It is not clear when the essentially formalist notion of inner light became a commonplace in the criticism of Venetian painting of the sixteenth century, but it was certainly a major concern of the Bavarian painter Max Doerner, whose handbook The Materials of the Artist and Their use in Painting, with notes on the Techniques of the Old Masters (1921), had been published in an English translation in New York in 1934 and came to be much used in the circle of the abstract expressionists. Although Rothko has the reputation of being a poor technician, it is striking that he adopted a number of the thoroughly traditional materials and techniques discussed in Doerner's book, notably the grinding of his own pigments and the use of a variety of egg tempera. In addition to Doerner's particular interest in traditional methods, as implied in his title, he felt able to recommend some of the new synthetic materials, such as the titanium white and the coal tar 'lithol fast scarlet,' which were later used so disastrously by Rothko in his Harvard murals. On the other hand, Rothko showed none of Doerner's concern for the careful construction of stretchers, and he adopted the late medieval technique of interposing an isolating egg-white glaze between layers of pigments or vanish, which Doerner had specifically discouraged since egg white becomes very brittle with time and turns brown. Yet these examples too suggest that Rothko was quite familiar with Doerner's book," wrote John Gage in his essay.

American Artist - Art Mart Natural Pigments' Paint-Making Kits March, 2005 "Natural Pigments—a paint-production and art-supply company that specializes in unearthing rare, hard-to-find hues from around the world—has added medium-specific kits to their extensive do-it-yourself paint-making line. Artists looking to replicate the colors found in Old Master paintings will be well equipped with these newly released kits. "We make paints specifically for artists interested in Old Master paintings," says George O'Hanlon, the director of Natural Pigments. "The pigment properties of the past are vastly different from those used in today's popular paints. We create our pigments in the same way as the Old Masters: hand-ground to a coarse finish, levigated, and immediately packaged and ready for use To obtain these exotic hues, the company imports pigments from such obscure locales as Cyprus, the Baltic Region, and Afghanistan. "We import lazurite—commonly called lapis lazuli—from Afghanistan; it's the Old Masters' ultramarine," states O'Hanlon. Similarly uncommon colors in the new Basic Paint-Making kits are available in three media—oil, casein, or watercolor. Each kit contains everything artists need to create their own paints: mixing tools, six natural mineral and earth pigments, and a sampling of binders: linseed oil and beeswax in the Basic Oil Paint-Making Kit; casein and borax in the Basic Casein Paint-Making Kit; and gum arabic, glycerin, and chalk in the Basic Watercolor Paint-Making Kit. To learn more or to order your Natural Pigments' Paint-Making Kit, visit www.naturalpigments.com.
- bill 1-31-2005 5:23 pm [add a comment]

What are you, planning some frescoes?
- alex 2-01-2005 4:53 am [add a comment]

does that have rum in it ?
- bill 2-01-2005 5:01 am [add a comment]

"Unnatural Pigments specializes in cobalt, cadmium, lead, and other materials guaranteed to kill you off and thereby increase your market value..."
- tom moody 2-01-2005 5:06 am [add a comment]