Warm and Cool Colors

Blue vs. orange is the strongest opposition

The most basic color relationship is warm against cool. Mammals can see it. Color-blind people usually can see it, even if they can’t perceive green and red.

Why did John Singer Sargent choose to emphasize those browns and blues in his plein-air painting of a wrecked sugar refinery, above? I'm sure if you had taken a color photo of the same subject, it w…