Artists study colors and their interactions to create artwork that teases the eye and affects the mind. They know that colors have a power that can go unnoticed and unrecognized by our conscious minds but undeniably impacts our unconscious. Color influences behavior, emotions, and thoughts. Artist Wassily Kandinsky said, “Color provokes a psychic vibration. Color hides a power still unknown but real, which acts on every part of the human body.”

When a light wave strikes an object and reflects back to the optic nerve in a human eye, the sensation perceived is called color. After seeing a light wave through a prism, Sir Isaac Newton developed the first color wheel in his 1704 book Opticks. Later others made their version of the color wheel that eventually became standardized and culminated in writings on color theory. These studies helped artists develop color usage insights to create mood, movement, light, depth, and point of view in artwork.

Color prints in the Chromaticity exhibition include Japanese woodcuts, French etchings, and lithographs and woodcuts by American artists. You may see the Chromaticity exhibition on the 2nd floor in the Lux Print Gallery from September 8, 2022 to January 10, 2023.

The exhibition is curated by Susan Soriente, Curator of the Gladys Lux Print Collection.