Schmincke

A long standing tradition dedicated to artists…

Their aim was to revive a component of oil paint that had become outdated. In 1881 their search lead them to one of the birthplaces of Art history, country of Michelangelo, Rafael, Botticelli and Modigliani, where they found in the Florence Art Academy,  an ardent supporter of resin-based oil paint. In the purest respect of the Ancients, who praised the resin’s pictorial qualities to the skies, Cesare Mussini made his paint himself. Josef Horadam and Hermann Schmincke then took advice from his exceptional techniques and went on to found the Schmincke & Co. paint factory in that same year.

They set up their company in Dusseldorf, which was at the time an important artistic spot in Germany. Making the most of this atmosphere, Horadam and Schmincke were constantly up to date with the artists’ demands and could therefore refine and improve their formulas in perfect accordance with them. The cornerstone of their production was the extra-fine oil paint based on resin that they called ‘MUSSINI’ in honor of the artist that gave them the driving force for this project. This range was a true founding element for the factory. With the artists’ enthusiasm intensifying, the two partners introduced in 1892 the ‘HORADAM watercolour’, by the name of its inventor. Famous watercolour painters such as Nolde and Kokoschka gave an aura of success to this new paint thanks to their beautiful creations. The range of products for artists was constantly enriched by Schmincke during the following years.
A quality perpetuated from generation to generation
The torch was taken up by the Doctor Julius Hesse and the Consul Ernst Oswald Hesse who allowed the company to successfully get through the 20^th century and prepared the ground for tremendous progression. They surrounded themselves with an exceptional team of workers who helped push the company to the rank of the biggest colour makers of the world. The 4 generations that succeeded managed to advance Schmincke into one of the biggest manufacturers of the artistic world thanks to a perfect ‘Modus Vivendi’ between tradition and innovation, not to mention quality.

Meliora Cogito: I aspire to excellence
This has been Schmincke’s guiding line since 1881. It is even included on the company’s logo. In light of the production site located in Erkrath, near Dusseldorf, it is easy to see that this motto still in the heart of Schmincke productions. It all started with the arrival of raw materials. These were mostly pigments, whose list is a true inventory, oil, Indonesian resins and gum Arabic from the Sudan. One room is exclusively reserved for oil paint components where a first quality control checks through every material. The pigments are chosen in a draconian way according to their purity, their thinness, and their intensity but also according to very strict standards. A meticulous recipe, namely the nature and quantity of the elements, the order of incorporation and the speed of mixing, is then applied to each colour. In it’s abundance of ranges and colours, Schmincke makes a point of making every shade unique. Each fabrication process is defined by the artistic technique and the demand of quality. The specialist makers instill all their experience and “chromatic sensibility” into the products. Moreover, the combination of different ingredients must be perfect so that the colour gives all its intensity to the artists.
The mix is then refined with a 3 rolls mill. This phase will optimize the colour’s consistency and eliminate every unwanted element. The rolling mill is also supposed to even out the colour. Indeed the pigments form a diverse group of little blocks that the binder needs to coat at the beginning. The parameters of the 3 steel rolls that compose this part of the process are carefully defined: the space between the rolls, speed and temperature are defined according to the shade. After this step, the colour is stored for 3 months in a plastic pot. The goal of this intermediate storage is to make the paint perfectly consistent.
The specialists from the laboratory control the recipe’s respect for each colour, its resistance to rubbing, dampness and to light, and are present for every key step of the fabrication. They also measure the drying time and the covering power of each shade. Following this stage the colour is now in its final form and can be packaged in tubes, pans, pots, etc. A large number of tubes are even hand-labeled. In particular, every extra-soft Schmincke pastel is hand-labeled, because this tricky operation cannot be automated on such a soft high quality material!