Goethe's color circle and its use

We interact every day with flowers - choosing a palette of new interior, dressing color, makeup tone or nail polish, we are looking for a suitable shade to the atmosphere or atmosphere. In shopping pavilions, without knowing it, we give preference to this or that product, first of all referring to its color.

One of the founders of the "color theory", a man who explained the color preferences of people from the point of view of psychology, is the famous philosopher and poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The color circle, proposed by him in the XIX century, as the basis of the theory of color harmony, despite the lack of recognition by contemporaries, is actively used today.

Personality of the creator of the color concept

Goethe Johann Wolfgang was born in 1748 in the commercial city of Germany - Frankfurt am Main. This is one of the most outstanding philosophers and poets of the late XVIII - early XIX century. However, very few people know that Johann Wolfgang was also a natural scientist - he collected a significant collection of minerals, in honor of him was named one of them - Goethe, and was also honored to perpetuate his name in the name of one of the craters on the planet Mercury.

One of the main achievements of this husband in the natural sciences is the "color circle of Goethe" - the doctrine of color and its combinations, published in 1810 in the book "To the theory of color" (German Zur Farbenlehre). In it, the scientist expounded his subjective view of the nature of color, and also revealed questions about human light perception. This theory was contrary to the then prevailing physical theory of the nature of color, in connection with which was not taken seriously by contemporaries. However, Johann Wolfgang did not seek to explain this phenomenon from the point of view of physics. Most of all he was worried by the question: "What feelings and emotions does a person have this or that color?"

Theories about the nature of color

In today's world, there are two approaches to determining the nature of color:

• In the first approach, whose adherents are representatives of the exact sciences, color is nothing more than the reaction of the human eye to the length of the light wave. This approach can also be called the "human subjectivism approach", in which each person sees the color in his own way.
• In the second approach, whose second name is the "Goethe's color circle," color is regarded as an objectively existing substance in nature.

Philosophical reflections on the structure of the world pushed Goethe to an opinion about the reality of the existence of color in nature. After that, the scientist decided to consider each of them from the point of view of psychology and determine the extent of his influence on the human brain.

However, to assert that Johann Goethe's color circle is a truly philosophical teaching, is fundamentally not true. Initially, the palette consisted of 6 colors, and in the 19th century expanded to 24 units by the German physicist Wilhelm Oswald.

Color palette

People working with flowers and picking harmonious shades, use the color circle of Goethe.

• The main colors of the circle are red, blue and yellow. Their distinctive feature is that they can not be obtained by mixing other colors and exist by themselves.
• Orange, green and violet are second-order colors. They are obtained by mixing basic units
• Next come the third-order colors created by mixing the primary and secondary colors.

Each of them is an energy clot that causes people to have certain emotions.

Goethe's color circle: photo

There are 2 varieties of a circle.

1. A palette of 6 colors.

2. A palette of 24 colors.

Color Temperament

In the process of empirical studies it was found that subjective feelings of a person vary by 3-4 degrees, depending on the color of the walls of the room. In this regard, Johann Wolfgang established the temperament for each color, depending on his "temperature" on the scale "warm - cold".

• Goethe took the yellow and orange colors to "positive", because when you look at them a person rejoices, acquires iridescent emotions.
• Blue and violet - to negative. The premises filled with the indicated color are cold and empty.
• Purely red and green scientist ranked as neutral.

When you add this or that shade, the color characteristic changes to positive, negative or neutral.

Combination order

Fashion designers, designers, stylists and makeup artists - all people working with flowers, use in their practice the Goethe color circle and follow the rules:

Rule number 1. It is best to combine colors that lie opposite each other. They are also called complementary. For example, purple and yellow complement each other and strengthen.

Rule number 2. Colors located on the tops of one of the triangles are harmonious. For example, blue, purple and green. This rule is also called "tricolor harmony."

Rule No. 3. The colors at the tops of the square are harmonious. For example, blue, purple, yellow and orange. This rule is also called a "color complement".

Rule No. 4. The colors on the color wheel next to each other are well matched. They are called analog. Usually one of them is taken as a basis, and the second one is used as a supplement for placing accents.

Rule No. 5. The shades on one vertex of the triangle can be combined in any number. The modern color circle of Goethe has 24 peaks. The color of each of them can be decomposed into dozens of shades and used them in work or work.

Rule number 6. Neutral colors can be combined with each other in any quantity. These include: white, brown, gray, black.

The color concept of a circle in the modern world

Science does not stand still, including the colorist. In the modern RGB color model lies the concept that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe created in the early 19th century .

Goethe's color circle for 2 centuries has been increased to 24 colors thanks to the research of Itten and Oswald and is based on the modern color concept. As before, the main colors are red, blue and green - a modern model of RGB (Red, Gray, Blue). However, it is now represented not by independent colors, but by a gradient circle.

Color plays a huge role in our life, and certain shades have become a household name in the modern world. For example, red symbolizes dangers and mistakes, and green - on the contrary, a call to action. These are the unwritten rules that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe introduced into our life. The color circle, created by him in the beginning of the XIX century, over the next centuries was increased by 18 colors - from 6 to 24. However, the concept of color, created by him on the basis of psychological preferences of man, despite the lack of scientific validity, is used extremely effectively in the 21st century, Becoming the basis for modern color models.