[1967] finley - turner experiment with colour theory

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Turner: An Early Experiment with Colour Theory

Author(s): Gerald E. FinleySource: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 30 (1967), pp. 357-366Published by: The Warburg InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/750750.

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2/12

TURNER: AN EARLY EXPERIMENT WITH

COLOUR

THEORY1

By

Gerald

E.

Finley

Few investigations

have been

made on the use of colour

in

English painting

of

the

early

nineteenth

century

and

especially

in the work of

J.

M. W.

Turner.

In the

following

account,

I

wish

first to

indicate that theoretical

ideas based

on

optics,

which had

specific

reference

to artists'

colours,

were

developing

in

England during

the late

eighteenth

and

early

nineteenth

centuries.

Second,

I

should like to

suggest

that Turner was aware of

these

theoretical

developments.

Moreover,

I

shall

try

to

demonstrate

that

he

attempted

to

apply

these

concepts

in

watercolours

twenty years

before

becom-

ing

interested

in

the

practical application

of

ideas

contained

in

Goethe's

Farbenlehre.2

Newton's

Opticks

was

first

published

in

1704

in

English,

and its

publication

brought

a

new awareness

of colour in nature. Newton

discovered that colours

produced

by

directing

a

beam

of white

light through

a

prism

were not

in

fact created

by

the

prism,

but

were

actually

components

of

ordinary daylight.

He

verified

this

by recombining

the

rays

producing

these colours

to recreate

the

original

white

light.3

Newton

believed

there

were seven

primary

colours

constituting

the

spectrum;

red,

orange, yellow, green,

blue,

indigo

and

violet.

By

then

selecting

what is

in

fact

an

arbitrary

choice

of

hues,

he

related

them

to

the seven

tones

of

the

musical

scale,4

perhaps implying

a

harmony

of

colour

existing

in nature.

Moreover,

by

attempting

to

compound

white

by

mixing

material colours 'which Painters use' (he actually produced grey), Newton

was

equating

the

physical qualities

of

light

with those of

pigments. Although

he was

wrong

in

assuming

that

the

qualities

of

light

were the same

as those of

pigments,

he

implied

the

possibility

of

applying

certain

aspects

of

optical

theory

to

painting.5

In

the later

eighteenth century,

Newtonian

optics

had

considerable

1

The

conclusions

arrived

at

by

Mr.

Lawrence

Gowing

in

his Turner:

Imagination

and

Reality,

New

York

1966,

were reached

quite independently

by

this writer and

submitted

as

part

of

a

doctoral

thesis

to

The

Johns

Hopkins

University

in

1965.

I wish

to express my gratitude to Dr. Christopher

Gray

and

Mr.

J.

D.

Stewart,

both of

whom

made valuable

suggestions during

the

pre-

paration

of this

article.

The

material

here

presented

will

form

part

of a

larger study

on

the influence

of

optical theory

on

English

painting

during

the late

i8th

and

early

I9th

centuries.

2

The

Farbenlehre,

originally published

in

181

0,

was translated

into

English

in

1840

(Theory

of

Colours,

trans.

C. L.

Eastlake,

London

1840).

Turner

owned and an-

notated

a

copy

of

the translation.

Its

contents

inspired

two

paintings

exhibited at

the

Royal

Academy

in

1843,

now at the

Tate

Gallery, Light

and

Colour,

(Goethe's

Theory)

and Shadeand

Darkness: The

Evening

of

the

Deluge.

See

the

catalogue,

The

Romantic

Movement,

ondon

1959,

pp.

227-28.

* Sir Isaac Newton, Opticks, r a Treatise n

the

Reflections,

Refractions,

nflections

&

Colours

of

Light

(hereafter Opticks),4th

ed.,

London

173o,

Bk.

i,

Pt.

ii,

Prop.

v,

Theor.

iv.

Esp.

Exper.

10,

p.

ii8.

*

Ibid.,

Bk.

i,

Pt.

ii,

Prop.

iii,

Prob.

i,

Exper. 7,

pp.

I

lo-I

1

and Bk.

ii,

Pt.

iii, Prop.

xvi,

p. 259.

6

It was not

until

the

early

19th

century

that

distinctions between the

qualities

of

light

and

those

of

pigments

were

generally

realized

and

accepted.

357

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3/12

358

GERALD E.

FINLEY

influence

on the vision

of the

poet,

who

saw

a

new world

of

colour

opening

before

him.6

The

traveller

in

search of the

Picturesque

also

became

very

much

aware

of the iridescent

hues of

landscape.7

Therefore,

it is not

surprising

that

this new realm of colour should affect ideas applicable to the painter's art.

While Newton's

Opticks

cted as

a

stimulant

to

theories

of

colour,

especially

as Newton

had

attempted

to

equate

coloured

light

with

pigment,

there

was

often

disagreement

with

his choice

of

seven

generative

hues constitutive

of

the

light

of

nature.8

Moses

Harris,

an

artist-naturalist,

was

one art theorist

who

disagreed.

In

his

treatise,

Natural

System

of

Colours,9

irst

published

about

177o,10

Harris

purported

to

'display

the

principles

on which

are

produced,

materially,

or

by

the

painter's

art,

all

the varieties

of

colour

which can

be

formed

from

Red,

Blue

and

rellow;

which

three

GRAND or

PRINCIPAL

COLOURS

contain

all

the

hues and teints to

be

found

in

the different

objects

of

nature'.11

Harris,

'having

taken nature

for

his

guide'

found

that

two

colour harmonies could be distinguished; first that of 'prismatic' colours,

'admitting

no other

colour but

those shewn

in

the

PRISM',

and second that

of

'compound'

hues

representing

'all

the

other colours to be

found

in Nature's

works'.12

These harmonies

are

illustrated

in two colour

wheels.

