See more objects with the tag color theory, optical mixing, simultaneous contrast.

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2025

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Book, De la Loi du Contraste Simultané des Couleurs (From the Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colors)

This is a Book.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

It is dated 1839. Its medium is lithograph and hand-colored dots on paper.

Here, colorful dots demonstrate simultaneous contrast, the optical effect that two colors have on each other. The Gobelins tapestry workshop hired French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul to improve the “murky” color of their dyes, but he discovered that it was actually the juxtaposition of colors that made them appear more or less vibrant.

It is credited Smithsonian Libraries, ND1488 .C52 1839.

Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.

Its dimensions are

H x W (open): 27.9 × 86.4 cm (11 × 34 in.)

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

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/1108749877/ |title=Book, De la Loi du Contraste Simultané des Couleurs (From the Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colors) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>