Manganese blue transforms artists’ palettes with a brightness few pigments can match.
The colour has been widely adopted in both industry and art. From architecture and advertising to abstract paintings and videogames, manganese blue is associated with freshness, optimism and modern living.
Origins of manganese blue
The name manganese comes from the Latin magnesia, the name of a region in Thessaly, Greece. This is where the ancient Magnetes tribe lived, and where pyrolusite, the main ore of manganese dioxide, is naturally found.
Invented in 1907, manganese blue was made by heating sodium sulphate, potassium permanganate and barium nitrate to 750–800°C, producing barium manganate – a clear, punchy azure.
Like many synthetic pigments, manganese blue was first embraced in commercial industry, and was commonly used to tint cement for swimming pools. Soon after, artists began incorporating the colour into their paintings. But by the 1970s, the manufacture of barium manganate was phased out due to cost and environmental regulations, and genuine manganese blue became a rarity.
Winsor & Newton now offers an expertly formulated Manganese Blue Hue, made with the phthalocyanine pigment PB15 – a safe, sustainable alternative.
Examples of manganese blue in popular culture
The tiled mosaics of mid-century swimming pools and leisure complexes often feature manganese blue. The colour has also become a staple of travel posters promoting seaside destinations, as well as product packaging that relies on associations with cleanliness and vitality.
David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet (1986) uses a luminous manganese-like blue to represent mystery and innocence, often in contrast with a deep red that symbolises violence and passion.
In videogames, manganese blue can convey energy, openness and optimism. In the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), the skies above Green Hill Zone are rendered in a vivid azure, contrasting with the warm greens and browns of the landscape to create a sense of freedom and playful adventure.
How artists use manganese blue
Colour field painters were drawn to the vividness of manganese blue – works like Blue Column (Morris Louis, 1960) and Trans Shift (Kenneth Noland, 1964) employ solid blocks of intense, saturated blue for dramatic impact.
Marcia Hafif used manganese blue in her Mass Tone series (1974), grinding the pigment by hand and mixing it with oil to create monochrome canvases that highlight both the richness of its tone and the material qualities of the paint.
Elsewhere, British painter David Hockney turned to manganese blue for his iconic Californian swimming pool paintings, such as A Bigger Splash (1967). The pigment’s luminous clarity was perfectly suited to his vision of water, light and leisure.