Color Theory according to Wassily Kandinsky: "Concerning the
Spiritual in Art"
| Color | Eigenschaften | Klangfarbe | ||
| yellow | “warm,” “cheeky and exciting,” “disturbing for people,” “typical earthly color,” “compared with the mood of a person it could have the effect of representing madness in color [...] an attack of rage, blind madness, maniacal rage. | loud, sharp trumpets, high fanfares | ||
| blue | deep, inner, supernatural, peaceful “Sinking towards black, it has the overtone of a mourning that is not human.” “typical heavenly color” | light
blue: flute darker blue: cello darkest blue of all: organ |
||
| green | mixture
of yellow and blue stillness, peace, but with hidden strength, passive “Green is like a fat, very healthy cow lying still and unmoving, only capable of chewing the cud, regarding the world with stupid dull eyes.” |
quiet, drawn-out, middle position violin | ||
| white | "It is not a dead silence, but one pregnant with possibilities." | "Harmony of silence", "pause that breaks temporarily the melody" | ||
| black | “Not
without possibilities [...] like an eternal silence, without
future and hope.” Extinguished, immovable |
"final pause, after which any continuation of the melody seems the dawn of another world" | ||
| gray | mixture
of white and black “Immovability which is hopeless” |
soundless | ||
| red | alive,
restless, confidently striving towards a goal, glowing, “manly
maturity” Light warm red: strength, energy, joy; vermilion: glowing passion, sure strength Light cold red: youthful, pure joy, young |
"sound of a trumpet,
strong, harsh" Fanfare, Tuba
high, clear violin |
||
| brown | mixture
of red + black dull, hard, inhibited |
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| orange | mixture
of red + yellow radiant, healthy, serious |
middle range church bell, alto voice, “an alto violin, singing tone, largo” | ||
| violet | mixture
of red + blue “morbid, extinguished [...] sad" |
english horn, shawm, bassoon |
