Visual exploration of color usage in Vincent van Gogh's Paintings

This paper aims to explore the use of color and color harmony in Vincent van Gogh's paintings and present the results in the form of a web-based digital museum to provide an intuitive and immersive experience to the public audience. To achieve this goal, we tested four different color extraction algorithms and determined the extcolors library to be the most effective method for extracting theme colors after interviewing ten random viewers. This study then conducted a visual analysis of the extracted colors, revealing that the predominant colors of van Gogh's paintings were yellow and green, followed by blue and red. We also identified the main types of color harmony used in van Gogh's paintings as monochromatic, analogous, and complementary harmony. The ultimate outcome of this research is a digital gallery that showcases the different periods of van Gogh's work via a timeline representation, highlighting the distinctive color schemes that were employed during each period. This presentation gives the exhibits a clear context and provides the viewer with a clear and vivid experience. Overall, the study's findings reveal insightful information about how color is employed in van Gogh's artwork and suggest a useful application which is in the form of a timeline representation that can be used to improve the audience's exposure to the art and cultural heritage.