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Aha Moment Maker: Colors To Go, Please

by Your friends at OIC on October 5, 2013

Painter in front of paint tubes

LONDON, 1841—Frustrated by the inability to keep his oil paints from drying out, American portrait artist John Goff Rand created the paint tube. Made from tin with a resealable screw cap, Rand’s paint storage solution preserved the paints and prevented leakage.

It would also dramatically alter the direction of art:

  • “En plein air” painting, or open-air painting, became possible as artists were no longer bound to a studio.
  • Producing oil paints was time-consuming and required technical understanding. Once oil paints could be purchased in tubes, more people could participate in painting.
  • With tube paint that did not dry out, artists could work with a full rainbow of colors on their palettes during a single painting session.

Two decades later, the Impressionist movement developed in Paris. Impressionists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir broke with tradition in choosing to paint everyday subjects and scenes, many of them outdoors. While working outside, they needed the full range of colors to capture the light and subtleties of a fleeting moment.

The Impressionists and those who love their work owe a debt to the tiny paint tube that gave these innovative artists “colors to go.”

What’s the aha moment you see?

 

 Image © iStockphoto

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