The origin of colors

At the end of the 19th century, when Gustave Sennelier developed the first oil colors reserved for his artist clients, he understood the imperative need to elaborate his preparations with the help of top quality pigments, of carefully verified origins and with very precise chemical characteristics. Respecting these requirements ensured the conservation of the original tones and the durability of the artists' works.

Today, if many pigments have disappeared by depletion of their natural deposits or have been banned for their toxicity, the market offers a wide variety of synthetic pigments that equal the performance of the old mineral pigments such as Lapis Lazuli, Cinnabar ... Of course we still extract the earths that contain substances from the action of natural elements on certain minerals: so ocher are clays tinted by iron oxides. Some "burnt" earths are obtained by calcining the original earth.

Today, Sennelier remains very vigilant in the selection of the pigments he uses in his own creations: Oils and extra-fine watercolors, soft and oil pastels. These are exactly the same pigments that are offered to the artists who then have the possibility to totally control the preparation of their colors with a precise finality.