Despite its popularity with artists, natural gamboge's toxicity and lightfastness made it problematic. Today, safe modern formulations, such as Winsor & Newton's New Gamboge, recreate the colour's luminous qualities without the risk of the original.
Origins of gamboge
The term "gamboge" derives from gambogium, a name linked to Cambodia, where the resin was traditionally harvested. Genuine gamboge was made by tapping the resin of Garcinia trees in Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia, then drying it into solid lumps.
Gamboge reached Europe in the early 17th century as both a pigment and a medicine, but its toxicity meant it quickly fell out of favour. By the 20th century, natural gamboge had been replaced by safer, more reliable pigments.
Winsor & Newton's New Gamboge, created from modern synthetics, preserves the golden warmth of the historic pigment while offering permanence and stability.
Examples of gamboge in popular culture
While genuine gamboge is no longer in use, it's distinctive golden shade remains familiar across modern culture.
In film, gamboge-like tones can help to create mood and atmosphere. La La Land (2016) uses glowing yellow streetlights and sunset skies to evoke romance and nostalgia, while saturated golden tones in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) highlight the heat and harshness of the desert landscape.
In fashion, mustard and deep golden yellows are seasonal staples, appearing in runway shows and outerwear collections to convey warmth and richness.
How artists use gamboge
In traditional Southeast Asian art, gamboge was used in lacquer work, manuscripts and Buddhist paintings, adding a sacred glow to religious works.
Botanical illustrator, William Hooker, used gamboge in combination with Prussian blue, a mix that came to be known as "Hooker's Green". His illustrations for The Botanical Magazine show how the pigment brought clarity and life to the greens of stems and leaves.
J.M.W. Turner used gamboge to represent changing light in his landscapes and seascapes. In works such as The Fighting Temeraire (1839), golden washes help convey the glow of the sky and the reflective shimmer of water.
Georgia O'Keeffe embraced strong golden yellows reminiscent of gamboge to highlight the beauty of nature. In Yellow Hickory Leaves with Daisy (1928), glowing yellow dominates the canvas, expressing the vibrant colour of foliage O'Keeffe observed during summer walks in upstate New York.