In this lecture the author first reviews the history of commercial paint manufacture in the U.S.A. which began seriously in the early 19th century. The Wetherill Company of Philadelphia began to corrode lead for lead white between 1804 and 1809. The records of the early paint industries are unfortunately in danger of becoming lost. Even old technical texts on the subject are disappearing. These often contain the key to the early history of dating pigments so important to the architectural historian and the museum curator. Lead white, the key pigment in artist's painting, is fast becoming a dating pigment owing to improvements in analytical methods which enable the differentiation of lead white manufacture used at various times by different methods. Some of the old stand-by pigments of the paint industry including lead white, ultramarine, and vermilion are slowly becoming obsolete. The newer industrial and artists pigments include several organics like the quin acridones and phthalocyanines which have surprising light stability. The National Gallery of Art Research Project at the Mellon Institute has been building up a Pigment bank which is becoming invaluable in art technical research. Bibliography of 41 items.