On Vision and Colors

During the first two decades of the nineteenth century, two of the most significant theoretical works on color since Leonardo da Vinci's *Trattato della Pittura* were written and published in Germany: Arthur Schopenhauer's *On Vision and Colors* and Philipp Otto Runge's *Color Sphere*. For Schopenhauer, vision iswholly subjective in nature and characterized by processes that cross over into the territory of philosophy. Runge's *Color Sphere* and essay "The Duality of Color" contained one of the first attempts to depict a comprehensive and harmonious color system in three dimensions. Runge intended his color sphere to be understood not as a product of art, but rather as a "mathematical figure of various philosophical reflections."

By bringing these two visionary color theories together within a broad theoretical context—philosophy, art, architecture, and design—this volume uncovers their enduring influence on our own perception of color and the visual world around us.