How to paint permanent pictures

In Short

This practical technical treatise examines why paintings deteriorate and offers clear instructions for achieving lasting permanence through the intelligent selection of pigments, oils, and foundations. Tracing the chemical interactions that cause cracking, darkening, and fading, the text advocates for a dramatically simplified palette and rigorous surface preparation. It has endured because it bridges industrial chemistry and artistic practice, providing timeless, common-sense guidance that protects creative works from premature decay and structural failure.

The Story

The argument begins with a startling observation in public galleries, where magnificent paintings slowly ruin due to avoidable decomposition like fading, cracking, and peeling. The text establishes that structural and house paints often outlast fine art because they rely on simpler, more stable chemical choices. To combat this vulnerability, the text argues that artists must abandon the overwhelming multitude of complex, fugitive colors flooding commercial catalogues in favor of a severely restricted, reliable palette. By limiting choices to roughly fifteen fundamental pigments, creators eliminate dangerous chemical interactions and ensure lasting structural integrity.

The progression moves next into historical and technical comparisons, exploring tempera colors used by ancient Egyptians and primitive Italians. It explains the mechanics of egg, glue, and casein binders, warning that thick applications lead to cracking while proper preservation prevents decomposition. Moving away from water-soluble mediums, the argument addresses the physical foundations of painting. Canvas is identified as unstable and prone to atmospheric attack unless properly primed or painted on the reverse side, while rigid panels of wood, copper, aluminum, and zinc offer vastly superior longevity. Preparing these metal and wooden bases requires simple mechanical abrasion rather than complex chemical concoctions.

As the exploration advances into oils and mediums, the text cautions against unnecessary commercial additives and secret proprietary mixtures. It advocates sticking strictly to raw linseed oil, turpentine, and simple varnishes like mastic or damar. Historical cautionary tales, such as Sir Joshua Reynolds using unstable fugitive glazes or modern artists employing hazardous waxes that melt in summer heat, illustrate the perils of prioritizing immediate aesthetic effects over chemical stability. Specific modern pigments like Madder Lake and Harrison Red are evaluated for their strengths and distinct vulnerabilities, while unreliable coal-tar lakes are firmly rejected for outdoor or sunlit exposure.

The final movement of the argument tackles the delicate processes of maintenance, repainting, and restoration. It explores the phenomenon of surface bloom caused by moisture, dust, or sulfur gases, offering safe mechanical and chemical remedies to restore clarity without damaging the underlying paint film. Modern solvents like isopropyl alcohol and cumene derivatives are introduced as safe tools for dissolving aged, yellowed varnish without disturbing the hardened linoxin layer underneath. Ultimately, the work concludes with scientific principles for framing, asserting that thoughtful complementary colors and neutral mouldings enhance a painting's visual integrity without detracting from its core palette.

How It Unfolds

The gallery crisis The text opens by lamenting the widespread, avoidable deterioration visible in major art galleries where masterpieces crack, fade, and peel due to improper material choices. It asserts that ordinary house and structural paints often outlast fine art because they utilize inherently permanent, common-sense chemical principles that artists frequently ignore. Ultimately, the opening framework challenges creators to prioritize long-term chemical stability over the seductive, immediate brilliance of unstable commercial colors.

The simple palette The narrative systematically cuts through the overwhelming array of commercial color catalogues to establish a concise, reliable selection of roughly fifteen fundamental pigments. It warns against fugitive artificial coal-tar dyes, unnecessary color duplications, and complex mixtures that interact destructively and degrade when exposed to normal atmospheric gases and sunlight. Creators are urged to master this restricted range to guarantee that their artistic output remains completely unchanged across generations.

Foundations and mediums The manual shifts its focus to physical supports, contrasting the inherent vulnerability of stretched canvas with the superior endurance of wooden panels and rigid metals like aluminum, copper, and zinc. It explores historical tempera emulsions and advises practitioners to stick strictly to basic vehicles like raw linseed oil and simple natural varnishes while avoiding hazardous waxes and secret proprietary mixtures. Proper mechanical abrasion of metal bases and careful reverse-side canvas protection are detailed as essential steps for structural longevity.

