A Brief Summary of Colour Theory History
Justin Lemaire
Here’s a brief summary of the last few posts in terms of a timeline for people that have been having trouble following the basic history.
1810: Goethe publishes Theory of Colours, in which he discusses the original RYB system of primary colours and all of the investigations that took place over the 18th century in an attempt to augment what was known about colour theory.
1839: Chevreul publishes The Law of Simultaneous Colour Contrast, which summarizes a number of important observations regarding what was known about colour theory up to that point in time.
Late 1800s: As investigation regarding the nature of colour and colour mixing continues, the original RYB system of primaries begins to be replaced by the RGB system of primaries as scientific investigations of monochromatic light begin to suggest that the latter is a better way to classify other colours.
1900s: As the electronic age begins to come about and colour televisions begin to be mass produced, the RGB system of colour completely supplants the RYB system in most areas of professional life. Later on when colour printers become popular, the CMY and CMYK systems are also introduced, allowing for much better colour printing.
