Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/208

* COLOR. 166 COLOR. the cause of the different hues. For example, when the light-wave is ^^Jjir of an inch long, red is the color produced, and as the waves de- crease in force, we see yellow, green, blue, and so on through the spectrum. According to the theory of Chevreul, now- generally accepted, white light is the union of all colors, and its decomposition by an object reveals the color separated from the rest. Thus, a rose absorbs all colors but red, which it reflects; while a white substance, rejecting all colors, is there- fore colorless. Correctly speaking, there are but six colors- — three primary (red, blue, and yellow), and three secondary (orange, violet, and green). Orange is composed of purple and yellow, violet of red and blue, green of yellow and blue. All other colors are compounds of these. Complementary Colors are those which, com- bined with another color or colors, make up the three primary colors constituting white light. If the given color be primitive, its com- plement is composed of the other two jjrimitivo colors. For example, the complementary color of blue is orange — that is to say, red and yel- low. If the given color be a secondary, its com- plementary is the renuiining primitive color — as, for instance, the complementary color of green (blue and yellow) is red. In painting, brilliancy of coloring may be obtained by placing comple- mentary colors side by side, because each lends to the other a favoralile halo, while the juxta- position of non-complementary colors has the op- posite effect of diillness. This method of height- ening and softening colors was used with great effect )X Delacroix, and is to-day much prac- ticed by French and Spanish painters. It is also usual in the studios to divide colors into warm tones and cool, according as they approach or depart from the colors of sunlight. Eeds, oranges, and yellows are regarded as warm ; lilues, greens, and violets as cool. In painting it has long been customary to relieve warm colors by ])lacing them near cool. This is especially marked in Correggio's pictures, which have a central ]>oint of warm color w'ith the surroundings cool. The Florentines reversed this process, while the Venetians intermixed Avarm and cool tones, and Rubens placed them side by side. Contrast of Color is either simple or com- pound. Each of the primitive colors forms a contrast to the other two. Thus, blue forms a simple contrast to red and yellow. But if red and j-ellow were mixed together, the complement- ary colors to blue would be prodviced — viz. orange, which is the most powerful contrast to blue. This was the earliest and simplest way of obtaining color effects. It was almost universal among the Italians of the Renaissance, as wit- ness the reds and blues in the garments of the Madonna and the saints. In modern times it has been much used, but not with the same suc- cess, by the pre-Raphaelites in England and the followers of Ingres in France. Earmony of Color is more difficult to attain, and is based rather upon the accord than upon contrast or the use of complementary colors. In nature there are few siidden contrasts of color, but rather gradual transitions and delicate gradations. Harmony endeavors to preserve the same tones in a painting as exist in nature. It discriminates between the same color seen in sun- light and in shadow, near or at a distance; or, in other words, between the values of colors. Xo uuitter how different the colors of the pic- tures, they must all accord with the dominant color-tone. The mastery of color is the most difficult achievement of painting, and it has been truly said that the colorist, like the poet, is born and not made. Few even among the great painters have attained it. Concerning the Greeks, it is impossible to make statements with surety, since all their best work has perished. The East Indians attained it in the harmonious colors in their beautiful fabrics. Among the Italians of the Renaissance, the artists of Parma and Venice were distinguished as colorists, chief among whom were Correggio, Titian, and Veronese. Many of the old Dutch and Flemish painters were fine colorists, Rembrandt and Rubens being foremost among them. In the English school Turner was the only really great colorist; while the French school shows a stately array, includ- ing such names as Watteau, Chardin, Delacroix, Fromentin, Rousseau, Diaz, Millet, etc. In Spain the greatest colorists were Velasquez, Goj'a, and Fortuny. The American school of the past few years has produced a number of good colorists, among them La Farge, Sargent, and Whistler. Consult: Van Dyke, J. G., Art for ArVs Sake (Xew York, 1901); Blanc, Orammaire des arts dii dcssin (Paris, 1870); Reynolds, Dis- loiirscs Before the Royal Academy (London, (1831). COLOR. Specifically, in anthropology, the quality and degree of pigmentation of skin and other integimients. See ExHiXOLOGY; Anthro- rOMETEY. COLOR. In law, in a figurative sense, a sem- l)lance or appearance of something, implying that the thing to which the term is applied has not the quality or character claimed; as. co(or of title means an apparent but not valid title. Formerly in common-law pleading in England, when the defendant, pleading by way of confes- sion and avoidance, confessed that the plaintiff had, or gave him credit for having, a prima facie or apparent right, the 'confession' was said to give 'color,' and the defendant then pleaded mat- ter by way of avoidance — i.e. to show that the facts pleaded by the plaintiff did not in law give ground for recovery against the defendant. See CoNFESSiojf and Avoidanck. Color of Office is the semblance or pretense of authority, by virtue of an official position, as- sumed or claimed b.v an officer when he does some act outside of his actual jui'isdiction. The term includes acts done under an honest but mistaken belief of power, as well as where one knowingly exceeds his authority from a corrupt motive. All such acts are void, and an officer who is thus guilty of an abuse of power is liable for any damages which may result from it. See Con- version; De Facto; False Imprisonment. Color of Title is that which on its face appears to be proof of ownership, but which, by reason of some defect not easily discoverable, does not in law constitute a valid title. The term is generally used to describe documents purporting to give title to some one. but has sometimes been apidied to a claim of ownership by adverse pos- session. A conveyance by one so claiming title gives the vendee only such rights as the vendor