New Realism is high-key - luminous, open, and weighted toward light. The palette balances warm and cool with remarkable evenness, giving the composition its characteristic vibrancy. Every colour is desaturated; the palette proceeds through near-neutrals and gently-coloured greys. The most saturated colour, #C39870, is reserved to 2.8% of the surface, where it acts as a focal punctuation. A value spread of 59 units gives the palette both depth and air - shadows are genuinely dark, lights genuinely light.