A curable liquid composition, such as an alkyd paint or resin, contains a binder curable by oxidative crosslinking, a siccative compound for catalyzing oxidative crosslinking of the binder, and a matting agent. The matting agent is a precipitated silica, with a surface area, measured by BET, of 250 m2/g or less, a precipitated metal silicate such as Ca, Mg or Al silicate, or a mixture, and may be amorphous in nature. The siccative compound is a transition metal chelate complex comprising a ligand, such as an iron- or a manganese-based chelate complex.