Magenta

Magenta is a color that is variously defined as purplish-red, reddish-purple, or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMYK (subtractive) color models, it is located midway between red and blue. It is one of the four colors of ink used in color printing by an inkjet printer, along with yellow, black, and cyan, to make all other colors. The name magenta comes from a dye that was patented in 1859 by the French company Chemin de Fer du Nord, which was originally called "fuchsine", but later renamed to celebrate the Italian-French victory at the Battle of Magenta.

History

The color magenta was first introduced as the color of a new aniline dye called fuchsine, patented in 1859 by the French chemist François-Emmanuel Verguin. The dye was renamed magenta later in the same year, to celebrate a victory of the French and Sardinians at the Battle of Magenta on June 4, 1859, near the Italian town of Magenta in Lombardy.

In science and culture

In the RGB color model, used to create colors on television and computer screens, magenta is a secondary color, made by combining equal amounts of red and blue light at a high intensity. In this system, magenta is the complementary color of green, and combining green and magenta light on a black screen will create white.

In the CMYK color model, used in color printing, it is one of the primary colors, along with cyan and yellow. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Though it is a basic color in the CMYK color model, there is no such color wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum of light.

In art and culture, magenta is often associated with creativity, inspiration, and artistic expression. It is also often associated with femininity and romance.

See also

• RGB color model
• CMYK color model
• Color wheel
• Battle of Magenta