The

six

major

hues of the

'prismatic'

wheel

are

red,


blue

and

purple,

those

of the

'compound'

wheel,

orange,

'olave',

green,

slate,

purple

and brown.

For

this

investigation,

Harris's

'prismatic'

wheel

(P1.

41a)

is

of

greater

importance.

The author observed

that

the three

generative

colours,

red,

yellow

and

blue,

produce

the

mediate or

secondary

hues which

lie

between

the

generative

colours,

'for

if

red

and

yellow

be

mixed

together

they

will

compose

an orange; and therefore it is placed between the red and yellow:

if

yellow

and blue

are

mixed

together, green

is

produced,

and

accordingly

takes

its

place

between

those two

colours;

and,

in

like

manner,

blue

and red

producing

a

purple,

the

purple

must be

placed

between

them'.13

Harris's

'prismatic'

wheel, then,

contains

six

major

colours,

the three

generative,

red,

yellow

and

6

See

Marjorie

Hope

Nicolson,

Newton

Demands

the

Muse,

Princeton

1946.

This

study

has shown

the

considerable

extent

to

which

Newtonian

optics

affected

the vision

of

the

poet

in the

I8th

century.

'

William

Bingley,

travelling

in

Wales,

noted

a

scene

in which

'the

evening

clouds

appeared across the end of the lake tinged

with

various

hues

of red

and

orange

from

the

refracted

rays

of

the

departing

sun.

These

were

reflected

in full

splendour

along

the

water.'

(Excursions

in

North

Wales,

A Tour

in

i8oo,

3rd

ed.,

London

1839,

p.

124.)

John

Stoddart

spoke

of the

hills in Scotland

'brilliantly

tinted

by

the

sun-showers,

with

the

prismatic

colours

of

the

rainbow;

and

their

rugged

features,

thus

softened,

appeared

like

fairy

visions,

gleaming

through

the

mist

...

.'

(Remarks

on

Local

Scenery

and

Manners

in

Scotland

during

the

Years

1799

and

I8oo,

i,

London

180I,

p.

286.)

8

See

F.

Schmid,

'The Color

Circles

of

Moses

Harris',

Art Bulletin

(hereafter

Art

Bull.), xxx,

I948, pp.

227-30.

*

Natural

system

of

colours

exhibiting

in

a

regular,

simple

and

beautiful arrangement

the

varieties

of

teints

arising from

the

Three

primitive

colours

red,

blue and

yellow.

The

manner in

which each is Formed, its Composition.

Their

dependence

on

each

other

and Harmonious

Con-

nections...

(hereafter

Natural

System),

Ed.

Thomas

Martyn,

London

1811.

10

Schmid

notes

that

a first

edition

of this

work

'was

published

about

1770

(1766

or

1776)'

(Art

Bull.,

xxx,

227

n.

14).

Thomas

Martyn,

in

the

preface

to

the

I8

I

edition,

remarked

that the

dedication

of the

first

edition was

accepted

by

Sir

Joshua

Reynolds.

11

Harris,

Natural

System, p.

I.

12

Ibid.,

p.

2.

13

Ibid.,

pp.

4-5.



4/12

TURNER:

COLOUR THEORY

359

blue,

and the three mediate or

secondary

hues,

orange,

green

and

purple,

lacking

Newton's

seventh

colour,

indigo.

Harris's

'prismatic'

colour wheel

had been

foreshadowed

already

by

Newton.

By including indigo

between blue and

violet,

Newton had

con-

structed

a

wheel

of

seven colours which

he

felt

was

proportional

to the

seven

musical tones.

He

did this even

though

the

spectrum

itself is

actually

in

linear

progression,

being

neither

cyclic

nor

circular.

In

Newton's

wheel,

colours

do

not

actually

oppose

each

other

and,

therefore,

diagrammatic

relationships

of

opposing

colours

beyond

their

sequential

order is not

clear.14

In

Harris's

colour

wheels,

hues

directly

oppose

one

another,

and

his

diagrams

were to

establish

the

basic

form for

all

subsequent

colour

wheels.15

Harris

was

able

to

achieve

a

diagrammatic

relationship

since his

'prismatic'

circle

contains

six rather

than Newton's seven hues.

In the late

eighteenth

and

early

nineteenth

centuries,

two

new

theoretical

approaches

to colour

harmony

can be

distinguished, establishing

relation-

ships

between

optics

and

painting.

The first

dealt

with

establishing

a

harmony

through

the

prismatic

sequences

of

colour,

the

second

with

creating

a

harmony

by

juxtaposing

hues

that

lay

opposite

one

another

on

the

'prismatic'

colour

wheel,

as

devised

by

Harris.

The

first

system

was

considered

in

Edward

Dayes's

treatise

on

painting.

The

author-artist recommended

that

a

sunset should

follow the same

sequence

of

colours that is

found

in

the

spectrum.16

In

M.

Gartside's An

Essay

on

a

New

Theory

of

Colours,

he

writer

also stated

that the

'prismatic

order of

colours

must

in

some

degree, guide

their

arrangement

in a

group,

this

order

must

be

deranged

to

suit

the

order of them

in

point

of

illumination'.17

In

1817, Benjamin

West

spoke

at

the

Royal Academy,

and

the

'Principal point

he

attempted

to

prove

was

That The

Order

f

Coloursn a Rainbow

s the true

arrangement

of

an

Historical

picture'.s8

The

second

and

more

important way

of

producing harmony

in

painting

was

effected

by

juxtaposing

hues which

oppose

one

another

as

they

appear

on

Harris's

'prismatic'

colour wheel.

