Colart, or the Colart Group, is a large international supplier of art materials, with

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...

and

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

s such as Winsor & Newton,

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 ...

and Lefranc & Bourgeois.Colart Warehouse Management System
Central Systems & Automation Ltd. Retrieved 3 November 2016.The brands
Colart. Retrieved 3 November 2016. The group's head office is situated in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Colart was established in 1992 as a wholly-owned subsidiary for the art materials segment of AB Wilh. Becker. As such it is also a wholly-owned second-tier subsidiary of Lindéngruppen, a

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

based in Höganäs, Sweden.AB Wilh. Becker
AB Wilh. Becker. Retrieved 3 November 2016. The Colart Group has ten production facilities based in the UK, France, and China. Colart. Retrieved 3 November 2016. In 2017, Colart became the main owner of Elephant Art, publisher of the art magazine ''Elephant''.Colart teams up with Elephant Art to expand global reach
Colart International, 15 maj 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.

Brands and subsidiaries

*''Beckers "A"'' – Original brand of AB Wilh. Becker, targeting the

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n market. It comprises a series of artist quality

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof. The earliest surviving ...

s and art supplies.Colart
Colart Scandinavia. Retrieved 3 November 2016. *''Dekorima'' – Original art supplies brand of AB Wilh. Becker since 1970, also targeting the Scandinavian market. *''Lefranc & Bourgeois'' – Has a wide range of artists' paints and art supplies. Its oldest branch was established in 1720 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

.Notre histoire
Lefranc & Bourgeois. Retrieved 3 November 2016. Acquired by AB Wilh. Becker in 1982. *''Charbonnel'' – Specialised in products for intaglio,

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

and

gilding Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

. Founded in 1862 in Paris. Acquired by Lefranc & Bourgeois in 1988. *''Snazaroo'' – Face paints. Established in 1989 and owned by Colart. *'' Winsor & Newton'' – A wide range of artists' paints and art supplies. Founded in 1832 in London. Bought by AB Wilh. Becker in 1990. *''

Reeves Reeves may refer to: People * Reeves (surname) * B. Reeves Eason (1886–1956), American director, actor and screenwriter * Reeves Nelson (born 1991), American basketball player Places ;Ireland * Reeves, County Kildare, townland in County Kild ...

'' – A wide range of paints and supplies. Established in 1766 in London. Acquired by AB Wilh. Becker in 1991. *''

'' – Specialised in artists'

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. Dep ...

s and supplies around that. Was originally established as Permanent Pigments Company in 1933 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Acquired by Colart in 2000. *''Conté à Paris'' – Specialised in pencils and crayons. Established in 1795 in Paris. Bought by Colart in 2004. *''

Letraset Letraset was a company known mainly for manufacturing sheets of typefaces and other artwork elements using the dry-transfer lettering method. Letraset was acquired by the Colart group and became part of its subsidiary Winsor & Newton. C ...

'' – Originally known for

dry transfer Dry transfers (also called rub-ons or rubdowns) are decals that can be applied without the use of water or other solvent. The decal itself is on a backing material such as paper or plastic sheeting much like a transparency. The dry transfer is ...

lettering and associated products. Also specialised in

marker pen A marker pen, fine liner, marking pen, felt-tip pen, felt pen, flow marker, sign pen (in South Korea), vivid (in New Zealand), flomaster (in East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic countries), texta (in Australia), sketch pen (in South ...

s. Founded in 1959 in London. Acquired by Colart in 2012.Zoe Monk (8 juni 2012)
Colart Group Acquires Letraset
''Craft Business''. Retrieved 3 November 2016. * ''Elephant Art'' – Publisher. Established in 2009. Colart became its main owner in May 2017.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Visual arts materials Manufacturing companies established in 1992 1992 establishments in England British companies established in 1992