Topic summary
Chinese white
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Zinc oxide.
Pigment
Zinc oxide (zinc white) is used as a pigment in paints and is more opaque than lithopone, but less opaque than titanium dioxide. It is also used in coatings for paper. Chinese white is a special grade of zinc white used in artists' pigments. The use of zinc white as a pigment in oil painting started in the middle of 18th century. It has partly replaced the poisonous lead white and was used by painters such as Böcklin, Van Gogh, Manet, Munch and others, though it is being phased out by some artists paint manufacturers because of its tendency to form brittle and unstable paint films in oils. It is also a main ingredient of mineral makeup (CI 77947).