3; blue to yellow, as 3:4; purple to orange, as 5:6; and green to purple, as 6:7.

The following series of completed scales are arranged upon the foregoing principle, with the natural connecting links of red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, and blue-green, introduced in their proper places.

The appropriate terminology of musical notes has been adopted, and the scales are composed as follows:—

All the parts in each of these scales, from the first tonic to the second, relate to the same parts of the scale below them in the simple ratio of 2:1; and serially to the first tonic in the following ratios:—

8:9, 4:5, 3:4, 2:3, 3:5, 4:7, 8:15, 1:2.

First Series of Scales.

Tonic. Supertonic. Mediant. Subdominant. Dominant. Submediant. Subtonic. Semi-Subtonic. Tonic.
I. (¹⁄₂) (⁴⁄₉) (²⁄₅) (³⁄₈) (¹⁄₃) (³⁄₁₀) (²⁄₇) (⁴⁄₁₅) (¹⁄₄)
Red. Red-orange. Orange. Yellow-orange. Yellow. Yellow-green. Green. Blue-green. Blue.
II. (¹⁄₄) (²⁄₉) (¹⁄₅) (³⁄₁₆) (¹⁄₆) (³⁄₂₀) (¹⁄₇) (²⁄₁₅) (¹⁄₈)
Green. Blue-green hue. Blue hue. Blue-purple hue. Purple hue. Red-purple hue. Red hue. Red-orange hue. Orange.
III. (¹⁄₈) (¹⁄₉) (¹⁄₁₀) (³⁄₃₂) (¹⁄₁₂) (³⁄₄₀) (¹⁄₁₄) (¹⁄₁₅) (¹⁄₁₆)
Red hue. Red-orange hue. Orange hue. Yellow-orange hue. Yellow hue. Yellow-green hue. Green hue. Blue-green hue. Blue hue.
IV. (¹⁄₁₆) (¹⁄₁₈) (¹⁄₂₀) (³⁄₆₄) (¹⁄₂₄) (³⁄₈₀) (¹⁄₂₈) (¹⁄₃₀) (¹⁄₃₂)
Green hue. Blue-green-toned gray. Blue-toned gray. Blue-purple-toned gray. Purple hue. Red-purple-toned gray. Red-toned gray. Red-orange-toned gray. Orange hue.
V. (¹⁄₃₂) (¹⁄₃₆) (¹⁄₄₀) (³⁄₁₂₈) (¹⁄₄₈) (³⁄₁₆₀) (¹⁄₅₆) (¹⁄₆₀) (¹⁄₆₄)
Red-toned gray. Red-orange-toned gray. Orange-toned gray. Yellow-orange-toned gray. Yellow-toned gray. Yellow-green-toned gray. Green-toned gray. Blue-green-toned gray. Blue-toned gray.

To the scales of chromatic power I add another series of scales, in which yellow, being the first tonic, and blue the second, the numerical divisions express the ratios which the colours in each scale bear to one another in respect to light and shade. Thus red is to yellow, in respect to light, as 2:3; blue to red, as 3:4; green to orange, as 5:6, and purple to green, as 6:7.

These scales may therefore be termed scales for the colour-blind, because, in comparing colours, those whose sight is thus defective, naturally compare the ratios of the light and shade of which different colours are primarily constituted.

The following is a series of five complete scales of the harmonic parts into which the light and shade in colours may be divided in each scale according to the above arrangement:—

Second Series of Scales.

Tonic. Supertonic. Mediant. Subdominant. Dominant. Submediant. Subtonic. Semi-Subtonic. Tonic.
I. (¹⁄₂) (⁴⁄₉) (²⁄₅) (³⁄₈) (¹⁄₃) (³⁄₁₀) (²⁄₇) (⁴⁄₁₅) (¹⁄₄)
Yellow. Yellow-orange. Orange. Red-orange. Red. Red-purple. Purple. Blue-purple. Blue.
II. (¹⁄₄) (²⁄₉) (¹⁄₅) (³⁄₁₆) (¹⁄₆) (³⁄₂₀) (¹⁄₇) (²⁄₁₅) (¹⁄₈)
Purple. Blue-purple hue. Blue hue. Blue-green hue. Green. Yellow-green hue. Yellow hue. Yellow-orange hue. Orange.
III. (¹⁄₈) (¹⁄₉) (¹⁄₁₀) (³⁄₃₂) (¹⁄₁₂) (³⁄₄₀) (¹⁄₁₄) (¹⁄₁₅) (¹⁄₁₆)
Yellow hue. Yellow-orange hue. Orange hue. Red-orange hue. Red hue. Red-purple hue. Purple hue. Blue-purple hue. Blue hue.
IV. (¹⁄₁₆) (¹⁄₁₈) (¹⁄₂₀) (³⁄₆₄) (¹⁄₂₄) (³⁄₈₀) (¹⁄₂₈) (¹⁄₃₀) (¹⁄₃₂)
Purple hue. Blue-purple-toned gray. Blue-toned gray. Blue-green-toned gray. Green hue. Yellow-green-toned gray. Yellow-toned gray. Yellow-orange-toned gray. Orange hue.
V. (¹⁄₃₂) (¹⁄₃₆) (¹⁄₄₀) (³⁄₁₂₈) (¹⁄₄₈) (³⁄₁₆₀) (¹⁄₅₆) (¹⁄₆₀) (¹⁄₆₄)
Yellow-toned gray. Yellow-orange-toned gray. Orange-toned gray. Red-orange-toned gray. Red-toned gray. Red-purple-toned gray. Purple-toned gray. Blue-green-toned gray. Blue-toned gray.