These are

complementary

or

'contrasting'

colours

as Harris called

them;

green

is

opposite

red,

orange

opposes

blue,

and

purple

is

opposite

yellow.

Harris

was aware that these

complementary

hues

could be

useful

in

painting,

but was not

specific

about their

value.19

The

practical application

of

complementaries,

in

so

far

as the

artist was

concerned,

is founded

on

optical

theory.

Normal

mechanical mixture of

two

14

Newton, Opticks, Bk. i, Pt. ii, table 3,

fig.

2.

15

F. Schmid, Art Bull., xxx, 227.

16

'Instructions for Drawing and Colouring

Landscapes' (hereafter

'Instructions'),

in

The Works

of

the late Edward

Dayes,

A.R.A.,

ed.

E.

W.

Brayley,

London

1805,

p. 304.

The

colours

are

listed

in

cyclic

order.

17

An

Essay

on a

New

Theory of

Colours

and on

Composition

in General

illustrated

by

Coloured

Blots...,

2nd

ed.,

London

i8o8, pp. 27-28.

18Joseph

Farington,

The

Farington Diary,

ed.

James

Grieg,

viii,

London

I922ff.,

p.

154.

x9

Harris

noted that the 'contrasting

colours' are 'frequently necessary in various

branches of

painting..,

for if a

contrast is

wanting

to

any

colour or

teint,

look for the

colour or

teint

in

the

system

[diagram]

and

directly opposite

you

will find the

contrast

wanted;

vis.

suppose

it

is

required

to

know

what

colour is most

opposite,

or

contrary

in

hue,

to

red;

look

directly opposite

to that

colour

in the

system;

and it

will

be found to

be

green,

which

is

the

compound

of

the two

other

primitives:

the most

contrary

to blue is

orange,

and

opposite

to

yellow

is

purple...'

(Harris,

Natural

System,

p. 6).



5/12

360

GERALD

E.

FINLEY

colours

diminishes the

chromatic

strength

of the

resulting

compound.

How-

ever,

the same

two colours

applied

in

small

daubs,

side

by

side,

and

viewed

at sufficient

distance

can

produce

a

more

brilliant colour

effect. The

small

daubs

reflect

rays

of

the

respective hues which

mix

or coalesce on the retina

to

produce

what is termed

an

'optical

mixture'.

The

brilliance of colour

so

attained is

especially

marked

when

complementaries

are

employed,

for while

these

colours

do

not

actually

combine

to

produce

a new

hue,

they

enhance

each other

to

create a

vibrancy

unequalled

by

optical

fusion of

non-

complementaries.

The

physiological power

of

complementaries

was

explored

in

optical

experiments

by

Count

Rumford.

In

1794,

Rumford

read a

paper

before

the

Royal Society

concerning experiments

which revealed the

power

of

what

he

called

'complements'

or

'harmonizing

colours'.

He

described an

experi-

ment

in

which

a

beam

of

coloured

light

and

a

beam of

white

or

colourless

light

of

equal intensity arrived

'in

different directions, and at equal angles of

incidence

at a

plane

white surface'. Rumford then noted that

if

a

'solid

opaque

body

of

any

kind

be

placed,

in

each

of these beams of

light..,

in

such

a manner

that

the

two shadows cast

on the

plane

by

these

opaque

bodies,

may

be near each

other,

the

intensity

of

these shadows will be

equal,

and...

will

both

appear

to be

coloured,

but

of

very

different

hues'.20

He

further

noted that 'that

which

is illuminated

by

the coloured

ight

will be of

the colour

of

that

light.

.

.

but

that

which is illuminated

by

the

colourless

ight.

.

.

instead

of

appearing

colourless,

will

appear

o be as

deeply

coloured as the

other,

but

of a different

hue'.2'

Rumford stated that the 'two colours exhibited

by

the

two

shadows

appear

in

all

cases to harmonize

in

the most

perfect

manner;

or,

in

other words to afford the most pleasing contrast to the view' and that 'the

colour

of the one shadow

may

with

propriety

be said

to

be the

complement

f

the

other'.22

He

felt this

relationship

between

colours could be of value to the

painter,

although

the brilliance and

'magic

appearances'

of

shadow

might

be

difficult for the

painter

to achieve because

of his

'imperfect

colours'.

However,

Rumford

believed

that

the

knowledge

gained

by

these

experiments

would

doubtless

enable artists

on

sound

philosophical principles,

to

contrast

their

colours

in such a

manner,

as

to

give

their

pictures,

or

rather,

to

what

they

chuse

[sic]

to

make the

prominent

parts

of

them,

a

great

degree

of

force

and

brilliancy.

For,

if

any,

and

every

simple

and

compound

colour has such

a

power

on

objects near it as to cause a neighbouring colourlesshadow o assume the

appearance

of a

colour,

there can be no doubt

but

that,

if,

instead of the

shadow,

a

real

colour,

early

of

the same

tint and

shade,

as that so called

up,

be substituted

in

its

place,

this colour

will

appear

o

great advantage,

r will

assume

an uncommon

degree

of

strength

and

brightness.23

Other scientists

began

to

speak

of the

physiological

effects

that

complemen-

taries

had on the

eye.

In

France,

M. C. A. Prieur had made

similar

physio-

logical experiments

as Rumford and likewise discovered

the

power

of

the

2o

Benjamin Thompson,

Count

Rumford,

'Conjectures respecting

the

Principles

of

the

Harmony

of

Colours',

Philosophic

Papers,

i,

London

I802, p. 333.

This

paper

was read

before

the

Royal Society,

20

February

1794-

21

Ibid.

