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# Sum of the Arts
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/sum-of-the-arts-13/
- Published: 2015-06-04T20:14:12.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:43:20.000Z
- Description: Number of official colors used by the US government = 650
- Author: Allison Meier
- Tags: Art, Sum of the Arts, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:08 (2014, 2015, part 2)

![A selection of the 650 official Pantone Federal Standard Colors used by the US government (screenshot by the author via federalstandardcolor.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/06/federalstandardcolors.jpg)

A selection of the 650 official Federal Standard Colors used by the US government (screenshot by the author via federalstandardcolor.com)

*Inspired by the* [*Harper’s Index*](http://harpers.org/departments/harpers-index/?ref=hyperallergic.com)*,* [*Sum of the Arts*](http://hyperallergic.com/tag/sum-of-the-arts/) *is a periodic tabulation of numbers floating around the art world and beyond.*

- Number of official colors [used by the US government](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/26/the-u-s-government-has-650-official-colors-can-you-tell-them-apart/?ref=hyperallergic.com) \= **650**
- Number of figures[ cut from Rembrandt’s 12 foot by 14 foot “The Night Watch”](http://mentalfloss.com/article/64381/15-things-you-might-not-know-about-rembrandts-night-watch?ref=hyperallergic.com) to fit in Amsterdam town hall 73 years after its completion = **2**
- Weight in pounds of solid gold opium and cannabis paraphernalia [discovered in a 2,400-year-old Scythian grave mound](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150522-scythians-marijuana-bastard-wars-kurgan-archaeology/?ref=hyperallergic.com) \= **7**
- Number of recycling trucks [to be covered with art this summer](http://dcarts.dc.gov/page/designed-recycle?ref=hyperallergic.com) as part of a “mobile canvas” project in Washington, DC = **10**
- Tons of stacked steel cubes by Richard Serra [that will surround his former assistant](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/philip-glass-to-perform-inside-a-richard-serra-installation/?smid=nytimesarts&ref=hyperallergic.com), composer Philip Glass, in a July performance = **40**
- Pairs of military drumsticks [acquired by the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments](http://collection.yale.edu/2015/06/01/a-gift-the-paul-a-munier-collection-of-military-snare-drumsticks/?ref=hyperallergic.com) \= **60** (including those of the “Poet Drummer of Connecticut”)
- Percentage of lots [that were guaranteed](http://www.theartnewspaper.com/market/auctions/156500/?ref=hyperallergic.com), meaning they were practically already sold, at the May 13 Christie’s auction = **61**
- Millions in US dollars[ that have been cut](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-york-libraries-rally-funding-city-hall-article-1.2243867?ref=hyperallergic.com) from New York City’s three public library systems in the past 8 years = **65**
- Number of artworks the Metropolitan Museum of Art [declined to accept from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney](http://blog.preservationnation.org/2015/05/29/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-original-whitney-studio/?ref=hyperallergic.com) in 1928, which became the foundation of the Whitney Museum of American Art = **600**
- Number of households in the world [that are worth](http://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/selling-to-the-super-rich?ref=hyperallergic.com) over $30 million = **211,275**