Should I be correct in arranging colours upon scales identical with those upon which musical notes have been arranged, and in assuming that colours have the same ratios to each other, in respect to their harmonic power upon the eye, which musical notes have in respect to their harmonic power upon the ear, the colourist may yet be enabled to impart harmonic beauty to his works with as much certainty and ease, as the musician imparts the same quality to his compositions: for the colourist has no more right to trust exclusively to his eye in the arrangement of colours, than the musician has to trust exclusively to his ear in the arrangement of sounds.

We find, in comparing the dominant parts in the first and second scales of the second series, that they are equal as to light and shade, so that their relative powers of contrast depend entirely upon colour. Hence it is that red and green are the two colours, the difference between which the colour-blind are least able to appreciate. Professor George Wilson, in his excellent work, “Researches on Colour-Blindness,” mentions the case of an engraver, which proves the power of the eye in being able to appreciate these original constituents of colour, irrespective of the intermediate phenomenon of tone. This engraver, instead of expressing regret on account of his being colour-blind, observed to the professor, “My defective vision is, to a certain extent, a useful and valuable quality. Thus, an engraver has two negatives to deal with, i.e., white and black. Now, when I look at a picture, I see it only in white and black, or light and shade, or, as artists term it, the effect. I find at times many of my brother engravers in doubt how to translate certain colours of pictures, which to me are matters of decided certainty and ease. Thus to me it is valuable.”

The colour-blind are therefore as incapable of receiving pleasure from the harmonious union of various colours, as those who, to use a common term, have no ear for music, are of being gratified by the “melody of sweet sounds.”

The generality of mankind are, however, capable of appreciating the harmony of colour which, like that of both sound and form, arises from the simultaneous exhibition of opposite principles having a ratio to each other. These principles are in continual operation throughout nature, and from them we often derive pleasure without being conscious of the cause. All who are not colour-blind must have felt themselves struck with the harmonic beauty of a cloudless sky, although in it there is no configuration, and at first sight apparently but one colour. Now, as we know that there can be no more impression of harmony made upon the mind by looking upon a single colour, than there could be by listening to a single continued musical note, however sweet its tone, we are apt at first to imagine that the organ of vision has, in some measure, conveyed a false impression to the mind. But it has not done so; for light, when reflected from the atmosphere, produces those cool tones of blue, gray, and purple, which seem to clothe the distant mountains; but, when transmitted through the same atmosphere, it produces those numerous warm tints, the most intense of which give the gorgeous effects which so often accompany the setting sun. We have, therefore, in the upper part of a clear sky, where the atmosphere may be said to be illuminated principally by reflection from the surface of the earth, a comparatively cool tone of blue, the result of reflection, which gradually blends into the warm tints, the result of transmission through the same atmosphere. Such a composition of harmonious colouring is to the eye what the voice of the soft breath of summer amongst the trees, the hum of insects on a sultry day, or the simple harmony of the Æolian harp, is to the ear. To such a composition of chromatic harmony must also be referred the universal concurrence of mankind in appreciating the peculiar beauty of white marble statuary. That the principal constituent of beauty in such works ought to be harmony of form, no one will deny; but this is not the only element, as appears from the fact, that a cast in plaster of Paris, of a fine white marble statue, although identical in form, is far less beautiful than the original. Now this undoubtedly must be the consequence of its having been changed from a semi-translucent substance, which, like the atmosphere, can transmit as well as reflect light, to an opaque substance, which can only reflect it. Thus the opposite principles of chromatic warmth and coolness are equally balanced in white marble—the one being the natural result of the partial transmission of light, and the other that of its reflection.

As a series of coloured illustrations would be beyond the scope of this résumé, I may refer those who wish to prosecute the inquiry, with the assistance of such a series, to my published works upon the subject.[24]