Madder lake

December 19, 2020

Real madder is a red dye extracted from the madder root. In ancient Egypt and in Asia, madder was used for textile dyeing. It has been used in Europe at least since the Middle Ages. Since the dye is water-soluble, it must be made insoluble before it can be used as a pigment for paint. This gives the color supplement “lake” in the name. The same goes for other organic colors such as carmine and indigo.

Today it is difficult to get hold of organic pigments, they have been replaced by synthetic counterparts. Various synthetic pigments have replaced the color. But madder lake is still available as an artist’s paint from these manufacturers:

Winsor & Newton – Rose Madder Genuine
Gallo – Rose Madder
Michael Harding – Rose Madder
Turner – Natural Rose Madder
Kremer – Madder Lake, genuine

Of these, the colors W&N and Turner are clearly primary red, while the color of the others is more dirty orange. All the genuine madder lake colors are pale.

Apart from the brands mentioned, and a few smaller manufacturers, all other manufacturers have abandoned genuine madder lake because it is not lightfast. All other major manufacturers who have a color that they call something with “madder” are not telling the truth, it is not madder lake, but some synthetic substitute.

Madder lake is a cold red color that unfortunately has shortcomings in terms of light resistance. The color from W&N almost perfectly primary red but unfortunately pale which makes it a bit difficult to use. The color is transparent and not staining and can be anything from bright cold red to almost brownish unclear depending on the manufacturer.