The Lost Art of Making Paint
The separation of artists from their craft became widespread in the 19th century, but it was a trend that had begun much earlier. By the early 17th century, the dominance of architects over masons and carpenters in the building trade was established. At about the same time, the status of painters began to rise. This separation may have been encouraged by or perhaps even inspired the industrialization of artists’ materials, but it also had far-reaching effects on the materials and practice of painting.
Materials began to be used capriciously, and construction became less important than effect. Whereas the whimsical use of materials may have always existed among painters, it was always guided by the traditions of the workshop. For the first time, artists yielded a power formerly the domain of the evolutionary process of craftsmanship. The rise in the status of artists was aided by the establishment of academies which evoked changes in the education of young painters.
The industrialization that began first in England about the middle of the 18th century changed how painters worked by freeing them from the labor of making paint. Still, it also released them from the discipline of their craft. The commercial production and packaging of paints is central to art history in the 19th century. British colormen were at the forefront of developments from the ‘colour-clothlets’ of the medieval limner to the appearance of bladder colors in the 17th century, to the watercolor cakes of the Reeves brothers, and the introduction of collapsible metal tubes for oil paints.
These innovations were undoubtedly in response to the demand created by professional painters distancing themselves from the manual labor of their craft. Still, another source was the new demand from the growing ranks of amateur painters.
The system of education in the medieval workshop that gave individuals basic painting skills was in decline due to industrialization. Innovations like packaged colors such as watercolor cakes and tubed oil paint furthered the painter’s position by detaching him from the manual labor needed to produce them. Although industrial development created new opportunities for painters, such as plein air painting, it ultimately removed artists from the firsthand experience gained by making these commodities.
The Pursuit of the Old Masters’ Secrets
The loss of direct experience with pigments and their interaction with binding media and the aspiration of artists to the intellectual and social distinction established by the Academies may explain why artists in the 18th century began searching for secrets that would allow them to achieve the glorious colors of the old masters. This developed into an obsession with many painters working in England toward the end of the 18th century.
It is as though artists viewed painting mediums as a Philosopher’s Stone, transforming mediocre work into masterpieces.
One of the earliest mentions of this medium is found in Sir Joshua Reynolds’ notebook of 1767. Reynolds’ use of a medium called ‘megilp’ – a mixture of mastic gum dissolved in turpentine and mixed with black oil or an oil medium composed of linseed or walnut oil cooked with litharge or white lead – led to the severe cracking in many of his pictures.
The widespread use of such mediums by artists in the latter half of the 18th century led to the commercial production of a multitude of varnishes, such as copal oil and spirit varnishes, and mediums based on such varnishes, such as Roberson’s Medium, which was a mixture of mastic varnish, copal varnish, and black oil.
The use of such complicated applications of paint and the combination of oil and resin appear to be responsible for many of the drying defects in paintings of this period.
Rediscovering the ‘secrets’ of the old masters prompted more experiments with wax and resinous ingredients. Hard and soft natural resins were extensively used and written about in the growing field of literature on painting technique. The addition of waxes and resins to paint was widely believed to bring greater transparency, durability, and handling properties than oil alone.
Lessons from the Past, Applied to the Present
Sir Charles Eastlake sought to discover the reasons for the durability of early oil paintings in the hope that his research published in Materials for a History of Oil Painting would help artists of his day. Like many writers of the 19th century, he primarily focused on resinous mediums as the key to understanding the technique of early oil painters.
Eastlake recognized that the brilliance of the paint was produced optically by painting thinly on a bright white background. Yet Eastlake could not give up on the idea of using varnishes in oil paint.
What has since been found is that both linseed and walnut oil were used by Van Eyck and his contemporaries and that both oil and tempera were sometimes combined on the same panel. Van Eyck’s process appears to have been more simple, and analyses of his paintings reveal that he used both bodied and unmodified linseed oil and sometimes pine resin, depending on the drying and optical properties of his pigments.
The uncertainty in materials and techniques continued into the 20th century, furthered by the commercialization of artists’ paints and the introduction of new binding materials by artists’ materials manufacturers based on scientific advances in the coatings industry.
The old masters’ glazing technique involves applying multiple layers of transparent paint over a dry base color to achieve depth, richness, and subtlety in color variation. This method allows for the creation of luminous tones and intricate details, characteristic of many historic paintings.
Many contemporary artists study and employ the techniques of the old masters, blending traditional methods with modern perspectives and materials, aiming to preserve the craftsmanship and aesthetic qualities of historic art in their work.
Painting for Posterity with Modern Oil Paints
Paintings produced in the last 60–80 years generally suffer deterioration phenomena never or rarely observed in traditional oil paintings. In particular, 20th-century oil paintings have conservation problems related to the fragility and sensitivity of the paint layers.
The binding media and technique employed by artists working in the 18th and 19th centuries represent a dramatic change likely explained by the new social status of artists and the decline in the workshop tradition, creating the demand satisfied by industrialization and commercialization of artists’ materials.
Industrial development created new opportunities for painters and ultimately removed artists from the firsthand experience gained by making paint. The uncertainty in materials and techniques continued into the 20th century, furthered by the commercialization of artists’ paints and the introduction of new binding materials by artists’ materials manufacturers based on scientific advances in the coatings industry.
A phenomenon observed in modern paints not observed in paintings prior to the 20th century is a milky haze on the surface of the paint film. After aging, superficial efflorescence is observed in modern paint films, particularly those with higher additives.
This is likely the effect of the migration to the surface of additives, such as stearates and waxes, introduced in modern oil paint formulations. The addition of stabilizers keeps the pigments in suspension, prevents oil and pigment separation, prolongs shelf life, and provides uniform handling properties of the paints in tubes. However, these additions can also reduce the cost of oil paint production since lower amounts of pigments are needed.
In conclusion, the old masters’ techniques and materials continue to captivate and inspire contemporary artists, who strive to preserve the rich heritage of oil painting while adapting to modern materials and practices. By understanding the history and evolution of artists’ paints, we can better navigate the complexities of painting for posterity in the 21st century.