22

Ibid., p. 334-

23

Ibid., pp. 339-40.



6/12

a

-'Prismatic'

colour

wheel.

Moses

Harris,

Natural

System, opp. p. 4

(p. 358)

?~e~a

b--Diagram

illustrating optical

mixtures.

J.

Sowerby,

New

Elucidation

(Tab.

4a).

Enlarge-

ment

2

x

(p.

365)

c-J.

M.

W.

Turner, Shields,

on the River

Water-colour.

6

x

9? .

London,

British M

d-J.

M. W.

Turner,

Norham

Castle,

on

the Ri

61

x

81 .

London,

British

Museum

(p.

364

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7/12

TURNER:

COLOUR THEORY

361

complement.

In March of

1805,

Prieur

read

a

paper

presenting

his

findings

to

the National

Institute

of

France.

In

April

of the same

year,

an

abstract

of this

paper

'Considerations

sur

les Couleurs .

. .'

appeared

in the

Annales

de

Chimie.24

By

the end of the

year,

this abstract

appeared

in translation

in

at

least two

English

journals.25

Prieur described certain

experiments

which he

had

undertaken

that demonstrated

'the effect

of the

simultaneous

vision

of

two

substances

differently

coloured,

when

brought

near

together

under

certain

circumstances'.26

He

proposed

'a new method

of

rendering

the colours

of

contrast

very

sensible'.

Prieur observed

that the method

involved

locating

the viewer

'in

a

room

with

good

light,

and

placing

against

the window

the

coloured

papers

on which

he

means to observe

the contrasts'.

He

described

laying

a

sheet

of coloured

paper

on

a

window,

which

then

possessed

'a

degree

of semi

transparency',

and over

this

placing

a

small

slip

of

paper

of a

colour

other

than that

of

the

sheet.

Prieur

noted that

because of the double

thickness

of the

paper,

the

slip

was

more

opaque.

A white

slip

of

paper applied

over

the coloured sheet assumed the hue of the

complement.

'When the trans-

parent

body [the

sheet]

is

red,

the

opake

[sic]

white

appears

bluish

green;

if

the

ground

be

orange,

it

is

decidedly

blue;

on a

yellow

ground,

a kind

of

violet;

on

a

crimson

ground,

green,

&c.;

always corresponding

exactly

to the

complimentary

[sic]

colour.'27

Prieur stated

that 'the

knowledge

of

contrast

may

be

usefully

applied

to those

arts

which

are

employed

on the

subject

of

colours.

The

painter

is aware

that

it is

not a matter of indifference

what

colour

is

placed

near

another;

but when

he is

acquainted

with

the

law

to

which

their action

on each

other

is

subjected,

he will

know better what

to

avoid,

and how

to

dispose

his

tints,

so as to

heighten

the

brilliancy

of that

which

he wishes

to

bring

forward.'28

In

1809,

an

article

appeared

in

the

Repository

of

Arts entitled 'On

Splendour

of Colours'. The author of the

article,

'Juninus',

wrote

of certain

experiments

undertaken

by

R. W. Darwin

M.D.29

on the

problem

of

'ocular

spectra'

which 'will

agreeably

entertain the reader'.

One

of

these

experiments

described

is of the

same nature

as

of

those

of Rumford

and

Prieur;

'place

a

piece

of

red

silk,

about

an inch

in

diameter,

on

a

sheet

of white

paper,

in a

strong light.

Look

steadily

upon

it,

from about

the

distance

of half

a

yard,

for

a

minute.

Then close

your

eyelids,

cover

them with

24

'Considfrations

sur

les

Couleurs,

et sur

plusieurs

de leurs

apparences

singulibres',

Annales de

Chimie, liv,

I805, pp.

5-27.

25

W.

Nicholson,

A

Journal of

Natural

Philosophy,

Chemistry

and the

Arts,

xii,

October

I8O5,

pp. I

12-22.

Monthly

Magazine;

or,

British

Register.

. .

(hereafter

Month.

Mag.),

xx,

November

I8O5,

pp.

344-6.

26

Month.

Mag.,

p. 344.

27

Ibid., pp. 344-5.

28

Ibid., p. 345.

The

original

text of

this

quotation

in Annales

de Chimie

appears

as

follows: 'Cette

connoissance

des contrastes

a

des

applications

utiles

dans

les

arts oii 1'on

s'occupe

des

couleurs.

Le

peintre

ou

le

d~corateur

sentent

que

l'on ne

peut

en

placer

une

indifffremment

dans le

voisinage

24

de telle autre.

Mais,

lorsqu'on

est

instruit

de

la loi

&

aquelle

sont

assuj~ties

leurs

reactions,

l'on sait mieux ce

qu'il

faut &viter

ou

disposer pour

rehausser

l'6clat

de

la

couleur

que

l'on

a

interit

de faire

valoir.'

(Prieur,

op.

cit.,

pp.

14-15.)

Prieur knew of

Rumford's

experiments

with

coloured

shadows

and made

reference

to

them

(ibid.,

p.

II).

The above

passage

seems to

echo

ideas

contained

in

Rumford's

work.

29

This is Dr.

Robert

Waring

Darwin

(1766-1848),

father of Charles Robert

Dar-

win.

Dr. Darwin wrote

of his

findings

in

'New

Experiments

in the

Ocular

Spectra

of

Light

and

Colours',

Philosophical

Transactions,

lxxvi,

1786, pp. 313-48.



8/12

362

GERALD E.

FINLEY

your

hands,

and

a

green

spectrum

will be seen

in

your

eyes,

resembling

in

form the

piece

of red silk.

