The beginning of the first history line dates back to 1910, when academic painter Josef Štolovský started production of artistic colours ŠTOLO, comprising oil and water master colours and tempera gouache. It was a small family business. In 1948, after the communists took over the power, the ŠTOLO company was nationalized. Since it was based in the Štolovský family house, the nationalization was not tragic. The Štolovský family sold the production machines to the state company TVAR, rented them their own house and became their employees, thus reaching a very unusual success in the totalitarian regime. The products bore the trade name TVAR, but the family succeeded in preserving their original trademark ŠTOLO, which was used along the new name. The main success was that they could produce in their house, which they rented to the employer on machines they sold to their employer, these machines thus staying in their original places.

The second history line of artistic colour production started in Děčín in 1945, when Richard Ťápal, later achieving the status of the academic painter, founded production of artistic oil colours and mediums with the trademark Ťápal.

In 1948, the Ťápal Company was nationalized and Richard Ťápal became an employee of the formerly his, later nationalized company called TVAR. The state company TVAR continued production of artistic oil colours and Richard Ťápal supervised the production technology as before. In 1948 two competitors, Štolo from Prague and Ťápal from Děčín, became two branches of the TVAR Company.

In 1953 Richard Ťápal left the company, leaving an experienced and trained team behind, which continued production of quality artistic oil colours and mediums.

In 1962 the state company DÍLO was founded in Prague, which took over the Tvar Company and became its legal successor. Products changed the trade name once more and from 1962 the artistic colours and mediums bore the trade name DÍLO, while the Prague branch would use the Štolo trademark even after that date.

In 1982 the production of the tempera gouache was moved from Prague branch of DÍLO to the Děčín branch.

In 1989 the production of water colours followed. The Prague branch ended production, which was now concentrated in Děčín. The main reason was the age of the Štola family, which had been producing Štolo artistic colours for three generations since 1910 and did not have any inheritors. The fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989 found the production being concentrated in Děčín.

The developing democracy in Czechoslovakia enabled the business to go private to the hands of a company employee.

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and foundation of the Czech Republic the legal status of DÍLO product trademark became uncertain, therefore in 1996 the company changes name to UMTON BARVY and since that time all its products (artistic oil and water colours, tempera gouache and mediums for artistic painting) have borne this name.