Tracing the chemical origin of paint is crucial for the conservationists of fine art.
was a famous American painter best known for his abstract expressionism, including the “drip and splash” and the “all-over” style of painting . Now we finally know the chemical origin of the blue color he splattered onto his iconic, a technique scientists use to investigate matter at the atomic level.
With this approach, they revealed it to be manganese blue, a now discontinued turquoise-ish pigment. They detail their work in aby Jackson Pollock is a quintessential example of his action painting technique where ropes of color, drips of black, and pools of white coalesce into the layered dynamism that defines his style,” the researchers wrote in the paper. “While past work has identified the red and yellow pigments that form part of his core palette, the vibrant blue in the painting has remained unassigned.” Pigments are chemicals. Manganese blue, for example, is the chemical barium manganate sulfate, Abed Haddad, another co-author of the study and an assistant conservation scientist at the MoMA, told Gizmodo in an email. It wasin 1907 and first patented in 1935. Artists used the pigment frequently until it was phased out by the 1990s due to environmental and health concerns. A hue, on the other hand, is the color that we see, Haddad continued. Different pigments can be mixed together to create a hue similar to that of the discontinued manganese blue, which is why the color is still available in stores. The combination of a blue pigment and a yellow pigment, for example, creates a green hue—not a green pigment.Haddad and his colleagues also investigated the chemistry that allows for the pigment’s unique color. Manganese blue molecules consist of “a manganese surrounded by four oxide ions,” Edward Solomon, another co-author of the study and a chemist from Stanford University, told Gizmodo in an email. “The blue color derives from the absorption of light in the purple and green regions ” when light causes an electron to move from the oxide ion to the manganese ion. But what, besides addressing a niche curiosity, is the point of identifying the exact chemical compound of a pigment? In the context of conservation, “this knowledge can be crucial for developing effective display strategies, since many pigments are sensitive to environmental factors such as intense light, ultraviolet radiation, and humidity fluctuations,” Haddad explained. “Furthermore, pigment identification can help determine suitable treatment options, as some chemical conditions might react adversely with specific pigments.” In that spirit, a note to all artists: Have pity on future conservationists, and leave a record of the pigments you use in your paintings.The rare, nonvenomous snake hasn’t been spotted since 2020, and officials are asking the public to keep an eye open for them.A curious question sparked a cosmic deep dive into why light never tires—even after 25 million years on the move.The carnivorous"bone collector" caterpillar is the only known species of its kind, researchers say, and its ancient lineage may soon die out.Colossal Biosciences' feat of genetic engineering has people talking, but not every scientist is on board with its claim of having brought back the dire wolf.In a Historic First, Scientists Have Resurrected the Dire Wolf—Sort OfThe AI Layoffs Have Come for Freelance Marketplace FiverrDJI Mic Mini Transmitter Is Practically Free With a Never-Before-Seen Discount Ahead of Prime Big Deal Days9/17/2025, 2:20 pm
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