...'30

Art theorists

occasionally

made reference

to

complementary

colours

in

their treatises. In

1807,

Clark, in his Practical

Essay,31

referred to a treatise

on the

theory

of colours

by

a

Dr.

Milner

in

which the use

of

complementaries

is cited

as

an

important aspect

of

the

work.32

Dr.

Milner,

according

to the

author

of

the

Practical

Essay,

asserted that when

complementaries

are

physi-

cally

mixed

they

approach

'greyness

or

dullness',

but

'when

kept

distinct

they

are

found to

make each other look more

brilliant,

by being

brought

close

together'.33

Clark

realized,

perhaps

intuitively,

that unlike

lights,

pigments

when

mixed

mechanically

are

sullied,

reduced

in

strength,

but

when

optically

mixed,

their

intensity

is increased.

When Newton

discovered

that white

light

was

composed

of

coloured

rays

and

implied

an

essential

harmony

in

the seven

hues

he

chose

to

form

the

spectrum, he created a new awareness of colour as a pervasive element in

nature.

Moreover,

he

stimulated

the

scientist

and

art

theorist alike to

delve

into the

problem

of nature's

harmony

of

colour. Before

1805,

it was

possible

for some

writers

on art to assert that shadows

in

nature were

not

colourless

or black

but

full

of

light

and

colour.34

In stating

this,

there was

an

implicit

rejection

of the

conceptual

idea that had directed

painters

in

the

representa-

tion

of

objects,

'the

classical convention derived from Claude and

Poussin...

3o

The

Repository

of Arts,

Literature,

Commerce,

Manufacturers,

Fashions

and

Politics,

1809,

p.

287.

31

John

Heaviside

Clark,

A

Practical

Essay

on the Art of Colouringand Painting Landscapes

in Water

Colours

(hereafter

Practical

Essay),

London

1807.

32

Ibid.,

p.

15.

The

work

referred to is

entitled

Theory

of

Colours and

Shadows

by

the

'Reverend

Dr.

Milner,

Dean

of Carlisle

and

President

of

Queen's

College,

Cambridge'.

This

treatise

is

found

in

Humphry

Repton's

The

Theory

and

Practice

of

Landscape Gardening,

London

1803,

pp.

214-19.

Milner

mentioned

Rumford's

experiments

(ibid.,

p.

217)

and

constructed

a colour

circle

of the

type

formu-

lated

by

Harris

(ibid., p.

219).

33 Clark, Practical Essay, p. 15. Concerning

complementaries

or

'contrasts',

Milner

ex-

plained

that

'their

apparent

brilliancy,

when

they

are

placed

contiguous

to

each

other

is

promoted

in a remarkable

manner,

but

they

cannot

be

mixed

together

without

mutual

destruction

of their

natural

proper-

ties

and

an

approach

to

a

white

or a

grey

colour'

(

Theory

of

Colours

and

Shadows,

p.

216.)

34

T.

Hodson

and

I.

Dougall,

The Cabinet

of

the

Arts

being

a

New

and Universal

Drawing

Book

containing

the

whole

Theory

and Practice

of

the

Fine Arts

in

General

(hereafter

Cabinet

of

the

Arts),

London

18o5.

The authors

asserted,

'it is

true,

in a

general

sense,

that

all

colour

is

a

modification

of

light

and all shadow is a

privation

of

light:

but as the

rays

of

light,

in

passing through,

or

merely

by

the side of

bodies, undergo various degrees of inflection;

and above

all,

as the

atmosphere

and

surfaces

surrounding

bodies reflect

very

strongly

the

rays

of

light

falling

upon

them,

such

a total

privation

of

light,

or

absolute

shadow,

does

not

exist;

nor

if

it did

exist,

can the

painter

hope

to succeed

in

representing

it,

because

no

painting

substances,

nor

compounds

of

substances,

can

be

found,

which will

totally

absorb,

and not in

any

degree

reflect the

lights

falling

on

them: neither would

shadows,

produced

by

such

substances,

were

they

to

be

found,

be discernible

by

the

eye,

which

sees only through the medium of light' (p.

247).

Edward

Dayes

following

tradition

advised

the use

of dark-brown

shadows

in

painting.

In his directions for the

finishing

of

a

water-colour,

Dayes

cautioned

the

student

'not to disturb the

shadows

with

color,

otherwise

the

harmony

of

the whole

will be

destroyed'.

Yet

at

the same time

Dayes

was

aware of

light penetrating

shadows,

and therefore

allowed

that the

aspiring

artist

might 'gently

color

the

reflections' of

shadow,

since

'all reflected

rays

of

light

will

be

tinged

with

the

color of the

reflecting

object' (Dayes, 'Instructions', p. 302).



9/12

TURNER: COLOUR

THEORY

363

distinguished

by.

.

.

deliberate

self-abnegation

of

colour'.35

Colour

could,

therefore,

be viewed

as

something positive,

and

important

in

its

own

right,

not

secondary

or subservient to

formal

requirements.

Moreover,

writers could

confidently proclaim

that

for

a

student

of

art to excel

in

colouring

he must

'make

himself

acquainted

with

that

part

of

optics

in

particular

which treats

of

light

and colours: otherwise

he

will

never be

able

to account

for

the

many

phoenomena

of

colours

which

he will

observe

when

he

comes

to

examine

the

properties

and effects of

different

tints'.36

Turner s

interest

in

optics

in

relation to

painting

is

manifest

in

his notes

for

the

Royal

Academy

lecture

dealing

with colours. This lecture was

de-

livered

as

part

of

a

series

in his

capacity

as

Professor of

Perspective

at

the

Royal

Academy,

a

post

which

he

assumed

in

I8O7.aT

Turner was

still con-

cerned

with the

problem

of

colour

in his lectures delivered in

the

1820's.38

From

the

manuscript

notes

for the lecture

on

colour,

certain

principles

may

be educed.

