Ogden Nicholas Rood

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Ogden Nicholas Rood (born February 3, 1831 in Danbury (Connecticut) , † November 12, 1902 in Manhattan ) was an American physicist who was best known for his work on color theory .

Rood studied in Berlin and Munich before being appointed to a chair in physics at Columbia University . He held this position until his death. In 1864 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , in 1865 to the National Academy of Sciences .

His work on the theory of colors, Modern Chromatics, with Applications to Art and Industry was published in 1879. In 1880 Brockhaus published the German translation, Die Moderne Farbenlehre, with reference to its uses in painting and applied arts . The French translation also appeared in 1881. After Rood, the color sets of three parameters, together: purity ( purity ), brightness ( luminosity ), and color ( hue ). These are equivalent to Maxwell's parameters saturation ( tint ), shading ( shade ) and hue ( hue ).

Rood was an amateur artist and a member of the American Watercolor Society . In 1874 he gave two lectures at the National Academy of Design in New York on Modern Optics in Painting . Together with Maxwell and Eugène Chevreul , Rood had a great influence on the French impressionists and pointillists . The painter Camille Pissarro described the aims of pointillism in a letter as follows: "To find a modern synthesis of scientific and scientifically sound methods, that is, methods based on Chevreul's theory of colors, on Maxwell's experiments and Rood's measurements."

Rood's theory of color contrasts had a particularly strong influence on Georges Seurat , the founder of pointillism. Rood found that small dots of different colors merge into a new color when viewed from a distance. He believed that the complementary contrasts of his color wheel enhanced the effect of an image when used in pairs. "... paintings, made up almost entirely of tints that by themselves seem modest and far from brilliant, often strike us as being rich and gorgeous in color, while, on the other hand, the most gaudy colors can easily be arranged so as to produce a depressing effect on the beholder. "( Paintings that are composed almost entirely of colors of moderate saturation, of colors that by themselves do not appear brilliant, often astonish us with their rich and delicious colourfulness. On the other hand, the most colorful colors can be so arranged that they appear depressing to the viewer )

literature

  • Charles Harrison and others: Art in Theory: An Anthology of Changing Ideas . Blackwell Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-631-20066-5 .
  • Phoebe Pool: Impressionism . London 1967: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-20056-4 .
  • Ogden Rood: Students' Text-book of Color; Or, Modern Chromatics, with Applications to Art and Industry . New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1979.
    German translation: Die Moderne Farbenlehre with reference to its uses in painting and applied arts. Leipzig: FA Brockhaus, 1880

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pool, pp 243-244
  2. ^ Rood, p. 252
personal data
SURNAME Rood, Ogden Nicholas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Danbury (Connecticut)
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 1902
Place of death Manhattan