Art Materials By Windsor and Newton

Published: 2011-06-07

The basis for Winsor and Newton's early success was a rigorous scientific approach to making art materials so that they could offer reliability and consistency.

They developed new hues and colours that hitherto artists had to try to mix themselves, often from raw pigments, a difficult and labour-intensive process that only professional artists could realistically perform - in fact it was ideally a job for people with laboratory experience.

The availability of ready-mixed oils and watercolours was a boon to the amateur painters, and this meant that talented artists could earn a non-artistic living but devote more of their spare time to their painting.

This was a period of technological growth with steam engines, labour laws and automation which for some people brough them more leisure time.

Being able to purchase ready-made tubes of oil paints and gouache is so accepted now that it's hard to imagine anything else being used, but before their invention, oils would generally be supplied in pigs' bladders tied tightly at the top.

In 1840, Winsor patented the glass paint tube, which resembled and even operated in a similar way to a medical syringe. But shortly afterwards, the collapsible metal tube was invented by James Goff Rand. This clever invention was further developed by Winsor and Newton to create a means of supplying paint that lives on to this day.

If one company could claim to have influenced the British Art scene through its materials, then Winsor and Newton could. It is known that JMW Turner used sable brushes provided by Winsor and Newton, which are regarded as the finest in the world as they use the peerless Kolinsky sable hair.

The famous crest logo is to this day a sign of quality, and many artists will rarely use any other products, opting for Winsor And newton quality every time. Another symbol the company is proud of is the Royal Warrant, by appointment to HRH the Prince of Wales, whose love of watercolour painting is well known.

In fact their first such recognition came as being selected as "Artists' Colourmen to Queen Victoria" in 1841.

On such strong foundations, the company grew ever larger, exporting to countries all over the world including the USA and Australia by the middle of the nineteenth century.

Their range of products grew too, with brushes, canvases, draughtsman's equipment and, of course, new and innovative paints assisting amateurs and professionals alike.

The company has now been in business for over 175 years, a testament to a spirit of innovation and insistence on high standards that was as important to yesterday's artists as it is to the modern student or professional.