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 is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. This company was manufactured to carry on business by

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

books, selling color supplies for

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

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 (material), binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a ...

s, water colors, paper colors and school supplies 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 is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, 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 sc ...

and

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

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

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 morphology concerned with the study of the internal 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 scien ...

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

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and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. 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 Art ...

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, value, 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 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. Sunlig ...

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

, and

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

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), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. 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 The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

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 the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

X-Rite X-Rite, Inc. is an American 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 T ...

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 (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

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, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...

1917 establishments in Massachusetts