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The primary colours are red, yellow and blue.

They cannot be made by mixing other colours together. The primary colours sit equal distances apart on the colour wheel.

All other colours can be mixed from red, yellow and blue.

Piet Mondrian often used primary colours in his works.

In Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red (1937-42) the solid blocks of colour are relatively small. But because they are bright, pure primary colours, they stand out boldly against the white background and black grid lines.

Van Gogh used primary colour to great effect in this version of his 1888 work Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

The fact that the main colours in the painting are red, blue and yellow makes a striking image that stands out to the viewer.

The bright colours of paint used by Mondrian and Van Gogh were not yet available for earlier painters.

The Milkmaid by Vermeer (c.1658-60) uses tints, shades and tones of the primary colours and neutral browns in a way that is more subtle and natural looking.

Placing the three colours next to each other in the woman’s clothes helps make them stand out in contrast to each other.