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Born into a rich German family, he studied law and even became prime minister of the Weimar Republic, although he is most famous for his many poetical, dramatic, and philosophical works. In his later years he became very interested in color theory.
An astrologer and alchemist said to have lived in the 15th to 16th centuries. Goethe used Faust as the basis for his classic work.
An English scientist. Considered the father of modern science, he laid the groundwork for the current disciplines of physics, astronomy, and mathematics.
A French painter known for pioneering the technique of stipple drawing. He diligently studied the color theory of Goethe and Chevreul and incorporated it into his work. He died at 31 and left few works behind.
A French chemist who lived and studied color theory. In his work at the Gobelin Tapestry Works of Paris, he studied color contrast to help solve problems with dyes, and in the process greatly advanced the field of color harmony and color theory. He was also the first person to invent a way of quantitatively expressing color in a 3D space.
A color space determined by the CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage). In this color space, distance is proportional to color difference as perceived by humans. Thus it is often used for measuring color differences.
An Italian master of baroque painting. He was the first painter with a thoroughly realistic style and to dramatically use of light and dark. He was so influential that he gave rise to a “Caravaggio school” based on his style. He had a volatile temper and killed a man at the age of 35 before dying of fever at 38.
A Dutch-born painter who worked mostly in France. He was extremely prolific, producing over 800 oil paintings and about 850 sketches in just 10 years. He suffered psychologically, having once cut off his ear and sent it to a woman. He committed himself voluntarily to a psychiatric hospital and ended his life by suicide.
