The origins of the color wheel can be traced back hundreds of years to experiments and observations made by Isaac Newton and other pioneers in optics and color theory. However, the color wheel as we know it today emerged in the 19th century as color theorists like Michel-Eugène Chevreul, Wilhelm von Bezold, and Ogden Rood developed circular diagrams to illustrate color relationships based on the three attributes of hue, value, and chroma.
Early Color Theory
In 1666, Isaac Newton conducted his prism experiments and observed that sunlight could be split into a spectrum of color. He identified seven colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. This was an early conception of color based on hue.
In the 1700s, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe studied the physiological impacts of color and developed a color wheel showing the psychological effect of each hue. Goethe’s color wheel placed colors in opposition to show color harmony.
In 1810, Phillip Otto Runge created the first true color sphere, showing hue as well as saturation and brightness. This showed an early connection between hue and chroma/value.
These foundations led to the creation of order color systems that would form the basis of the color wheel.
The Emergence of Color Order Systems
In the early 1800s, James Clerk Maxwell conducted experiments with color perception and color matching. This led to the first standardized color order system, Maxwell’s color triangle, published in 1860. This showed that all possible colors could be created from three primary colors – red, green and blue.
In 1861, Hermann von Helmholtz developed the Helmholtz color system which arranged colors around a circle according to hue and saturation. This system showed that complementary colors – opposite on the circle – cancel each other out when mixed, an early version of a hue and chroma color wheel.
These color systems were pivotal in understanding color theory and relationships between hues. But they lacked a complete connection between all three attributes of hue, value and chroma necessary to produce a fully realized color wheel.
Chevreul’s Color Circle
It was Michel-Eugène Chevreul, a French chemist, who first produced a comprehensive hierarchical color wheel in 1839. Chevreul was head of the dyeing department at Gobelin tapestry works in Paris. He developed his color wheel and theories on simultaneous contrast and harmony while investigating why colors appeared different based on juxtaposition with other colors in the intricate tapestries.
Chevreul’s color wheel contained 72 hues arranged in a circle. The circle was divided into four sections – yellows, reds, blues and greens. Colors were ordered by warmth, with those in opposite sections serving as complements. Chevreul showed that maximum harmony and contrast occurred between complementary colors.
This organization by hue and warmth formed the basic structure of the color wheel used today. However, Chevreul’s wheel did not define precise relationships between hue, chroma and value. It would fall to other color theorists to build on his model.
Color Sphere Models
In the 1850s, German chemist Wilhelm von Bezold continued Chevreul’s work by developing a color sphere model. This three-dimensional color solid displayed hue, chroma and value together and showed their interrelationships. Von Bezold introduced important color concepts like color intensity and the fact that colors shift in appearance as value and chroma change.
In 1898, American painter and teacher Ogden Rood published his book Modern Chromatics which contained a color sphere model very similar to von Bezold’s. Rood’s color sphere also mapped hue, value and chroma together and showed how colors relate based on these attributes.
These color spheres provided the valuable framework to connect hue, chroma and value into unified color models. But the three-dimensional form did not provide the visual utility of circular color wheels and charts which were emerging around the same time.
20th Century Color Wheels
In 1905, German architect and design theorist Wilhelm Ostwald created one of the first circular color wheels showing precise hue, value and chroma relationships. Ostwald’s color wheel was a two-dimensional representation of color space that plotted 24 hues around the circle with value decreasing towards the center and chroma increasing towards the edge.
In 1921, American painter Albert Henry Munsell developed the Munsell Color System which aimed to objectively define all visible hues. Like Ostwald, Munsell mapped hue around a circle and radially plotted value and chroma. This system defined precise numeric specifications for hue, value and chroma which aimed to scientifically describe all perceptible colors.
These color wheels and charts finally integrated hue, value and chroma into unified models. They displayed key color relationships and provided a systematic way for anyone to reproduce color.
Bauhaus and the Psychology of Color
The emergence of the Bauhaus school in 1919 brought new perspective on color theory and the color wheel. Johannes Itten and other professors examined color from a psychological and subjective view based on visual contrasts and harmonic combinations.
While still utilizing color wheels based on color science, the Bauhaus approach looked at the emotional and visceral impacts of color contrasts like warm-cool and complementary. This provided new context for how the organized color wheel could be used in design and art.
Color Model Standards
In the mid-1900s, technological advances led to new color model standards that are still used today in digital imaging, television, printing and other fields. Two key examples are:
- CIE 1931 color space – Developed by the International Commission on Illumination, this chromaticity diagram defines colors based on hue and saturation.
- Munsell Renotation – An improved version of Munsell’s earlier color system which systematically defines colors by hue, value and chroma.
While not always circular in shape, these models remain grounded in the color wheel principles mapped centuries before. They allow colors to be precisely specified, visualized and reproduced for consistent color communication and production.
Conclusion
The origins of the color wheel stretch back hundreds of years to breakthroughs in understanding color perception, optics and harmonic combinations. While Isaac Newton, Phillip Otto Runge and Johann Goethe established important foundations in hue relationships, Michel-Eugène Chevreul produced the first circular color diagram in 1839 that displayed hues by warmth and complementarity.
In the late 1800s, color sphere models from Wilhelm von Bezold and Ogden Rood plotted colors by hue, value and saturation, unifying these three attributes. This led to the production of definitive color wheels in the early 1900s from Wilhelm Ostwald, Albert Henry Munsell and others that integrated hue, chroma and value around a circle and radial spokes.
Standardized systems like Munsell Renotation and CIE 1931 built on these color wheels to precisely define colors for scientific communication, technology, design and production. While refining color science, principles from the Bauhaus also highlighted the importance of the organized color wheel in examining psychological color effects based on harmony and contrast.
The color wheel remains a vital tool today in color theory, combining color attributes around a circle to reveal meaningful relationships. This orderly arrangement provides clarity for both precise color specification and the exploration of color’s emotive qualities. The story of the color wheel is centuries in the making, molded by pioneers seeking to shape color’s visible spectrum into a universal visual language.
Tables on Key Contributors and Developments
| Key Early Contributors | Discoveries and Developments |
|---|---|
| Isaac Newton (1666) | Identified visible color spectrum and 7 distinct hues – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet |
| Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1810) | Studied physiological effects of color, developed color wheel showing psychological color relationships |
| Phillip Otto Runge (1810) | Created color sphere relating hue, saturation and brightness |
| 19th Century Innovators | Breakthrough Models and Systems |
|---|---|
| James Clerk Maxwell (1860) | Maxwell’s color triangle – early color order system with 3 primary colors |
| Hermann von Helmholtz (1867) | Helmholtz color system – hue/saturation color circle showing color opposites and mixing |
| Michel-Eugène Chevreul (1839) | 72 hue color circle organized by warmth and complementarity |
| Wilhelm von Bezold (1876) | Color sphere relating hue, chroma and value |
| Ogden Rood (1898) | Color sphere similar to von Bezold’s relating color attributes |
| 20th Century Color Systems | Attributes and Relationships Mapped |
|---|---|
| Wilhelm Ostwald (1905) | 24 hue color wheel with value decreasing towards center, chroma increasing towards edge |
| Albert Henry Munsell (1915) | Munsell color system scientifically defining hue, value, chroma |
| Johannes Itten (1919) | Bauhaus – psychological color theory and contrasts |
| CIE 1931 Standard | Chromaticity diagram defining hue and saturation |
| Munsell Renotation (1941) | Improved Munsell system for color specification |
