Industry Arts and crafts Founder Henry Levinson Products Artist materials | Founded 1955 Headquarters Cincinnati, Ohio | |
Predecessor Permanent Pigments Company (est. 1933) | ||
Liquitex is a company that supplies art materials, focusing exclusively on the development, manufacture, and distribution of acrylic paints. In 1955, Permanent Pigments, a company founded by Henry Levinson, created the first water-based acrylic paint, along with the first acrylic gesso. That same year, Levinson decided to reorganize the company under the name "Liquitex". In 1956, the company starting selling "Soft Body" acrylic paints. In 1963, "Heavy Body" paints were available with a thicker consistency. The company offers the largest number of acrylic paint products in the world.
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History
Liquitex was birthed from the Permanent Pigments Company, established in 1933 by Henry Levinson. Permanent Pigments was a small, family-owned business located in Cincinnati that focused on developing oil paint.
In 1955, Levinson developed a quick-drying, water-emulsified acrylic polymer resin. In selecting a name for the new product, Levinson chose "Liquitex" as a portmanteau of "liquid" and "texture". The name was based on the character of the medium, which was a liquid base, quick drying and easily used to create texture in artwork.
In 1950, Henry Levinson, along with other professionals in the art materials industry, established the National Art Materials Trade Association, now known as the International Art Materials Trade Association. It was the first trade organization in the world that focused on promoting and sustaining the manufacture, distribution, sales, and training in the use of art materials.
In 1964, Binney & Smith acquired the Liquitex brand, eventually selling it in 2000 to its present owner, ColArt.
Notable adopters of acrylics
Helen Frankenthaler and Andy Warhol were early adopters of Liquitex acrylic paints. David Hockney switched from oils to acrylics after Liquitex made a less liquid medium in 1963 (High Viscosity Artist Color).
Liquitex is used by mural artists like Thomas Hart Benton. Abstract expressionist artist Robert Motherwell switched to acrylic paints due to his use of large amounts of black, a color that (as oil paint) takes an especially long time to dry. He continued to use oil paint for some work, but mostly used acrylics after the mid-1960s.