Max Grumbacher Artists' Oil Colors

Who uses Max Grumbacher? Artists who prefer the convenience, economy and lowered environmental impact of using water instead of solvents. Artists who are allergic to turpentine or other aromatic solvents, and those who are alert to the possible long-term health effects of exposure to solvents. Teachers and students who are barred from using solvents in the classroom.

Representing the first true innovation in oil colors since their inception, Max offers all the beauty, adaptability and durability of conventional oil color with the convenience, safety and simplicity of thinning with water.

Oil colors have remained basically unchanged for over 500 years. The practices demanded by the physical properties of a pigment ground in oil have also stayed the same. It was almost unthinkable to thin colors or clean brushes with anything but an aromatic solvent such as turpentine or mineral spirits.

But in 1992, Grumbacher astonished the art world with the first professional oil color that thins and cleans up with water. Named for our founder, Max Grumbacher, the formula is so unique that in February of 1994, M. Grumbacher, Inc. was granted a patent for the formula.