The Color Wheel: Green

December 23, 2009
Hattie Carnegie Green Dress, July 15, 1943

Model in green dress, photographed by John Rawlings in the July 15, 1943 Vogue

Note: Click on each image to get an enlarged view, read more information, and begin navigating through the entire image gallery.

Each month, “The Color Wheel” will take a color-coordinated approach to exploring Condé Nast images. These color collections will help decorators and designers select images to inspire an environment, theme, or room.

Our first hue is the color of the moment. From the environment to the economy, green seems to be everywhere.

Polychromatic Parasol, April 1954

White chaise-longue and multicolored parasol, photographed by Tom Leonard in the April 1, 1954 House & Garden

Mademoiselle, February 1956

Mademoiselle February 1956 cover, photographed by Mark Shaw

If the September 1948 cover of House & Garden [CN00053273] were printed in black and white, how appealing would it be? This issue’s “Color Is Cue” article devoted to the “national palette and its future,” asks, “If your rooms were stripped of color, how much charm and character would be left? Color is the cue, which can make great decorating out of the simplest elements.”

House & Garden, September 1948

House & Garden September 1948 cover, illustrated by Herbert Matter

From its inception in 1946, House & Garden’s annual Color Program developed a color guide and a yearly forecast in collaboration with hundreds of home furnishing manufacturers. The 1958 palette—Bitter Green, Bronze Green, Peacock Green, Mist Green, and Green Olive—suggests a range of styles and emotions. As color consultant Faber Birren wrote in the September 1957 issue: “The beauty of color is a mirror of the human spirit—ages old and yet eternally new… and interior decoration is less a process of creation in color than inventiveness in fresh interpretations that draw from the riches of the past.”

House & Garden, October 1946

House & Garden October 1946 cover, illustrated by Tom Martin

Green might conjure visions of evergreens, emeralds, camouflage, or currency. It can symbolize hope and growth, regeneration and renewal. Although green is not one of the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), it is the perfect shade to kick off “The Color Wheel.” It also presents a complement to the next color in this series: red.

One Dress, Five Ways, February 15, 1959

Five models wearing the same style of dress in various colors, photographed by William Bell in the February 15, 1959 Vogue

Gourmet September 1981

Gourmet September 1981 cover, photographed by Ken Bates

GQ, October 1963

Salvador Dalí on the GQ October 1963 cover, photographed by Chadwick Hall

Green Prints, June 1, 1952

Model in green print dress against green-patterned wallpaper, photographed by Henry Clarke in the June 1, 1952 Vogue

House & Garden, August 1916

House & Garden August 1916 cover, illustrated by Ethel Franklin Betts Baines

Gourmet, October 1969

Belgian grapes on the Gourmet October 1969 cover, photographed by Ronny Jacques

Landscape with Houses, August 1938

A scenic landscape dotted with a variety of houses, illustrated by Victor Bobritsky in the August 1938 House & Garden

The Mojito, September 2001

A "Sloppy Joe" mojito, outtake from the September 2001 Gourmet, photographed by Romulo Yanes

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