Rohma Khan Fine Art

May 11, 2025

Here’s what I love about watercolor (and being a historian): it defies expectations. Sure, you can explore most art galleries and find that acrylic and oil paintings are easier to showcase because they are better preserved through time. Watercolors can be fugitive and some pigments tend to fade, especially when exposed to light. But watercolors do have the ability to survive. In fact, there are traces of watercolor art from as early as 4700 BC.

In ancient Egypt, watercolor was regularly used as an art medium. Simple watercolors, like the famous “Egyptian blue,” were used to decorate mud-plaster walls and applied as washes in stone wall engravings. Researchers have hypothesized that Egyptians used gum arabic as the binder, and watercolors were applied with unrefined handmade fiber brushes. Remnants have survived through time as a result of ideal preservation conditions: the very dry atmosphere, coupled with traditionally sealed tombs designed to protect the relics inside. What’s more: the incredible preservation of these thousands of years old watercolors could be simply destroyed with the casual pass of a damp brush or sponge across the surface.

The point is: watercolor can endure. Under the right conditions, of course. In modern day, our watercolors will thrive in dry rooms with minimal exposure to sunlight. Maybe, just maybe, someone will uncover our work in the future… if we store it just so.