Turner selected

the six

major

hues

found

in

Harris's

'prismatic'

wheel;

red,


blue and

purple.39

Moreover,

he

selected

and

emphasized

the

importance

of

red,

yellow

and

blue,

the three

generative

colours.

Further,

Turner

noted

the

qualitative

differences between

the

mixture of

coloured

rays

and

pigments.

He

observed that while

light rays

(red,

yellow

and

blue)

when mixed

produced

white,

a

mixture

of the same

three

colours

in

pigments

resulted

in a

destruction of the

colour,

tending

towards

'minotony, [sic]

discord

and

mud'.40

He

implied

that

this should be

avoided

in

painting

for

colour

properly

employed

'aids,

exalts,

and in

true

union with

lights

and shadows

makes

a

whole'.41

In the

early

I820'S,

Turner's

paintings appear

much

brighter

in

colour.

35

C. F. Bell, 'Fresh Light on Some Water-

Colour

Painters of the Old British

School

from

the Collection

and

Papers

of

James

Moore,

F.S.A.',

Walpole Society,

v,

1915-17,

p. 56.

36

Hodson

and

Dougall,

Cabinet

of

the

Arts,

p.

I72.

Dayes

also observed

that a

student

of

landscape

painting

should

have 'a

know-

ledge

of

that

part

of

chemistry

that

relates

to

colors

[which]

will

be

of

great

service;

and

also,

that

part

of

optics

called

chromatics,

which

explains

the

colors

of

light

and

of

natural

bodies'

('Instructions', p.

288).

37

A. J. Finberg, The Life of

J.

M. W.

Turner,

R.A.,

2nd

ed.,

Oxford

1961,

p. 138.

Turner's

lectures

were delivered in

I8II,

I812, I814, I815, I8I6, I8I8, I819, I821,

1824, 1825,

1827

and

1828.

See

W.

T.

Whitley,

'Turner as a

Lecturer',

Burlington

Magazine,

xxii, 205.

38

Colour

diagrams,

which

are now

in the

British

Museum,

were

prepared

for the

lecture.

Diagram

CXCV-I78,

'No.

I'

has

the water-mark

'I822',

Diagram

CXCV-179,

'No.

2'

has the

water-mark

'1824'.

See

A.

J.

Finberg,

A

Complete

nventoryof

the

Drawings of

the

Turner

Bequest (hereafter

Turner

Bequest), i,

London

i909,

p. 596.

39

Mr.

Lawrence

Gowing rightly

observes

Turner's

indebtedness to

Harris's work

by

pointing

out

the

relationship

between

Harris's

diagrams

and those

prepared

by

Turner for

his

R.A. lecture

(Gowing,

Turner,

p. 23).

Turner's notes for the

lecture

make

it

abun-

dantly

clear that

the

six main

hues

espoused

by

Harris form

the basis of his

colour

system.

(British

Museum

[hereafter

B.M.],

Add. MS.

46151,

sheets

formerly pinned

to

p.

45

of

Fifth

Lecture,

p.

64

[old

foliation].) Quite

correctly,

Gowing

(loc.

cit.)

notes

the absence

of purple in Turner's diagrams, yet Turner

was

evidently

willing

to

accept

this colour as

a

component

of

light

since he

produced

it

by

means

of

optical

mixtures

of

red and

blue

(see

below).

4o

B.M.,

Add. MS.

46151,

Fifth

Lecture,

p. 35v

(old

foliation).

See also the

marginal

notes

in

Theory of

Colours

(see

above,

note

2),

p. 299.

Here

Turner

attributes the remark

to

Fuseli.

(I

am indeed

grateful

to

C.

Turner,

Esq.,

who

kindly permitted

me

to examine

the

artist's

copy

of the

Eastlake

translation.)

41

B.M.,

Add.

MS.

46151,

Fifth

Lecture,

pp.

43-44 (old foliation).



10/12

364

GERALD E.

FINLEY

Undoubtedly

Turner's

brighter

palette

was stimulated

by

his

trip

to

Italy

in

I8I9.

However,

this

new brilliance

might

also be attributed to

a

growing

interest

in

optics.

This

regard

for

optical

theory

seems

implicitly

stated

in a

number

of

water-colours

prepared

for the

engraved serials,

'River

Scenery'

and

'Ports of

England'.42

The

system

of

colouring

employed

is so intricate

and

yet

so consistent

that it would

be

difficult to consider

it

entirely

fortuitous.

One

finds

in

these

views,

and

particularly

in

shadow

areas of

landscape

forms,

that,

by

means of colour and

brushwork,

the artist has

attempted

to

synthesize

on

paper

the

effects of

light

and colour found

in

nature.43

Colours

occurring

are

in the main the

six

hues

which

are

referred

to

by

Turner

in

his

lecture

notes,

the identical colours

making

up

the

major

divisions

of Harris's

'prismatic'

wheel; red,

orange,

yellow, green,

blue

and

purple.

The

most

patent

application

of

the

system,

and

at

the same

time

the

most

complex,

occurs

in

two water-colours

executed in

i823

for 'River

Scenery',

the

Shields,

on the

River

Tyne(P1. 41c)

and

NorhamCastle,

on the River Tweed

(P1.

4Id).44

These

water-colours

are

undoubtedly

two

of

the most intense

in colour

execu-

ted for

'River

Scenery'

and

'Ports

of

England'.

The

varied

colour,

especially

that

occurring

in

shadow

areas,

appears

as

fine

threads or dots

applied

separ-

ately

or

in

combinations.

