The author points out that the application of the science of color to art probably had its beginning during the schools of Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in France. In the 19th century, scientists like M. E. Chevreul, James Clerk Maxwell, Hermann von Helmholtz and Ogden N. Rood fostered new principles drawn from physiological optics. In the 20th century, came Op art that took cues from psychology, but which dealt mostly with optical phenomena, that is, with ways in which the retina and lens of the eye handled color stimuli. This article deals with color effects that carry on through the eye itself, up the optic nerve and into the brain, the seat of perception. The brain may well interpret what the eye sees in singular ways. Of particular significance is awareness of the fact, as pointed out by David Katz, that in human vision there is an independent sense of illumination. Exploitation of this sense gives promise of new modes of color expression for the future.
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