Some of the Most Expensive Tubes of Paint You Can Find

oil paints oil paints everywhere but not a drop to drink… because they contain heavy metals… and you will be going to the hospital…

 

The internet asked what the most expensive oil paints are and since I haven’t finished the long article yet… here’s a snack!

 

Below is my hastily put together bar graph comparing the price per tube of several oil paint colors from the Artists line of five paint makers… Old Holland, Blockx, Williamsburg, Sennelier, and Winsor & Newton.

By far the most expensive paints come from Old Holland of the Netherlands and Blockx of Belgium… Blockx’s most expensive oil paint colors come in at a flat price level of $278.48 while one of Old Holland’s expensive tubes rings in at massive $401 (Cerulean Light Blue).

 

Why are Old Holland and Blockx so expensive? 
It’s because they both focus on loading their paints with high quality pigment and their paints are meant to be used a little bit differently than, for example, a tube from Winsor & Newton.

 

You’ll also notice that most of the oil paints featured in the list contain cadmium or cobalt as their primary pigment (including Aureolin). That’s because both are quite expensive compared to some of the more heavily produced pigments like Titanium White and Phthalo Blue..

 

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more on the wonderful world of art supplies!

 

 

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If you cannot see the image the following text is for the chart found above:

Brand	Color	Size	Price
Old Holland	Cerulean Blue Light	225ml	$401.00
	Cerulean Blue	225ml	$321.00
	Scheveningen Violet	225ml	$254.25
Blockx	Aureolin	200ml	$278.48
	Cobalt Violet	200ml	$278.48
	Cobalt Violet Deep	200ml	$278.48
Williamsburg	Cadmium Purple	237ml	$144.11
	Green Gold	237ml	$104.75
	Indanthrone Blue	237ml	$104.75
Sennelier	Cobalt Turquoise	200ml	$101.48
	Cadmium Red Medium	200ml	$101.48
	Cobalt Blue	200ml	$101.48
Winsor & Newton	Viridian	200ml	$55.60
	Cobalt Blue	200ml	$55.60
	Winsor Violet Dioxazine	200ml	$28.30

 

Some things to note:
The prices used here are the retail prices at Dick Blick as of 1/22/2017.
These numbers are not comprehensive and you can find some variation in price between different art supplies stores.
Not all brands were sampled.
This is a bit sized article. Better data to come later.