In chapter 3 of my book, The Color Investigations of Robert Henri, I examine Chevreul’s investigations into optical color effects, especially his theory of simultaneous contrast. Chevreul’s theories form a thread that runs through Henri’s work from his earliest days as a student in Paris until his mature late work in Ireland. H.G Maratta also develops his ideas on the Full Spectrum Palette and devises set palettes taking into account Chevreul’s theories. Most artists have a basic knowledge of Chevreul’s concepts regarding complementary colors. Complements, when adjacent to each other, appear especially vivid because each produces a complementary halo that intensifies its complement. But Chevreul’s theories are much more complex and multilayered.
Simultaneous contrast refers to the phenomenon in which two different effects occur at the same time. The first effect is related to value. If we examine the grey scale, one can observe that although each rectangle contains a unified value, there appears to be a shift within each value. It, in fact, does not appear as a solid unified tone.
Within each rectangle, the value shifts near its adjoining edge to the adjacent value. Note that as the lighter value approaches its darker neighbor, it appears to get lighter. Subsequently, the darker adjacent value becomes darker near this adjoining edge. An inherent optical movement is taking place. This occurs more obviously in a grey scale, but would arise if these rectangles had a hue.
The second effect of simultaneous contrast is related to hue. Chevreul conducted years of experiments to understand the optical shifting of hue when adjacent to or in proximity to another hue. Complements are the most easily understood, as in the example in the first paragraph. But there are other effects that Henri used to his advantage in his paintings. When complements appear adjacent to one another, have the same intensity, and a similar value, they create an optical vibration, but appear relatively static because of their similarity. However, if one complement is less saturated, it will appear to increase in vibrancy optically beyond its desaturated state. This optical augmentation is especially enticing to the eye because it occurs within the viewer’s mind. There is no physical adjustment to the paint. Henri was particularly interested in this effect.
Alternatively, if the adjacent hue is a grey or neutral tone, this grey will take on the complement of the more saturated hue. If the saturated hue is red adjacent to a grey or neutral, that neutral will take on the complementary hue and appear as a subtle green. This phenomenon is reflected in Henri’s late Irish portraits. You can observe in many of these images that Henri often paints a large mass in a neutral tone —a shirt, sweater, trousers, etc. —in order to play this against another more saturated mass. Henri is attempting to create an optical effect that heightens the viewer’s experience and generates color movement along the painted surface.
If we examine the above painting of Hughie, The Poet, 1924, we can see that there is a large neutral mass in the sweater and, what at first appears to be, in the background. Henri uses Hughie’s intense orange/red-orange hair to activate the background tone, bringing out a blue/green-blue vibration. This background, which is more saturated than one might suspect, also activates the neutral sweater, giving it a warm, orange glow. This back-and-forth between the neutral and the background creates a cycle of movement within the image. The green scarf projects forward and focuses the viewer’s attention, creating a color vibration with the red in the face. Here, the color is most intense. Henri believed color should build in an image,
Culmination is stronger than contrast. Cumulative color.
Robert Henri, The Art Spirit
Henri shaped his painting practice to seize these elusive optical qualities. It is only in the late work that he masters Chevreul’s concepts, creating paintings that optimize color movement along the surface, enticing the viewer to look and look again. In chapter 3, I discuss Chevreul’s color theories to open the reader to Henri’s studies and the trajectory of his color investigations.
