I cannot too strongly recommend the assortments 2 and 3 to artists, to whom these observations are particularly directed.

Red and Blue.

(209.) 1. Red, Blue, &c.

2. Black, Red, Blue, Black, &c.

3. Black, Red, Black, Blue, Black, &c.

The assortment 2 is preferable to 3, because there are too many sombre colours in the latter, and they differ too much from Red.

The effect of Black upon the binary assortment Red and Blue is inferior to that of White.

Red and Violet.

(210.) 1. Red, Violet, &c.

2. Black, Red, Violet, Black, &c.

3. Black, Red, Black, Violet, Black, &c.

Red and Violet injure each other reciprocally. There is an advantage in separating them with Black, but this does not produce so good an effect as White. It is difficult to say whether the assortment 3 is preferable to 2, for this reason, that, if in the latter Red is near the Violet, the defect can be more than compensated for in 3, by the predominance of sombre colours over Red.

Orange and Yellow.

(211.) 1. Orange, Yellow, &c.
2. Black, Orange, Yellow, &c.

3. Black, Orange, Black, Yellow, Black, &c.

Orange and Yellow being very luminous, the Black combines very well in the assortments 2 and 3; and if the assortment White, Orange, Yellow, White, is preferred to the assortment 2, I believe that in the assortment 3 the Black has a superior effect to White.

Orange and bright Green.

(212.) 1. Orange, Green, &c.
2. Black, Orange, Green, &c.

3. Black, Orange, Black, Green, Black, &c.

The Black combines very well with Orange and Bright Green, for the same reason that it does with Orange and Yellow. If in the assortment 2 we prefer White to Black, I think we cannot in the assortment 3.

I recommend to artists the alliance of Black with the binary assortments Orange and Yellow, and Orange and Green.

Orange and Violet.

(213.) 1. Orange, Violet, &c.

2. Black, Orange, Violet, Black, &c.

3. Black, Orange, Black, Violet, Black, &c.

Black does not combine so well as White with Orange and Violet, because the proportion of obscure colours is too great relatively to Orange, a very vivid colour.

Yellow and Green.

(214.) 1. Yellow, bright Green, &c.
2. Black, Yellow, Green, Black, &c.
3. Black, Yellow, Black, Green, Black, &c.

For the reason stated above (211.), Yellow and bright Green being luminous colours, Black combines very well with them; and if in the assortment 2, we prefer the effect of White to Black, I think we cannot do so in the assortment 3.

Yellow and Blue.

(215.) 1. Yellow, Blue, &c.

2. Black, Yellow, Blue, Black, &c.

3. Black, Yellow, Black, Blue, Black, &c.

If the assortment 2 is preferable to 3, I think it is inferior to the first. Black does not appear to me to combine so well as White in the Yellow and Blue assortment.

Green and Blue.

(216.) 1. Green, Blue, &c.

2. Black, Green, Blue, Black, &c.

3. Black, Green, Black, Blue, Black, &c.

Although the Green and Blue do not ally very well, yet the addition of Black is decidedly not advantageous, because of the increased proportion of sombre colours. Under this relation White has a better effect than Black.

Green and Violet.

(217.) 1. Green, Violet, &c.

2. Black, Green, Violet, Black, &c.

3. Black, Green, Black, Violet, Black, &c.

If the Black does combine better with Green and Violet than with Green and Blue, still its ternary assortments are inferior to the binary, and to the ternary assortment in which it is replaced by White.

Blue and Violet.

(218.) 1. Blue, Violet, &c.

2. Black, Blue, Violet, Black, &c.

3. Black, Blue, Black, Violet, Black, &c.

If Blue and Violet are colours which do not ally well together, and which it is advantageous to separate from each other, we must recognise that Black in isolating them does not relieve the sombre colour; but, on the other hand, the harmony of the assortments 2 and 3 is more agreeable as a harmony of analogy than the harmony of contrast presented by White with the same colours. There are cases where the combination Black, Blue, and Violet may be advantageous, when it presents to view diversified, but not brilliant, tones.

G

ARTICLE 3.

Colours with Grey.

(219.) All the primary colours gain in brilliancy and purity by the proximity of Grey; yet the effects are far from being similar or even analogous, to those which result from the proximity of the same colours with White. There is nothing surprising in this, when we consider that if White preserves to each colour its character, and even heightens it by contrast, it can never itself be taken for a colour properly so called; as Grey, on the contrary, can be so, it happens that it produces with the darkest colours-such as Blue, Violet, and the deep tones in general-assortments which enter into analogous harmonies; whilst, with colours naturally brilliant-such as Red, Orange, Yellow, and the light tones of Green-they form harmonies of contrast. Now, although White contrasts more with the sombre colours than with those which are naturally luminous, we cannot observe between White and these two classes of colours the difference which we distinguish between Grey and these same colours. Moreover, we might anticipate this result from what I said on the binary assortments with Black (203.).

A. BINARY ASSORTMENTS.

(220.) Grey and Blue, Grey and Violet, form assortments, the harmony of analogy of which is agreeable, but less so, however, than that of Black with the same colours.

Grey and Orange, Grey and Yellow, Grey and light Green, form assortments of harmony of contrast, in like manner agreeable perhaps they are less so than those where Grey is replaced by Black.

:

Grey and Rose are a little dull, and inferior to the assortment Black and Rose.

All the binary assortments of Grey, except, perhaps, that of Orange, are inferior to the binary assortments of White.

B. TERNARY ASSORTMENTS OF COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS WITH GREY.

Red and Green.

(221.) 1. Red, Green, &c.

2. Grey, Red, Green, Grey, &c.

3. Grey, Red, Grey, Green, Grey, &c.

If it is difficult to say whether the addition of Grey is advantageous to the binary assortment of Red and Green, we cannot say that it is injurious.

The third assortment is, perhaps, inferior to that where Grey is replaced by Black.

Blue and Orange.

(222.) 1. Blue, Orange, &c.

2. Grey, Blue, Orange, Grey, &c.

3. Grey, Blue, Grey, Orange, Grey, &c.

I prefer the first assortment to both the others.

Yellow and Violet.

(223.) 1. Yellow, Violet, &c.

2. Grey, Yellow, Violet, Grey, &c.
3. Grey, Yellow, Grey, Violet, Grey, &c.

Although the assortments 2 and 3 may be brighter than the assortments where Grey is replaced by Black (206.), nevertheless, the binary assortment appears to me preferable to the ternary.

C. TERNARY ASSORTMENTS OF NON-COMPLEMENTARY
COLOURS WITH GREY.

Red and Orange.

(224.) 1. Red, Orange, &c.

2. Grey, Red, Orange, Grey, &c.
3. Grey, Red, Grey, Orange, Grey, &c.

The assortments 2 and 3 are preferable to the binary assortment. The third is preferable to the second. Altogether, with Red and Orange, Grey produces a better effect than White, but the effect is inferior to that with Black.

Red and Yellow.

(225.) 1. Red, Yellow, &c.

2. Grey, Red, Yellow, Grey, &c.