How does art depend on chemistry?
Prehistory
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
Antiquity
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period.
Medieval Age
Renaissance & Baroque
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period
Industrialization
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
Contemporary Age
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
Pigment #1: Emerald Green
Pigment #2: Van Dyke Brown
Pigment #3: Titanium White
Technique #1: X-ray light
Technique #2: Microscopy
Technique #3: UV light
Art depends on chemistry in many ways. Many colors and pigments would not exist if chemistry hadn’t existed. Many colors, like red, depend on Iron Oxide to create their bright hue. In more modern times, chemistry has been used for synthesis of chemicals that have been used in paints. Lead paint, which was found in a lot of homes and buildings until the late 1970s, has properties that can alter your brain’s activity and functions. Although chemistry and elements weren’t discovered in ancient and prehistoric times, it still played a big role in art and science. In the beginning of art history, many paints were comprised of all natural materials, and weren’t necessarily too dangerous. However, as time progressed, more artificial chemicals were introduced in paints and pigments. Paint was also becoming mass produced at the time, which made the dangerous chemicals more exposed to artists and society. In the 1930s, around the time of the Spanish Civil War, Pablo Picasso began painting with acrylic paints, and suffered many brain injuries due to inhalation.
Prehistory
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
- Dirt and charcoal were mixed with spit or animal fat. The paint would adhere to the cave walls because the material the pigment was mixed with would dry and adhere to the wall.
Were the elements and pigments toxic or safe to use? - The materials were generally okay to use because they didn’t really use any chemicals, they used charcoal and other environmental materials mixed with spit or fat.
Please include any chemical formulas or reactions - There weren’t any chemical formulas or reactions during this time period because chemistry and elements were unknown during this time period.
Antiquity
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period.
- Iron oxide and organic dyes extracted from plants
Were the elements and pigments toxic or safe to use? - The natural dyes extracted from plants weren’t generally toxic or unsafe, but some of the iron oxide dyes were.
Please include any chemical formulas or reactions - None in this time period
Medieval Age
- What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
- Eggs were used during this period. Pigments were mixed with eggs, which would then be painted onto walls or canvases. The egg would dry and stick the paint.
Were the elements and pigments toxic or safe to use? - Most of the pigments and elements weren’t unsafe, but ingesting the egg paint could have been hazardous.
Please include any chemical formulas or reactions - Chemistry and chemical formulas weren’t discovered during this period
Renaissance & Baroque
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
- Egg was replaced with walnut or other oils to create a more versatile paint.
Were the elements and pigments toxic or safe to use? - The walnut and other oils weren’t necessarily dangerous, but the elements such as iron oxide mixed with them could have been more dangerous.
Please include any chemical formulas or reactions - None
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period
- Paint was starting to be mass produced, and pre-made paints using chemicals and artificial pigments were appearing on the market. Watercolor became very popular.
Were the elements and pigments toxic or safe to use? - During this period of time, paint was starting to be produced in factories or by other people, so some of the materials and pigments started to become hazardous.
Please include any chemical formulas or reactions - None at the time
Industrialization
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
- The tin paint tube was invented, which allowed paint to be transported to different places easily. Paint companies began to use more chemicals in order to prolong the paint life.
Were the elements and pigments toxic or safe to use? - Due to the mass production of paint during this period, it was cheaper and more efficient to use more hazardous materials (unknown to be hazardous at the time) instead of having to find natural and more expensive materials.
Please include any chemical formulas or reactions - There were many polymers in paint, which reacted with some artificial pigments.
Contemporary Age
What elements and natural materials were pigments created from during this time period?
- Acrylic paints introduced in this time period.
Were the elements and pigments toxic or safe to use? - Acrylic paints were not safe, and could be linked to many physical and mental problems developed by many artists in the mid 1920s-30s.
Please include any chemical formulas or reactions - Lead (Pb)
Pigment #1: Emerald Green
- The chemical name is Copper-acetoarsenite
- Emerald Green is not considered a pigment anymore because it is very poisonous.
- It is very toxic, it is not available anymore because it decomposes into arsenic, which is a lethal gas.
Pigment #2: Van Dyke Brown
- Van Dyke Brown contains 90% natural materials.
- The paint itself is non-toxic but manganese oxide, one of the components, is mildly toxic.
- The chemical name for Van Dyke Brown is iron oxide.
Pigment #3: Titanium White
- Titanium White is an artificial compound.
- Chemical name is Titanium Dioxide
- Titanium White is non-toxic.
Technique #1: X-ray light
- X-ray light can reveal different perspectives and hidden meanings behind paintings and art.
- X-rays can also reveal how different objects were constructed; using wood, cement, ceramic or other materials.
- Some pigments absorb x-ray light more than others.
Technique #2: Microscopy
- Microscopes can unveil hidden details and other parts of art that the artist has concealed.
- Microscopes can also reveal the type of paint and thickness, which could attribute to finding the time period it was painted in.
Technique #3: UV light
- UV light can be applied to certain paints to restore faded paint or defects
- UV is common in finding hidden parts of paintings.
- UV can be used to help restore paintings that have faded or been damaged.
Art depends on chemistry in many ways. Many colors and pigments would not exist if chemistry hadn’t existed. Many colors, like red, depend on Iron Oxide to create their bright hue. In more modern times, chemistry has been used for synthesis of chemicals that have been used in paints. Lead paint, which was found in a lot of homes and buildings until the late 1970s, has properties that can alter your brain’s activity and functions. Although chemistry and elements weren’t discovered in ancient and prehistoric times, it still played a big role in art and science. In the beginning of art history, many paints were comprised of all natural materials, and weren’t necessarily too dangerous. However, as time progressed, more artificial chemicals were introduced in paints and pigments. Paint was also becoming mass produced at the time, which made the dangerous chemicals more exposed to artists and society. In the 1930s, around the time of the Spanish Civil War, Pablo Picasso began painting with acrylic paints, and suffered many brain injuries due to inhalation.