Benzimidazole Yellow

Description

Benzimidazole Yellow (PY154) is a single-pigment benzimidazolone yellow, a modern organic pigment known for its clarity and exceptional lightfastness. It produces a bright, mid-range yellow with a very slight green-leaning undertone and a clean, luminous masstone. Compared to traditional cadmium and azo yellows, this pigment is more transparent and cleaner in mixtures, offering a high-chroma yellow that still feels natural and versatile rather than harsh.

In use, Benzimidazole Yellow gives a brilliant, transparent to semi-transparent yellow ideal for sunlight, florals, foliage highlights, glazing on skin tones, and high chroma passages in both landscape and abstract work. It has strong tinting strength with a smooth, non-granulating character, making it excellent for glazing, layered washes, and precise color mixing. It combines beautifully with blues for a wide range of vibrant greens, with reds and magentas for warm oranges and glowing scarlets, and with earth pigments to create clear, sunlit ochres and golden browns that stay bright.

This benzimidazolone pigment is highly lightfast, chemically stable, and compatible with a wide range of binders and mediums. In artist’s colors it serves as an ideal primary yellow for modern mixing palettes, providing both a brilliant statement color and a reliable mixer for clean greens, oranges, and warm, luminous neutrals.

History

Benzimidazolone pigments were developed in the second half of the 20th century as part of a new generation of high-performance organic colorants designed for automotive, industrial, and plastics applications. These pigments were engineered for excellent lightfastness, weather resistance, and chemical durability—qualities that quickly attracted the interest of artists and paintmakers seeking modern alternatives to more fugitive azo yellows and traditional lakes.

Benzimidazole Yellow (PY154) occupies a central, slightly green-leaning position in the benzimidazolone yellow family and became popular as a “workhorse” primary yellow in professional artist ranges. Its balance of high chroma, transparency, and permanence has made it a staple in many watercolor, oil, and acrylic lines, often under names such as “Benzimidazolone Yellow,” “Permanent Yellow,” or “Azo Yellow (PY154).” Today it is valued by painters who want a dependable, lightfast mixing yellow that remains clear and luminous in both masstone and glaze.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Synthetic (Organic) benzimidazolone yellow pigment

Suitable Mediums: Watercolor, Oil, Tempera, Acrylic, Lime / Fresco, Ceramic and cement applications

Lightfastness: Best

Opacity: Transparent to semi-transparent

Other Names: Benzimidazolone Yellow, Permanent Yellow (PY154), Azo Yellow (PY154)

Color Index Code: PY154