Democrats, Manchester City, Pitt, eyes, skies: All of my favorite things are blue, the first man-made pigment.
“Because blue contracts, retreats, it is the color of transcendence, leading us away in pursuit of the infinite,” wrote William Gass in his book On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry. Wassily Kandinsky once mused: “The power of profound meaning is found in blue, and first in its physical movements of retreat from the spectator, of turning in upon its own center […] Blue is the typical heavenly color.”
And now, for the first time in two centuries, a new chemically-made pigment of the celebrated color is available for artists — YInMn Blue. It’s named after its components — Yttrium, Indium, and Manganese — and its luminous, vivid pigment never fades, even if mixed with oil and water.
…A team of chemists at Oregon State University…was experimenting with rare earth elements while developing materials for use in electronics in 2009 when the pigment was accidentally created.
Andrew Smith, a graduate student at the time, mixed Yttrium, Indium, Manganese, and Oxygen at about 2000 °F. What emerged from the furnace was a never-before-seen brilliant blue compound…
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YInMn Blue inspired a new shade of Crayola crayon called Bluetiful.
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Now, the authenticated pigment is available for sale in paint retailers like Golden in the US, according to artnet. “The Pureness of YInMn Blue Is Really Perfect”
