Recently, as I was going down one rabbit hole after another, I came across this book Color Problems: A Practical Manual for the Lay Student of Color (1902), written by Emily Vanderpoel, an American artist, writer, and philanthropist. The book is still in print and you can buy it, or you can download a yellowing copy courtesy of the Internet Archive.
According to Wikipedia (trust it if you dare!)
The book had 400 pages and 116 (sic) colour illustrations. Vanderpoel would create a ten by ten grid and then record the colors found in various objects, such as a cup and saucer or an Egyptian mummy. Vanderpoel recommended F.W. Moody's idea that nature's palettes were nearly always a good match. She suggested that a marquetry cabinet that was designed with the same colours as a dead sparrow would be "balanced". It has been suggested that her theories anticipate later theories but Vanderpoel was not attributed. Her book was brought back into print in 2018.
It is text heavy, but the real value for me, as a designer enamored with color and shape, are the plates that follow the color theory, all CXVII of them. Keep in mind that these are not meant to be art or even intentional design, these were meant to illustrate how colors interact with each other, the effect they have on each other. Keep in mind also that her book predates the Color Field Painting style by about 40 years. To me, those facts don't matter much. To me, they are just beautiful.
What do you think?
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