COLOUR ANALYSIS INFLUENCERS: Who was Robert Dorr and where exactly does he fit into Colour Analysis?

Robert Dorr (1905 - 1979) was an American (New York) painter and was at his most significant around the 1920s - 1970s. Known as the first person to apply colour harmony to skin tone, his findings came about from observations when painting portraits. With his findings, this traditional ‘influencer’, woke the world up to the power of matching colours be it clothing or make-up, to a person’s undertone, and the value of doing so. He might have unknowingly assisted the average amateur portrait painter too…

Dorr discovered that when the complexion of a portrait of a person did not entirely reflect that person, he found it was necessary to add either blue or gold/yellow to the complexion to make it resemble that person more accurately. In effect, he was cooling down (added blue) or warming up (added gold/yellow) the portrait complexion. The realisation here for him was that people had either cool or warm undertones.

Dorr understood that wearing colour was indeed important if a person were to look harmonious. This included not only clothing, but makeup. Stemming from his colour findings, Dorr worked for a manufacturer at a textile company and later became a colour consultant for cosmetic companies.

Dorr focused on whether a person’s complexion harmonised with cool or warm colours or competed. He recognised that anyone can wear any colour, so long as it had enough blue or gold pigment in it.

About 1928, Dorr created his own cool vs warm undertone system. He called the system Key 1 (cool-magenta) and Key 2 (warm - orange). In fact, American paint company Ameritone Colour Key Corporation in 1974, copyrighted the Colour Key System and created a pocket guide which was used by Interior designers. It’s Robert Dorr we can thank for the introduction of the paint chip concept. Next time you’re in the paint section of Bunnings or Home Depot browsing the paint chips, have a thought for Robert Dorr. The Ameritone Colour Key Corporation was dissolved in the early 1990s.

In the 1950s when technicolour was introduced, Dorr became an adviser in Hollywood. Yes, you guessed it, Dorr’s job was to recommend wardrobe and makeup colours to enhance an actor, or in contrast, weaken an actor’s look. Dorr would dress or use makeup in colours that were either harmonious or inharmonious with the actor’s undertone.

To enhance an actor, Dorr was basically dressing and putting makeup on actors in colours that complimented their undertone. Otherwise, he was using colours that didn’t harmonise with an actor’s undertone, making that actor look wash-out, or harsh under lighting. He helped create Hollywood glamour, and Hollywood’s scoundrels and rouges, just by the simple use of colour harmony.

Perhaps when you watch your next Hollywood blockbuster, note the wardrobe and makeup colours of the actors.

You can book an in personal colour analysis with Ruth Everlene at rutheverlene.com.au, located just north of Wollongong NSW Australia.