Wilhelm von Bezold

In spite of the attention he pays to science and scientific quantification, von Bezold is primarily concerned with art and design and wishes his circle to assist painters and colourists. A colour-cone is put forward with the fully saturated colours lying on the surface at various levels of brightness and becoming darker towards the black point. The circular base is divided into twelve segments of different size, with green being allocated the largest area and red the smallest. (Detailed text)


Date: By presenting his «Farbenlehre» in 1874, physicist Wilhelm von Bezold wished to establish a new branch of science.

Country of origin: Germany

Basic colours: Red, green and blue [blue-violet]

Form: Cone and circle

Related systems: LambertChevreulFieldMaxwellHelmholtzWundtMunsellOstwald

Bibliography: W. von Bezold, «Die Farbenlehre in Hinblick auf Kunst und Kunstgewerbe», Braunschweig 1874 (The 2nd 1912 edition was heavily revised by W. Seitz) (illustration I; illustration II; illustration III). W. von Bezold, «Über das Gesetz der Farbenmischung und die physiologischen Grundfarben», Annalen der Physiologischen Chemie 226, pp. 221 – 247 (1873).