Saturday, 31 July 2010
![The Italian Artshop [Cape Town, South Africa]](/templates/depressivebrown/img/random/005.jpg "The Italian Artshop [Cape Town, South Africa]")
| Gustave Sennelier - the Devoted Chemist |
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In 1887, Gustave Sennelier, a devoted chemist, established himself as a purveyor of fine artists' paints. Having thoroughly researched the history and usage of pigments, he developed a distinctive process for manufacturing oil colours, formulating precise methods for mixing tones and for controlling their opacity and transparency. His work was meticulous and his eye for colour so accurate that artists soon began to regard the Sennelier palette as the ultimate standard of quality. He opened the doors of the Maison Sennelier at 3 Quai Voltaire in 1887, grinding his own pigments in the back yard. The Parisian landmark remains unchanged to this day, facing the Louvre on the Left Bank, just around the corner from the École des Beaux Arts.   The passing of more than a century has seen artists with names like Cézanne, Gauguin, Monet, Bonnard, Soutine, Picasso, Modigliani, Kandinsky, Chagall, and Dali pass through its doors. The Maison Sennelier became a popular rendez-vous for Impressionists and the artists' daily exchanges gave birth to new colours and techniques. Since then, the Sennelier name has become a legend and is admitted worldwide for combining those traditions with the innovations of modern chemistry. Website: www.sennelier.fr Images copyright sennelier.fr |