See more objects with the tag multicolored, spectrum, complementary colors, analogous color.

Object Timeline

1934

  • Work on this object began.

1966

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2017

2018

2025

  • You found it!

Drawing, Color Rhythm, from The Mathematical Basis of the Arts

This is a Drawing. It is dated 1934 and we acquired it in 1966. Its medium is brush and tempera on illustration board. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Theorist, mathematician, and composer Joseph Schillinger worked to establish accessible scientific theories to explain musical and aesthetic concepts such as color and rhythm. Schillinger made these two drawings using the systems he invented for understanding color that he later published in his 1943 treatise The Mathematical Basis for the Arts.

It is credited Gift of Mrs. Joseph Schillinger.

Our curators have highlighted 8 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Book, A Nomenclature of Colours
  • engraving with collage on paper.
  • Gift of the Color Association of the United States, Smithsonian Libraries,....
  • 92.2016.50
  •
  • Frieze, Serpentine
  • hand-folded and dyed japanese paper.
  • Gift of Barbara White.
  • 2000-64-43

Its dimensions are

H x W: 21.5 × 21.5 cm (8 7/16 × 8 7/16 in.) H x W (Mat): 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.)

Cite this object as

Drawing, Color Rhythm, from The Mathematical Basis of the Arts; USA; brush and tempera on illustration board; H x W: 21.5 × 21.5 cm (8 7/16 × 8 7/16 in.) H x W (Mat): 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.); Gift of Mrs. Joseph Schillinger; 1966-33-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18453625/ |title=Drawing, Color Rhythm, from The Mathematical Basis of the Arts |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=6 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>