Colour Theory

In the visual arts, colour theory is a body of practical guidance to colour mixing and the visual impacts of specific colour combination. There are also definitions (or categories) of colours based on the colour wheel: primary, secondary and tertiary colours. Although color theory principles first appeared in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti (c.1435) and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (c.1490), a tradition of "colory theory" began in the 18th century, initially within a partisan controversy around Isaac Newton's theory of color (Opticks, 1704) and the nature of so-called primary colors. From there it developed as an independent artistic tradition with only superficial reference to colorimetry and vision science.