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. De ...
, 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 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 spec ...
or mineral spirits, though both can dry rapidly to a matte or glossy finish. It was used by artists such as
Barnett Newman,
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. ...
, and
Roy Lichtenstein.
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
Roy Lichtenstein used them for that purpose. If anything, he thought the available color spectrum of MSA Conservation Color was better than Bocour's Magna.
See also
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Golden Artist Colors
Golden Artist Colors, or simply Golden, is an U.S. manufacturing company that focuses on paints used in fine art, decoration, and crafts. Based in New Berlin, New York, the company produces a line of acrylic paints that includes some recreations ...
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Sam Golden Sam Golden (May 20, 1915 – March 11, 1997) started his paintmaking career in 1936 at Bocour Artist Colors with his uncle Leonard Bocour. In 1947, he developed Magna paint, the world's first artist acrylic paint. He returned from retirement in 1 ...
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Liquitex
Liquitex is a US company that supplies art materials, focusing exclusively on the development, manufacture and distribution of acrylic paints. Founded by Henry Levison as "Permanent Pigments" in 1955, the company created the first water-based acr ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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Art materials brands
Visual arts materials
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