Restoration and safe practices The discussion concludes with advanced, methodical instructions for diagnosing surface defects like bloom and executing safe cleaning procedures using targeted alcohol solvents or mild oils. It emphasizes patient, multi-layered drying intervals between successive coats, careful repainting techniques, and scientific framing choices that complement a painting's true color values. These final technical guidelines equip the practitioner to successfully restore damaged works to their pristine condition and protect them from future environmental hazards.

The People

Sir Joshua Reynolds desires immediate warmth and glowing flesh tones in his portraits, but his reliance on fugitive vegetable lakes and complex resinous glazes stands in the way of chemical permanence. Consequently, his portraits end up darkened, cracked, and burdened with a ghostly, displeasing appearance that disappoints both his patrons and himself.

The French artist Henner wants to produce durable, pristine paintings that withstand the test of time, and he achieves this by exercising immense patience and strict discipline. Standing in his way is the common temptation of hasty finishing, which he overcomes by storing dozens of works facing the wall for weeks to dry thoroughly between successive coats. He ends up securing an uncompromised, centuries-long preservation of his artistic vision.

The celebrated painter Josef Israels wants to capture deep atmospheric mood in his works, but his reliance on expressive execution overrides any technical attention to the quality or sequence of materials. Standing in the way of his longevity is a complete disregard for chemical compatibility and proper drying properties. As a result, his pictures end up heavily cracked and noticeably darkened in the shadows, highlighting the perilous cost of technical indifference.

The portraitist Gilbert Stuart wants reliable painting surfaces that replicate the familiar texture of canvas, but he encounters the rigid limitations of standard wooden panels. Standing in the way is their smooth finish, which he overcomes by grooving and specially preparing his panels to imitate traditional textile weaves. He ends up successfully uniting the structural durability of wood with the optical refraction benefits of canvas texture.

In Its Own Voice

Reflecting on the widespread state of gallery art, the author highlights how technical ignorance silently destroys masterpieces over time:

The observant visitor to the great art galleries is astonished and pained to see the large number of pictures of the highest artistic excellence gradually being ruined on account of decomposition as shown by fading, darkening, cracking and peeling of the paint films.

Critiquing the overwhelming surplus of commercial art supplies available to creators, the text notes:

The more colors that are presented to the painter, the more embarrassed he will become as to which he really ought to use.

Advocating for restraint and simplicity on the artist's palette, the manual asserts:

There are not more than fifteen pigments necessary for the painting of a work of art; and, out of these fifteen, nine or ten are sufficient for every purpose.

What It's Really About

Beneath its practical technical instructions, this book explores the profound conflict between immediate aesthetic gratification and enduring craftsmanship. It questions why modern artists stubbornly cling to complex, commercial novelties when simpler, historically proven materials guarantee long-term survival. The central theme centers on professional responsibility: the moral obligation of manufacturers to transparently label their chemical compositions and the artist's foundational duty to respect material science in service of posterity. Ultimately, the work argues that true artistic freedom arises not from an unlimited multiplicity of confusing choices, but from disciplined adherence to fundamental, immutable chemical laws that protect creative works across the centuries.

Why Read It Today

Painters, restorers, and art historians will love this book for its uncompromising clarity and wealth of practical, hands-on recipes. Reading it feels like sitting down with a pragmatic, no-nonsense industrial chemist who speaks with absolute authority, cutting through artistic romanticism with refreshing candor. What stays with you is the sobering realization of how easily negligence ruins brilliant work, alongside the empowering knowledge that permanence is entirely achievable through disciplined restraint.

As for difficulties, readers must navigate early twentieth-century terminology, period assumptions about standard manufacturing practices, and occasional technical tangents regarding chemical formulations that may feel dry to casual readers. Furthermore, the text reflects the straightforward, didactic tone of an era when professional manuals addressed craftsmen without modern niceties. Yet these minor period limitations pale beside the enduring value of its core message, making it a compelling, grounding read for anyone serious about creating physical art that outlasts its maker.