Sennelier is a French manufacturing company of art materials, mostly famous for its hand selected pigments. The company produces a wide range of paint products, including acrylic, oil, watercolor, gouache, oil and soft pastel, india ink, tempera, and other media.
History
Gustave Sennelier opened this art supply store in 1887, near the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Initially, Sennelier sold paints made by various manufacturers; later he chose to produce his own paints using local pigments and binders procured from his travels across Europe.
Anecdotally, it is believed that Sennelier gained prominence at this time. Art-supply shops were ubiquitous, and Cézanne, Gauguin, and many other artists would shop around in the neighborhood, in search of particular shades of paint. If Gustave Sennelier didn't stock the color, he would create it for his painters.
In 1949, Henri Sennelier, Gustave's son, created the first professional-quality oil pastel for Pablo Picasso. Picasso wanted colors he could use on any surface, without any special preparation.[1] In addition to the aforementioned Cézanne, Gauguin, and Picasso, Vincent van Gogh was also known to have used Sennelier oil paint.