The author posted a question in Arts Culture
How long can oil paints in tubes be stored without compromising quality? Does the shelf life vary greatly depending on the manufacturer? and got a better answer
Response from
If you isolate the tubes from oxygen, for example, by immersing them in water, and previously from water by wrapping them in foil - then theoretically as much as possible. There is even a black market of old paints of different years at the specialists in counterfeiting. In the case of ordinary storage - until it dries. Usually the cap dries hard and that's it, you can store for decades. In practice I know of only one case where oil paint in a tube has gone bad. I haven't used Emerald Green for years, which is a thermonuclear green paint. There was some kind of chemical reaction with the binder in the tube and it stopped drying. Not at all. I waited over two weeks for nothing! I had to start over again on the painting that I had used the paint from that tube. Since then I have replaced the emerald with phthalocyanine green in my palette.
If you isolate the tubes from oxygen, for example, by dipping them in water and previously wrapping them in foil - then theoretically as much as you want. There is even a black market of old paints from different years at the counterfeiters. In the case of ordinary storage - until it dries. Usually the cap dries hard and that's it, you can store for decades. In practice I know of only one case where oil paint in a tube has gone bad. I haven't used Emerald Green for years, which is a thermonuclear green paint. There was some kind of chemical reaction with the binder in the tube and it stopped drying. Not at all. I waited over two weeks for nothing! I had to start over again on the painting that I had used the paint from that tube. Since then I have replaced the emerald with phthalocyanine green in my palette.
Probably until they dry out, but it's like canned food.
If it's good quality, it'll last a hundred years.