The Gremlin Color

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

The Blue Pot * Pierre Bonnard

Having just bought a small tube of Cobalt Blue oil paint for about $25.00, we thought it would be interesting to understand a little more about why it is such an pricey pigment.

In German folklore, Kobald was a goblin who lived in the earth and disliked any intruders. Cobalt, the element, is named after that gremlin, most likely because of its tendency to be found in minerals combined with other elements, such as toxic arsenic. Because of this, medieval miners often threw it away. Its ore could release deadly fumes when smelted. A Swedish chemist, George Brandt, first isolated the element in the 1730s.

We know it, of course, for its pure color, indispensable in our palettes. But today cobalt is in high demand for use in gas turbine engines and other components used in space vehicles and aircraft. It is also a component in the magnets used in electric motors and computer disc drives, and in the rechargeable batteries…