Magna is the brand name of an acrylic resin paint, developed by

Leonard Bocour Leonard Bocour (March 18, 1910 – September 6, 1993) was an American artist. Bocour was born in New York City. Around 1933, he formed the New York City based company Bocour Artists Colors. He was the co-developer along with Sam Golden of Ma ...

and sold by Bocour Artist Colors, Inc. in 1947. It is somewhat different from modern

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depe ...

, as it is composed of pigments ground in an acrylic resin brought into emulsion through the use of

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

s. Magna paint has more of a shine to it than most modern acrylic paint, a glossier finish. In 1960, Bocour Artist Colors developed a water-borne acrylic paint named Aqua-Tec. Modern acrylic paint is water-soluble, while Magna is

miscible Miscibility () is the property of two substances to mix in all proportions (that is, to fully dissolve in each other at any concentration), forming a homogeneous mixture (a solution). The term is most often applied to liquids but also applies ...

with

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...

or mineral spirits, though both can dry rapidly to a matte or glossy finish. It was used by artists such as

Barnett Newman Barnett Newman (January 29, 1905 – July 4, 1970) was an American artist. He has been critically regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters. His paintings explore the sense o ...

Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D.C ...

, and

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...

. Roy Lichtenstein used magna with oil paints.

Modern Equivalent

Golden Artist Colors produces Mineral Spirit Acrylics as a direct replacement for Magna. Any differences between the two are small, if any, and

used them for that purpose. If anything, he thought the available color spectrum of MSA Conservation Color was better than Bocour's Magna.

References

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* Art materials brands Visual arts materials {{art-material-stub

Modern Equivalent

See also

References

Further reading

External links