The Munsell Color Company was founded by Albert H. Munsell in 1917 with two other stockholders, Arthur Allen and Ray Greenleaf. It was located at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. This company was manufactured to carry on business by

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

books, selling color supplies for

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

s such as

crayon A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax an ...

water colors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting met ...

, paper colors and

school supplies Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous stationery, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by han ...

and to teach the principles of Munsell Color System. After the death of Albert H. Munsell, his son, Alexander Ector Orr Munsell, was convinced to take over the company and reorganized it, renamed as the Munsell Color Foundation. The Munsell Color Foundation moved to New York for educational purposes and established the Munsell Research Laboratory which was funded by the Munsell family. A few years later, the Munsell Color Foundation and the Laboratory moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, to be close to the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. Alexander Munsell contributed his times attending to Johns Hopkins University and under the guidance from I. G. Priest, in order for Alexander continuing researching on his father's works. In 1983, the Foundation trustees had voted to close Munsell Color Foundation and donated to Rochester Institute of Technology, from which it created the Munsell Color Science Laboratory.

Short biography of Albert H. Munsell

Albert H. Munsell was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 6, 1858 and died on June 24, 1918. During his youth, he studied arts in Massachusetts Normal Art School and went abroad to

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to further studied arts. Impressionist arts movement was a big hit during his time. He won some awards for his work in

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, perspective and composition. His artworks were praised and exhibited in Boston,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Most of his paintings were seascape artwork. When Albert Munsell went back to Massachusetts, he became a teacher of drawing and painting from antique figures, models, composition and anatomy. During the early 1900s, Albert Munsell kept diaries on the development of Munsell color space. The reason he developed the Munsell Color System was to make the colors easy and convenient to teach children, since he believed that if children were properly taught, colors would be more meaningful and useful for them through life. He devoted his time to continue working on his Munsell color space.

Albert Henry Munsell Albert Henry Munsell (January 6, 1858 – June 28, 1918) was an American painter, teacher of art, and the inventor of the Munsell color system. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, attended and served on the faculty of Massachusetts Normal Ar ...

In 1917 Albert H. Munsell founded the Munsell Color Company. He invested his time working on the Munsell Color System and published some books which were called ''A Color Notation'' (1905), ''Atlas of Munsell Color System'' (1915) and ''A Grammar of Color: Arrangements of Strathmore Papers in a Variety of Printed Color Combinations According to The Munsell Color System'' (1921). He was the first one to create the Munsell color system to separate three attributes –

hue In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called Color appearance model#Color appearance parameters, color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a Stimulus (physiology ...

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...

, and chroma – to be perceptually uniform. And the data of the Munsell color system was the most accurate measurement of human's visual responses to color.

Munsell Color Foundation

The Munsell Color Company was founded by Albert H. Munsell, who devoted his time to developing a color order system. The share owners of the

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

besides Albert Munsell were Arthur Allen and Ray Greenleaf. Albert Munsell developed the color system based on human perception. And yet, his color system became popular and is still used worldwide today. The Munsell Color Company was formed to carry business by publishing books and charts, crayons, water colors, color spheres, paper colors and school supplies. After the death of Albert Munsell, his family supported the company in memorial of him. The company was later reorganized as the Munsell Color Foundation and moved to New York. The Foundation was set up as the Munsell Color Laboratory to continue the scientific work of Munsell color system. Albert's son, Alexander Ector Orr Munsell, was convinced by Allen and Greenleaf to agree to take over the position of CEO of the Munsell Color Foundation. Alexander did not care much about the business and artist aspect. He only cared about the scientific aspect of Albert Munsell's work. So Alexander decided to turn over the making and the handling of Munsell crayons to the Binney and Smith Company and the school supplies to Favor, Ruhl and Company. The only things left in the Munsell Color Company were the production of the Atlas papers, charts, disks and Munsell publications. At the same time, the Munsell Color Foundation and Munsell Color Laboratory moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where it was near to the National Bureau of Standards and Johns Hopkins University. Alexander intended to do some laboratory research with the spectrophotometer, artificial

daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunligh ...

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

, and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

posters near Hopkins University under the guidance of I.G. Priest. Based on his successful research, the ''Munsell Book of Color'' was published, replacing Albert Munsell's ''Atlas of Munsell Color System''. Later, the Munsell Color Foundation became a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. Alexander no longer had time to worry about the business aspect of his company when he was focusing on researching. So he attended an open meeting with the leaders in the color field and confirmed that Munsell Color Foundation gave up the business. The National Bureau of Standards and Inter-Society Color Council appointed special trustees to serve on the Board of Trustees. Those trustees were appointed to represent the color interests of science and educational fields. The purpose of this company serves “to further the scientific and practical advancement of color knowledge and in particular knowledge relating to standardization, nomenclature, and specification of color, and to promote the practical application of these results to color problems arising in science, art and industry.’. In 1983, the Foundation Board of Trustees voted to close the Munsell Color Foundation. They had donated the endowment of the Munsell Color Science Laboratory to the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

who was selected as a recipient . Most of the products that were owned by the Munsell Color Foundation are now owned by the X-Rite company.

Munsell Color Science Laboratory

The Board of Trustees of the Munsell Color Foundation voted to close down the foundation and donated the Munsell Color Laboratory to a selected recipient, the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Munsell Color Science Laboratory was located at the Rochester Institute of Technology at the building of Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. The creation of the Munsell Color Science Laboratory was thanks to the effort of Franc Grum, who was the first Director of the Munsell Color Science Laboratory and R.S. Hunter, who was a professor of Color Science. Franc Grum used to be an employee of Munsell Color Foundation. Currently, the purpose of this laboratory is to aim the improvement of scientific researches toward Imaging Science Field.

Contributions of Munsell Color Foundation

Albert H. Munsell's books : ''A Color Notation'' : ''Altas of Munsell Color System'' : ''A Grammar of Color: Arrangements of Strathmore Papers in a Variety of Printed Color Combinations According to The Munsell Color System'' Munsell Color Company :Photometer invented by Albert H. Munsell :Munsell Crayons Munsell Color Foundation :''Munsell Book of Color'' (improved version than ''Altas of Munsell Color System'') :Universal Photometer :Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Color Vision Test :Munsell Color Tree

X-Rite

X-Rite is a manufacturer of color matching products that continues the focus on the field of Imaging Science. The company is located in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

X-Rite X-Rite, Inc. is a manufacturer of color measurement and management products, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. The company also creates products that regulate quality in the processing of film and x-rays. History The firm wa ...

X-ray marking tape was their first product introduced in 1961. Before, X-Rite was primary working on the products related to the processing of film and

x-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

s. Later, X-Rite eventually shifted into the field of color measurement . They had purchased the products of Munsell and other Imaging Science companies. X-Rite has kept the products of Munsell and other Imaging Science products alive so for future generations to use them.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://munsell.com
''A grammar of color: arrangements of Strathmore papers in a variety of printed color combinations according to the Munsell color system...''
Mittineague, Mass. : The Strathmore Paper Company. 1921 - digital facsimile from the

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...

1917 establishments in Massachusetts