The brushstrokesare

exquisitely

fine,

placed

very

close

together,

and as

a

result

the

colour

fuses

in

the

eye

producing optical

mixture.

The

Shields,

on theRiver

Tyne

s

a

night

piece

but

full of

colour.

The

shaded

portion

of

the wharf

on the lower

right

of the water-colour

is crowded

with

small,

rounded

spots

of the

complements

red and

blue-green,

which

interact

optically

to

produce

a

richly

vibrant surface.

This colour combination

again

occurs

in

the

plume

of smoke

rising

from

the

fire,

where the

smoke,

composed

of

a

light green

wash

is

covered

by fine,

vertical

threads

of saturated

vermilion.

In both

instances,

the richness of hue would have been

impossible

to achieve

had

the colours

been

mixed

mechanically.45

Such

a

system

of brushwork

and

42

Finberg,

Turner

Bequest, ii,

629-31.

43

Ibid.

This

colour

system

is

especially

noticeable

in

such

water-colours

as

Totness,

on

the

River

Dart,

CCVIII-B

(published

in

'River

Scenery',

March

1825);

More

Park,

near

Watford,

on the

River

Colne,

CCVIII-H

(published

in 'River

Scenery',

January

1824);

Scarborough,

CVIII-I

(published

in 'Ports

of

England',

April

1826);

Whitby,

CCVIII-J

(publishedin 'Portsof England', April

1826);

Newcastle-on-

yne,

CCVIII-K

(published

in

'River

Scenery',

June

1823);

Brougham

Castle,

near

the

junction

of

the

Rivers

Eamont and

Lowther,

CCVIII-N

(published

in

'River

Scenery',

June

1825);

Norham

Castle,

on the River

Tweed,

CCVIII-O

(published

in

'River

Scenery',

January

1824);

Shields,

on the River

Tyne,

CCVIII-V,

signed

and

dated

'J.M.W.T.,

1823' (published

in

'River

Scenery',

June

1823);

Rochester,

on the River

Medway,

CCVIII-

W

(published

in 'River

Scenery',

January

1824).

Finberg

noted that

according

to the

accounts

of

W.

B.

Cooke,

Norham

Castle

was

executed

in

1823

(Finberg,

The

Life

of

J.M.

W.

Turner, R.A.,

p. 281).

On

purely

stylistic

grounds

the

water-colour

must

have been

executed

about

the

same time as the

Shields.

46

It is

certainly possible

that

Turner

combined

red and

green

in this

way

without

knowledge

of

complements

as such.

How-

ever,

the rather

sophisticated

technical

means of exploiting the combination suggests

that he

may

have understood

the theoretical

basis

of the

relationship.

Because

of his

intensive

study

of

optical

theory,

it

seems

unlikely

that

Turner

had

not

read about

complementaries

and

their

specific

qualities.

Certainly

he knew about

them later

when

he

added

marginal

notes

to his

copy

of

East-

lake's

translation

of the

Farbenlehre

(see

note

2).

In

one

of

these

notations

he

objected

to

Goethe's

statement

that

yellow

and blue

when

mixed

'do

not..,

destroy

each

other'.

Turner's

rejoinder

was

'yet they

do.

The

violet

the

green

and the

purple

(he

meant



11/12

TURNER:

COLOUR THEORY

365

colouring

is even

more

highly

developed

in

the second

water-colour,

Norham

Castle,

on the

River

Tweed.

Norham

Castle

s

by

far

the more

vibrant of the two

water-colours.

The

castle, situated on a rock promontory, is drenched in a purple-blue shadow.

Turner

has created

the

shape

of

the castle

by

building

up

a

rich fabric of

tiny

stippled

strokes

of

blue.

Over

this,

in

certain areas near

the base of the

castle

and

upper

portion

of

the

prominence

(which

is also

blue),

the

artist

has

introduced

twisting

threads of

vermilion. On

the

prominence

to

the

lower

right

of the main

ruin,

red

dots have been

spotted

over the blue. Both

threads

and

spots

of

red

optically

fuse

with the blue

to create

a

vivid

purple.

Again by

separating

strokes of

colour,

Turner

has been

able to achieve

a

brilliance

of

hue

that

would have been

difficult to

create had he

mixed the colours

mechani-

cally.

Similar

colour

effects

may

be found

in

other

parts

of the

landscape.

In

the

river reflection of

the

castle,

fine

broken strokes

of colour

again

occur.

At the base of the inverted image of the castle, fine blue strokesintermingle

with those of

green.

Near the

bottom

of the

reflection,

slender,

curving

bands

and dots of

vermilion,

very pale

in

hue,

are

interspersed

amongst

equally

pale

spots

of

green

and

yellow

and

spots

and lines

of

blue.

A

rich

colour

effect is

found

in

the

upper right

portion

of the castle

ruin,

where

openings

occur

in

the

broken

wall.

Here

the shadow

area is

brimming

with

opalescent

colour.

The

colour

is

produced

by

a

myriad

of hues of

equal

intensity,

crowded

together

within a

very

restricted area. Once more fine

threads of

vermilion

intermingle

with

strokes of

blue,

yellow

and

green

to

create

an

unusually

vibrant and

iridescent

shadow.

The

frequency

and

consistency

with

which such colour

combinations

occur

in

these water-colours, and the careful and deliberate separation of colour

into

individual

strokes of

specific

shape, suggest

that

Turner was

applying

certain

principles

of

optics

to

painting.

A

treatise

by

the

naturalist-artist

James

Sowerby

entitled

A

New

Elucidation

of

Colours,46

ublished

in

1809,

contains

ideas

concerning

optical

mixing

which

anticipate

Turner's

technique

in

both

the

Shields

and

Norham

Castle.

