Cadmium yellow/red

/ kad • mee • uhm   are • inj /

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A painted swatch of Cadmium yellow/red:

Brief description of Cadmium yellow/red:

The range of cadmium pigments, yellow, orange, red are basically cadmium yellow (cadmium sulfide) with some selenium added in place of sulfur. Therefore cadmium sulfide can be made in various shades ranging from yellow, orange to red. indeed, mineral pigment produced from cadmium sulphide when heated with selenium becomes red. It has very high hiding power and good permanence. A cadmium red was available as a commercial product from 1919. The pigment was used sparingly due to the scarcity of cadmium metal and therefore because was more expansive. 

Names for Cadmium yellow/red:

Pronounciation: kad • mee • uhm   are • inj
Alternative names: Cadmium yellow: aurora yellow; cadmium red: selenium red, cadmium scarlet,
Word origin: The name "Cadmium yellow/red" comes from The name "Cadmium" comes from Latin cadmia = zinc ore calamine, from Greek kadmeia = Cadmean earth, first found near Thebes, city founded by the Phoenician prince Cadmus..
Non-English names:
German French Italian
Cadmiumorange Jaune de cadmium, orange de cadmium giallo di cadmio, arancio di cadmio
Chemical name:

Cadmium yellow: cadmium sulfide (CdS)

Cadmium orange/red: cadmium sulfide (CdS) + cadmium selenide (CdSe) in varying proportion

Source of Cadmium yellow/red:


greenockite (CdS)

Minerals: greenockite and hawleyite (at Mineralogy Database)

Example of use by artists:

Cadmium red comes for Matisse

The Red Studio, Henri Matisse — Museum of Modern Art, New York

Matisse was much taken with this strong new red, which has excellent stability. He recounts that he attempted, unsuccessfully, to persuade Renoir to adopt a “cadmium red” in place of the traditional cinnabar. Matisse inherited the use of intense cadmium red, a 19th century invention, from the Impressionists. The critic John Rusell called this canvas "a crucial moment in the history of painting. Color is on top, and making the most of it."



Other oranges
(intro) - Cadmium orange - Chrome orange - Orpiment        

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