I just wrote about some very expensive oil paint (Old Holland’s Scheveningen colors) and along the way I stumbled onto Holbein’s fancy pantsy Vernet oil paints.
And boy oh boy do they take the cake price wise.
The most expensive, Cobalt Violet, is $2,680 USD per liter.
Holbein Vernét Superior Artists’ Oil Colors
Vernét’s innovation lies in its technology. It differs fundamentally from other artists’ oils in that the grain diameter of the pigment is roughly half the size of standard line equivalents. This produces a remarkable color depth and vibrancy. With such a fine pigment grain, light is reflected more evenly without being scattered, resulting in an almost transparent luminosity and beauty.
Made with pure, single pigments and finest-quality, refined linseed oil (the only exception being Silver White Poppy, made with poppy oil), Vernét colors offer outstanding adhesion, tinting strength, durability, smoothness, and lightfastness. They produce clean, non-muddy results when mixed.
Source: http://www.dickblick.com/products/holbein-vernet-superior-artists-oil-colors/#description
Cadmium Orange costs $1.82 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1820.
Cadmium Red costs $1.82 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1820.
Cadmium Yellow costs $1.42 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1420.
Cerulean Blue costs $1.82 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1820.
Cobalt Blue costs $1.82 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1820.
Cobalt Green costs $1.42 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1420.
Cobalt Turquoise costs $1.82 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1820.
Cobalt Violet costs $2.68 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $2680.
Mineral Violet costs $1.14 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1140.
Nickel Yellow Azo costs $1.14 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1140.
Oxide of Chromium costs $0.78 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $780.
Perylene Green costs $1.42 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1420.
Aureolin costs $1.82 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1820.
Bismuth Yellow costs $1.42 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1420.
Vermilion costs $2.50 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $2500.
Viridian costs $1.42 per ml in the 20 ml tube.
That would make the one liter cost of this paint $1420.
While a liter is a lot of paint, it isn’t an insane quantity. It’s usable. For a lot of painters who do not use thick layers of paint it’d be too much. The tin would dry out long before they used it. But you know what, some people love that thiq paint.
But the real point of using the liter format is to standardize all the different sizes of different brands so you can more easily compare prices.
To sum up, Holbien’s fancy modern oil paints are more expensive than a peacocks farts.
*Dick Blick's and Holbein's trademarks are their sole property and votegoat.net has zero affiliation with them*