Itten’s seven colour contrasts – a review: Part I. Early contrast theories and the road to Itten’s contrast theory

Abstract

In the first part of the article, we describe the origins of Itten’s contrast theory and the road leading up to the seven contrasts as it took its final form in The Art of Color1. In the second part we shall discuss in detail Itten’s seven contrasts. Finally, in the third part, we shall present the problems caused by students and teachers mechanically memorising and then blindly following the colour contrast canon without consideration for the core concepts which underlie it.