Wisteria

PW6—Synthetic mineral - titanium dioxide, first produced as a pigment in the early 20th century. Titanium white arrived too late for the Old Masters, who worked in lead. It became the dominant white from the mid-20th century - think of the crisp, opaque highlights in Lucian Freud’s flesh, or the brilliant whites of modern abstraction. The modern painter’s workhorse - the brightest, most opaque white available, and non-toxic. It overtook lead white through the 20th century and now anchors nearly every palette, prized for covering power and clean tints.

PR122—Synthetic organic - quinacridone, discovered 1935, commercialised 1958. Pure 20th-century chemistry - quinacridones let modern painters achieve the vivid pinks and magentas that were simply impossible before, with full lightfastness. A permanent, transparent magenta that rewrote what artists could do with pinks and violets.

PB29—Synthetic - a replica of the lapis lazuli mineral, first made commercially by Guimet in 1828. Natural ultramarine, ground from Afghan lapis, was the most prized pigment of the Renaissance - reserved for the Virgin’s robes in Giotto, Titian and Vermeer. After 1828 the synthetic version democratised that blue; the Impressionists built their skies and shadows on it. From the most expensive pigment in the medieval palette to a staple of every painter’s box - ultramarine remains the definitive warm, stable blue.