Sowerby

was well aware

of

optical

mixing,

demonstrating

it

by

means of a

diagram

in

which fine

parallel

bands of the

three

generative

colours,

red,

yellow

and

blue,

are

arranged

in

various

combinations.

The

diagram

(P1.

41b)

illustrates

pairs

of these colours

combined to

produce

optical

mixtures

which

Sowerby

referred

to

as

'binaries',

the

mediates or

secondaries,

orange,

green

and

purple.

'

In

reference

to these

orange) are negatives to Yellow Red and

Blue.'

(Op.

cit.,

p. 277.)

(Cf.

R.

D.

Gray,

'J.

M.

W.

Turner and

Goethe's

colour-

theory',

German

studies,

presented

to

Walter

Horace

Bruford...,

London

I962, p.

114.)

Turner

here is

merely

repeating

a

principle

of

complementaries

found

in

treatises on

colour.

For

example,

Field

noted that

complemen-

taries

when

opposed

produce

a

harmony,

but when

physically

mixed their

properties

are

destroyed,

'thus blue is

neutralised or

extinguished

by

orange;

red

by

green,

and

yellow

by

purple'

(George

Field,

'Aesthetics,

or

The

Analogy

of

the

Sensible

Sciences

Indicated.. .', The Pamphleteer,xvii, London

1820,

pp.

200,

215).

46

A

New

Elucidation

of

Colours,

Original,

Prismatic

and

Material,

showing

Their Concor-

dance

in

Three

Primitives,

rellow, Red,

and

Blue,

and the

Means

of

Producing,

Measuring

and

Mixing

them .

(hereafter

New

Elucidation),

London

1809.

The

section of the

diagram

(P1.

41b)

designated

(i)

contains

horizontal

bands of

yellow

which

in the

centre

alternate with

bands

of

red,

(2)

to

produce

an

optical

orange,

and with

bands

of

blue

(3)

to

produce

an

optical green. Bands

of

blue (3)



12/12

366

GERALD E.

FINLEY

diagrams

of fine bands of

colour,

the author

observed

that

'we see .

.

.

that

independent

coloured

rays may

become so

placed

as to

give

the

sense

of

a

perfect

mixture,

which would have

been the case with these

if

the lines

[the

engraved lines separatingthe colour bands] had not been made visible. .

.

.'48

But what

is most

interesting

about

Sowerby's

discussion

of

optical blending

is that he

suggested

an

alternative to

the bands: 'fine dots of

primaries among

each

other would

produce

binaries. .

.

with

a

similar

effect'.49

Both

Shields

and

Norham

Castle

reveal

a

system

of

fine lines as well as small

dots of colour.

It is

quite possible

that Turner

may

have read this treatise

in

search of

material

for

his

Royal Academy

lecture.5?

Both Shields

and

Norham

Castlewere

executed

in

1823.

No other

water-

colours of

'River

Scenery'

or

'Ports

of

England'

painted

before or after

1823

appear

to

be so

elaborate

in

colour

technique.

Therefore,

it would

seem that

1823

may

mark

one of the

crucial

periods

in

Turner's

colour

development,

especially since the lecture on colour was still of concern to the artist after

1824.51

It

would

perhaps

be

reasonable to conclude that the Shields

and

Norham

Castlewere colour

experiments,

the

products

of

deep

reflection which

were

intimately

connected with the

development

of ideas

for

this

lecture.52

Turner seems

to

have been one of the

first

painters

to

give

concrete

expression

to

popular

ideas

concerning

colour

and

light

sifted

from

the

strong

current of

British

scientific

empiricism

of

the later

eighteenth

and

early

nineteenth centuries.

Through

a

study

of

recent

developments

in

optics

and

popular

ideas

concerning

optics, possibly

undertaken

for

his

lecture

at the

Royal Academy,

he

appears

to have created

a

new

pictorial equivalent

of

the

light

and

colour of

nature. Turner's

acceptance

of

a

broader

spectrum

of

pigment, his possible comprehensionof complements and apparent knowledge

of

optical

mixing

helped

him

to

produce

a

manifestly sophisticated

colour

technique.

His use of colour

in

water-colours

for

'River

Scenery'

and 'Ports

of

England'

was

a

passing

experiment,

but does

suggest

the

artist's awareness of

the

fresh

world of colour revealed

by

optics

which, moreover,

may

have

helped

form

a

substantial base for his later more intuitive use

of

colour.

The

technique

he

employed

in

the Shieldsand

Norham

Castle

antedates

considerably

and

is

to

a

certain extent

more

intricate

than that found

in

the

works of Delacroix

and

seems to

anticipate

the

elaborate colour

systems

of Seurat.

In

this

respect,

Turner

must be considered

an

important

precursor

of the

modern

movement.

alternate with

red bands

(2)

to

produce

an

optical purple.

48

Sowerby,

New

Elucidation,

p. 24.

*

Ibid.

5o

There

appears

to be some

relationship

between material

in

Turner's lecture notes

and

Sowerby's

treatise.

In

Turner's

notes

(B.M.,

Add.

MS.

46151,

'First

Lecture,

Second

Lecture',

pp.

30-32

[old

foliation])

the artist

discussed

a

system whereby

the

engraver

is

able

to indicate colours

by

means

of variation

in

engraved

line.

A

shorter

but similar

reference

indicating

a different

set of linear

equivalents

occurs

in

Sowerby

(op.

cit.,

p.

32).

51

See above, note 38.

52

Turner does not appear to have carried

such

specific experiments

into

his

oil

painting,

but this

problem

will

require

more

study.

[1967] finley - turner experiment with colour theory

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