The phenomenon of color in the history of science may be discussed in two aspects: 1) in the context of numerous theories focusing on the essence of color as such (Aristotle, Newton, Goethe, Itten, etc.) and 2) within the problem of the invention and production of paints. The article states that in both aspects, the problem of color in the course of its historical development is becoming “humanized”. On the one hand, the attention of researchers from a purely physical and even mechanical explanation of the nature of color starting with Goethe's optical studies switches to the problem of human color perception. On the other hand, the invention and production of paints, initially driven by economic and political factors, using man only as a mechanism in the chain of production, is fundamentally transformed by a change in the public view of the value of human life and health.