Art Blog #194

Recent inventions that changed Western art?! - Portable paint tubes (1841)

Before John Goffe Rand invented collapsible paint tubes in 1841, oil paints were typically kept in pig bladders and glass syringes.

• Pig bladders had been used to store paint since medieval times, but they posed challenges such as drying out quickly and being hard to seal.

  
  

• Glass syringes were another option, though they needed careful sealing to stop the paint from drying.

  
  

• The advent of the collapsible paint tube transformed painting by enabling artists to paint outdoors and in natural environments, which was crucial for the Impressionist movement.

  
  

  
  

  This shift from pig bladders to collapsible tubes represented a major advancement in how artists stored and utilized oil paints.

  
  

John Goffe Rand, Self-Portrait, c. 1836. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA.

John Goffe Rand (quick overview)

Similar to many artists, the American portrait painter John Goffe Rand (1801–1873) faced challenges in preventing his paints from drying out before he could use them on his canvases. Born in 1801 in Bedford, New Hampshire, into a family of farmers, Rand was expected to follow in the family business. However, his interests lay elsewhere. Drawn to art, he moved to Boston, starting as an apprentice cabinetmaker and later grinding pigments for paint. His enthusiasm soon led him to portrait painting. Although he lived and worked in both Boston and New York, it was during his time in London that he made his most enduring contribution.

In the next blog we will be looking at the invention of the camera and production of the first still photograph.

Art Blog courtesy of www.connorcontemporary.com