Charles Blanc

To explore the laws of simultaneous contrast (which can be traced back to M. E. Chevreul) and the possibilities for optical mixtures according to Eugène Delacroix (who had attempted to put Chevreul’s «laws of simultaneous contrast» into practice), the colour-system comprises a circle containing six opposing triangles in which the additive primaries of red, yellow and blue alternate with the subtractive primaries of orange, green and violet. (Detailed text)


Date: The French art critic Charles Blanc examined colour contrast in the years around 1879.

Country of origin: France

Basic colours: Yellow, red and blue

Form: Circle

Related systems: ChevreulHeringRood

Bibliography: Ch. Blanc, Grammaire des Arts du Dessin (English edition: The Grammar of Painting and Engraving, Chicago 1879); Color Documents: A Presentational Theory, organised by S. Wurmfeld, Hunter College Art Gallery, New York 1985.