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NEW Schmincke Retro Line Horadam Watercolour Sets

Date: 01-07-2024
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Travel back in time with Schmincke..!


When Schmincke decided to celebrate Schmincke's rich history with a Retro-Line, they gathered inspiration from their archives, which contain not only historical painting sets, but also lots of tubes, brochures, and price lists.


In doing so, they discovered a beautiful price list from 1912 with one of their old owl logos and with Art Nouveau-era fonts and ornaments. This price list was unfortunately pretty worn out, but a beautiful document nonetheless and formed the starting point of the Retro-Line.


1912 was a time when Schmincke was not only successful with its first paint line, Mussini Resin-oilcolours, but also with the Horadam watercolours developed by Josef Horadam. At this time, Josef Horadam had been honoured with several high-ranking awards from the German Emperor, for his work as a colour chemist.


From this strong and early foundation of Schmincke’s current success, they dedicate the Retro-Line to the founding brothers-in-law: Hermann Schmincke and Josef Horadam.


This Limited Edition promotion for 2024 brings back to life a selection of 1912 Horadam watercolour sets. As a special highlight, a historic colour with all its original characteristics is also being revived: Cochineal Red. Beautifully designed retro-style packaging, the historic owl print on the boxes, retro labels around tubes and pans, a historical letter from the founders, and a retro watercolour insert complete the concept.

Schmincke Retro-Line Horadam Sets are beautifully packaged, with original 1912 owl logo, lettering, Art Nouveau graphics, and colour selections. Each of the enamelled black tin sets contains a contemporary message from Josef Horadam, and mixing chart.

 

The tins open into generous mixing areas, with all watercolours wearing the 1912 labels. The 6 x 5ml tube set SC74648097 also contains 6 empty ½ pans, as did the 1912 original. This set has the Limited Edition Cochineal Red, just like in 1912, like while the ½ pan sets feature the more lightfast, modern replacement Permanent Carmine.


1912 was an incredibly fertile creative environment in Europe, when the Fauves and the Blaue Reiter art movements were fresh and outrageous. The Retro-Line celebrates Schmincke’s colourful contribution to artists then, as now, and will be instantly appealing to fans of hand- rendered design and graphics.


These sets are for 2024 production only, so don’t miss out!

The Retro special colour Cochineal Red is a historical hue derived from the cochineal scale insects from the opuntia cactus in Central America. Cochineal was hugely significant to pre-Columbian cultures, and quickly became prized in Europe following the Conquistadores.


It is easy to see why: this concentrated watercolour releases a stunning crimson, complex and intense. The vibrant red is fully transparent and semi-staining. Although its natural origin only provides 2-star lightfastness, this special colour has unique, authentic characteristics that make it an unusual and historical treasure.


Today, the hue has been replaced by Permanent Carmine, using a lightfast Quinacridone pigment, however it is not quite the same... fans of historical and unique colours should act quickly: Cochineal Red is a Limited Edition Horadam Watercolour that will only be produced during 2024!

 

 

painting watercolour en plein air