Turner’s Yellow is often marketed in connection with the British painter J.M.W Turner, but the historic pigment was not named after the famous artist and he has no known connection to the colour. This article looks at the story of the original colour, the modern pigments that are used to recreate it, and how its associations have evolved over time.
Turner’s Yellow: A Tale of Two Turners
The Invention of Turner’s Yellow
Turner’s Yellow was a bright, opaque yellow made of lead oxychloride. The pigment was invented in 1770 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, but it wasn’t manufactured right away. In February 1781, English chemist James Turner filed a patent for producing it and the colour appears to have been first made at a soda factory near Newcastle. At the time it was praised for being vibrant, inexpensive, and for being made entirely from British raw materials.
In 1835, chemist George Field described how the colour worked well in watercolour and oil, but that it had poor lightfastness and permanence. The pigment has been identified in a painting by British artist John Crome, and there is also a possible reference to it in one of John Constable’s letters. However, evidence for its widespread use by artists is limited, and it appears that it was mostly used for painting walls and horse-drawn carriages. Architect Sir John Soane had his London drawing room painted with the pigment. While the room was restored in 2023, the paint has been colour-matched, giving us a good idea of the vibrancy of the original colour.
The drawing room at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London
Throughout the 19th century there were rapid advances in pigment chemistry. By the beginning of the 20th century, it had fallen out of use in favour of newer and more permanent pigments like Cadmium and Chrome Yellows.
Did J.M.W Turner use Turner’s Yellow?
J.M.W Turner (1775-1851) was one of the most celebrated British artists, and most well-known for his sea and landscapes. He took advantage of the developments in colour chemistry, often incorporating newly available pigments into his palette. For example, he was one of the first artists to use Cobalt Blue after its discovery in the early 1800s.
Given his experimental approach, it is possible that he did use Turner’s Yellow. However, there isn’t currently any confirmed identification of it in any of his paintings. The yellows that Turner used most were King’s Yellow, an arsenic sulphide mineral; Gamboge, derived from tree resin; and Chrome Yellow, a synthetic lead chromate pigment.
Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute, c.1835
Joseph William Mallord Turner
Oil on canvas, 91.4 x 122.2 cm | 35.9 x 48.1 in
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Until more research is done, it remains unknown whether he ever did use Turner’s Yellow. If he used it frequently, it surely would have been identified by now. The yellows that Turner used most were King’s Yellow, an arsenic sulphide mineral; Gamboge, derived from tree resin; and Chrome Yellow, a synthetic lead chromate pigment.
Modern Turner’s Yellow
While the historic lead oxychloride colour is no longer used, you can still find colours called Turner’s Yellow in select artist paint ranges. It is difficult to compare them to the historic colour because it hasn’t been produced for over a century. The walls of Sir John Soane’s house provide an idea, but the exact shade of a pigment can vary depending on its production. Writings from the 19th century stated that it could vary from a pale to a dark yellow.
Below is a selection of Turner’s Yellow oil, watercolour, and acrylics that are available today. They contain one or more modern yellow pigments.
All five of these colours are warm, sunny yellows reminiscent of egg yolks. Liquitex use a blend of PY3 (Hansa Yellow) and PY42 (synthetic Yellow Iron Oxide) to make a rich, semi-transparent acrylic colour. Sennelier use modern disazo pigment PY93 for their version, which is the brightest.
The other colours are made with the same single pigment. PY216 is a compound of rutile (a titanium dioxide mineral), tin, and zinc. The pigment was first introduced in the 1980s, but it has a character similar to many of the pigments invented in the 18th and 19th centuries – it is opaque, has an average tinting strength, and has a slightly milky quality when diluted (very different from the transparent and powerful 20th-century pigments like Phthalos and Quinacridones). By 2015, Winsor and Newton had started making Turner’s Yellow with PY216, and German paint manufacturer Schmincke followed suit in 2017. In 2022, Michael Harding included it in his newly launched watercolour range.
Are Modern Turner’s Yellow Named after the Painter or the Chemist?
Despite sharing the same colour name, there are often different visions behind the modern paints. Sennelier say that it is named after the artist, while Liquitex reference the chemist. Winsor and Newton describe their watercolour as ‘resembling the toxic genuine Gamboge and King’s Yellow colours J.M.W Turner frequently used.’ On the other hand, Michael Harding’s oil version is described as a recreation of the historic lead oxychloride pigment patented by James Turner. These two paints are made with the same pigment, so it seems that the modern colour has something of an identity crisis!
Why has the misconception arisen? It is perhaps inevitable given how famous J.M.W Turner’s work is, and how liberally he used the colour yellow. His name has been woven into the story of Turner’s Yellow, whether he used the historic pigment or not. The story is really a tale of two Turners, a painter and a chemist, who have both contributed to our idea of the modern colour. It is a fascinating reminder that colour names and associations often have complex narratives behind them, and are subject to evolving over time.
Further Reading
Woodblock Printing in Colour with Holbein Pigment Paste
The Accidental Invention of Pyrrole Red, a Modern Pigment
Artist Insights: Ann Witheridge
Recreating the Colour Palette of Winifred Nicholson
Shop Turner’s Yellow on jacksonsart.com
