Abstract

The authors, using physiological arguments, discuss the approximate nature of the concept of perceptual object color constancies, which are thought by some to obtain regardless of illumination level and quality. The phenomenon of contrast, so well exemplified by works of Claude Monet and Josef Albers, is cited as evidence of nonconstancy. Experimentally observed response of individual retinal cells to very small light beams is used to support the principle of retinal antagonistic organization as applied in color vision and is extended to spatial hue and lightness contrast. The finding that individual retinal cells have ‘receptive fields’ that differ in size is used to account for the opposite phenomenon of assimilation.

The authors direct attention to contemporary and older paintings and graphic works that possess the particularly interesting effect obtained when assimilation is present.

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