“Sunflowers” by Vincent Van Gogh, “Embers No. 1” by Laura Hanson and “Nordeast Mpls: Ritz” by Mat Ollig. All paintings feature cadmium paint. (Provided)
Without cadmium yellow, Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” would not have their signature glowing depths. Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” might not convey the same depth of despair minus the cadmium-based vermilion red. Some even say the rise of impressionism would not have been possible without cadmium paint, which allowed mixing for a more lifelike and color-fast palette.
Professional artists’ paint has been quietly swept up into an expanded ban on cadmium and lead products that includes cheap jewelry, key chains and fidget spinners. In Northeast Minneapolis, with its strong and vocal artist population, the news has not mixed well.
Cadmium, a heavy industrial element found in batteries, electroplating and cigarette smoke, also gives professional paint — oil, acrylic, watercolors — what many artists say is an irreplaceable vibrant quality.
Artist Caitlin Karolczak, who has a California Building studio, told MinnPost, “You simply can’t oil paint without cadmium. It’s not really replaceable. … They can pry it from my cold dead fingers.”
Mat Ollig, an artist who lives in Northeast with a studio overlooking the Mississippi, agreed. “There are not good alternatives — people say there are, but the oranges and reds completely fade away. Cadmium is vastly superior.”
Minnesota artists and art supply stores, many of whom only bumped up against the ban when recently denied paint access, said they were shocked and taken by surprise.
The expanded ban was passed in 2023 after Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Commissioner Katrina Kessler presented an interagency report to a House committee with findings showing that some toys and jewelry contained lead levels above the limits. The bill was passed as part of a governor’s initiative and “expanded current reporting limits on lead and cadmium to a broader range of products across a wider age range.”
While research is clear that “lead or cadmium in household products can cause serious problems for brain health and human development, especially in children…” (MPCA), no other states or countries in the world ban cadmium in artist paint.
A Minnesota ban, said Ollig, failed in the 1990s. A proposed European ban was rejected in 2013 by the European Chemicals Agency which concluded that “the contribution from artists’ paints to cadmium input to soil, and thereby to crops … is negligible compared to the contribution from other sources.”
An extensive report by UK medical practitioner Dr. Edward Howard Nigel Oakley said, “Current estimates of the release of cadmium into waste water from artists’ paints are no more than educated guesses …they are unsound and should not be used.”
Many of the risks associated with cadmium paint are related to airborne particles or leakage. But Ollig said artists who work with spray paint or airbrush use different pigments because oil and acrylic are too thick and cadmium is too big to atomize. He adds that artists, like other professionals, are trained to safely handle their materials, including brush cleaning and paint disposal.
An amendment proposed
While the MPCA reportedly remains opposed to an exception, the 2025 Minnesota legislature is taking another look. A recent amendment authored on the House side (HF737) by Rep. Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont), and on the Senate (SF826) by Sen. Rich Draheim (R-Madison Lake), includes language for an exemption for professional artists’ paint.
Rep. Olson said the initial bill was passed quickly at the end of the legislative session. He later heard from Jim Pollard, an artist constituent who told him it was a devastating blow to the state of Minnesota.
Reached recently by email to follow up after he had introduced the amendment, Olson said, “It’s important to understand that these professional artist paints are both expensive and necessary for the continuation of Western Art Culture. I spoke with a professional artist here in St. Paul and he told me that half of the paints he uses are now illegal in Minnesota due to cadmium.”
Draheim, reached by phone, had also heard from constituents. He said that in committee review, “Everyone agreed that it’s a balancing act. We got it wrong and passed it …There’s good data out of Europe regarding the levels of cadmium in professional paint. We’re still banning for kids’ paint and the general public, but not for high-end paint.”
On the House side, the bill containing the amendment will likely get a hearing in March by the Commerce, Finance and Policy committee. The Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection committee passed it on voice vote with bipartisan support in late February, said Draheim. Now the bill has been re-referred to the Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy committee, where there will probably be more “science talk,” he said.
The final step would be approval on the House and Senate floors. Draheim said, “It would have to be done in the next month. But it depends on the chair and the business at hand.”
Cadmium paint tubes (Laura Hanson)
Artists’ backup plans
Laura Hanson, a Columbia Heights painter, feels strongly about cadmium. She responded to a Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) post asking artists to participate in this story.
“I paint with acrylic. I don’t use the substitutes. I paint some evocative stuff that is red in nature, so it’s like the banned part of the palette.
“I did buy some discounted cadmium-free products,” she said when asked about alternatives. “True cadmium is very opaque and if you mix it with white it doesn’t change it too much, while the alternative will change color a lot more.
“My perspective is that we have some big companies that are dumping chemicals into our lakes and rivers, and so it seems like a stretch to eliminate artists’ paint.
“I’m also stubborn and don’t like to be told what to do. So, I will continue to use cadmium in my artistic practice,” Hanson concluded.
Some art experts profess to be excited about the opportunity to use science to create new synthetic alternatives. Advances have indeed been made. Safety has also increased by fusing pigments with sulfides and coating paint with binders so it becomes insoluble in water. But many artists are skeptical.
Ollig said, “It’s like the difference between creating an artificial vanilla flavor versus using real vanilla. Artists’ pigments are like visual spices in your cabinet.”
Ollig, Karolczak and Hanson hope the law will change. In the meantime, the three are collecting cadmium-based paint however they can, and often at considerable expense. Tubes average from $30 to $80 or $120 each. Karolczak buys oil paint at estate sales.
“I would be happy if the law changes,” said Hanson. “Then I might feel silly for hoarding it. But right now, I feel a need to stock up.”