Analogous Color in Art History

There are about 10 common color harmonies that show up in art history over and over again.    (There are other ways to combine color, but these ten show up a lot.)  Two previous posts covered the Primary Triad Harmony.   Today we’ll look at Analogous Color.  An analagous color harmony uses colors which are side-by-side on the color wheel.  (Usually between 3 and 5 colors).   There are three main types of analagous color harmonies:

1)  Warm analogous

2)  Cool analogous

3)  Analogous including both warm and cool colors

Here is the full color wheel:

1)  Warm Analagous color uses 3 – 5 colors from the “warm” side of the wheel:

Here are some examples of warm analogous color from art history:

Cave Painting, Lascaux, France

Bruegel, The Triumph of Death (1500's)

Rembrandt, Self Portrait 1661

Chardin, "Strawberries" (1700's)

Mary Cassatt, Woman with a Pearl Necklace (1880's)

Sorolla, "Bacante" 1886

Mark Rothko, (1950's)

Andy Warhol, "Mao", 1972

Rauschenberg, "Most Visible Parts of the Sea"

Richard Diebenkorn, Untitled, 1951

2)  Cool Analagous

green - blue - purple analagous

Picasso, 1903

"Ocean Park no. 114" , Diebenkorn 1979

It’s not easy to find paintings based on purple, blue, and green. Seems to be much less commonly used than the next type -

3)  Warm + Cool Analagous

A very common analagous color harmony which crosses from warm to cool on the wheel is the combination of yellow, green and blue.  This is frequently seen in nature (maybe why we find it so pleasing?):

Van Gogh, "Wheatfield with Cypresses" 1889 (29 x 36)

Cezanne Water Jug (1880's)

El Greco, "Tears" (1500's)

O'Keeffe, "Blue Flower" 1918 pastel

Sorolla, The Gardens at the Sorrolla Family House, 1920

Willem de Kooning

Nicolai Fechin, "Poppies" 1940's?

Another analagous harmony:  red-purple-blue: