Acrylic paint is fast-drying paint containing pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry.

Synthetic acrylic resin was formulated in 1901 by Dr. Otto Rohm in a German laboratory. It was found useful in the creation of commercial products such as Lucite and  plexiglass and for making house paints. The first prduct to see widespread use was perspex which was marketed in the United Kingdom. Plexiglass came into mass production to fit World War II American bombers with wind screens.

Acrylic house paints were avaliable in the United States as early as the 1930's but the earliest were mineral-spirit rather than water based.. In 1949 Leonard Bocour gained the right to produce artists' paints and offered a limited range of  colours under the name Magna.  These were sold in cans in liquid form and were diluted with turpentine and fully compatible with watercolours. They caught the attention of Mexican outdoor muralists who suspected they might prove more resistant  to sunlight, rain and wind than oils.