Overlapping triangles in various tones of magenta, green, purple, blue, and orange on a medium gray background. At center, 9 triangles fit into eachother to form an irregular circle. The sporadic, overlapping triangles form a halo over the center circle.

There is one other image of this object. See our image rights statement.

See more objects with the tag multicolored, spectrum, complementary colors, analogous color.

Object Timeline

1934	Work on this object began.
1966	We acquired this object.
2015	We photographed this object.
2017	We photographed this object.
2018	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Drawing, Color Rhythm, from The Mathematical Basis of the Arts

This is a Drawing. It is dated 1934 and we acquired it in 1966. Its medium is brush and tempera on illustration board. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Theorist, mathematician, and composer Joseph Schillinger worked to establish accessible scientific theories to explain musical and aesthetic concepts such as color and rhythm. Schillinger made these two drawings using the systems he invented for understanding color that he later published in his 1943 treatise The Mathematical Basis for the Arts.

It is credited Gift of Mrs. Joseph Schillinger.

Poster, Congressman Dick Vanderveen
screenprint, gloss ink on paper.
Gift of Various Donors.
1981-29-168

On a white background, a colorful and abstract graphic image of a stylized human figure occupies almost the entire poster, with hands and feet reaching beyond the four corners of the image. Both arms are raised above the head in a high 'V' and the left knee is bent with the legs in a wide stance, though the actual hands and feet are omitted. The figure is assembled with a collage of cut and torn bold color blocks; a combination of polychrome shapes -- mostly triangles, rectangles, and trapezoids -- assembled like puzzle pieces in black, red, purple, yellow, green, pink, orange, and blue. The head is made up of two simple geometric shapes, a gray triangle and a black trapezoid fuzed together, floating above the torso and appearing detached from the body. The bottom right corner features the phrase 'Rights of Humankind' in tall, uneven block letters.

Poster, Rights of Humankind, 1989
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Shin Matsunaga.
1992-144-20

Bookplate which uses color to illustrate rhythm with a colored rectangle in the center formed from several different brightly colored geometric shapes overlayed on one another: including a yellow inverted triangle, a dark blue triangle, red and blue vertical rectangles, a small green triangle, brown diagonal rectangles, and very small purple, pink, yellow and orange triangles.

Drawing, Blue-green Rhythm, from The Mathematical Basis of the Arts
brush and tempera on illustration board.
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Schillinger.
1966-33-4

Our curators have highlighted 8 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Book, A Nomenclature of Colours
engraving with collage on paper.
Gift of the Color Association of the United States, Smithsonian Libraries,....
92.2016.50

Sidewall, Ascending Suns
hand-folded and dyed japanese paper.
Gift of Barbara White.
2000-64-41

Poster, Communication and Print
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Shin Matsunaga.
1992-144-17

Its dimensions are

H x W: 21.5 × 21.5 cm (8 7/16 × 8 7/16 in.) H x W (Mat): 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.)

Cite this object as

Drawing, Color Rhythm, from The Mathematical Basis of the Arts; USA; brush and tempera on illustration board; H x W: 21.5 × 21.5 cm (8 7/16 × 8 7/16 in.) H x W (Mat): 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.); Gift of Mrs. Joseph Schillinger; 1966-33-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2CzBX/
Accession Number 1966-33-1
Object ID 18453625