The present research deals with a preliminary study on two Alexis Harding canvas. The two artworks, belonging to a private collection, consist in glossy paints on aluminum and MDF panel, respectively. In both artworks, the glossy paint is poured on the support, producing a fluid movement on the paint itself. The two artworks, produced in 2003 and in 2008, were exposed in a private house and kept in proper conditions. The first one, Quartet, consist in a yellow and black glossy paint in a flowing movement from the top to the bottom of the canvas. The fluidity is highlighted by a gliding of the paint layer outside the bottom of the canvas itself. Quartet shows a evident alteration, consisting in substantial collapse of the paint layer on the bottom of the canvas. The second canvas, Broken Line, is also painted in yellow and black, but with a different modus operandi. The movement is more fluid, the surface' sagging is less evident and the canvas does not show any evident alterations. The preliminary results here presented concern the study of the materials used by the artist and on the identification of the alteration phenomena. Both the paints were firstly investigated by means of external reflection infrared spectroscopy (ER-FTIR), in order to identify the materials and highlight, where present, possible chemical modifications induced by alteration processes. ER-FTIR has shown the presence of intense and complex C=O signals, suggesting the presence of alkyd paints probably mixed with a lipidic medium, and an inorganic (CO3=) filler. Concerning the Quartet, no evident differences in chemical features were detected between the non-altered and the altered surface. That being so, a micro-sampling campaign was performed to study in detail the nature of the alteration and to describe the alteration processes. ?-ATR confirms the presence of an alkyd paint (alkyd yellow paint by W&N). Further ?-ATR investigations on the cross-section will be presented, in order to understand the sequence of the material used by Harding. The absence of evident chemical modifications of the polymeric paint allow to hypothesize a physical transformation induced by the environmental conditions. In order to investigate on these possible transformations, thermal analysis was also performed
Conservation of Contemporary Art: materials, technique and alteration phenomena on Alexis Harding artworks.
Nodari L;Tomasin P
2017
Abstract
The present research deals with a preliminary study on two Alexis Harding canvas. The two artworks, belonging to a private collection, consist in glossy paints on aluminum and MDF panel, respectively. In both artworks, the glossy paint is poured on the support, producing a fluid movement on the paint itself. The two artworks, produced in 2003 and in 2008, were exposed in a private house and kept in proper conditions. The first one, Quartet, consist in a yellow and black glossy paint in a flowing movement from the top to the bottom of the canvas. The fluidity is highlighted by a gliding of the paint layer outside the bottom of the canvas itself. Quartet shows a evident alteration, consisting in substantial collapse of the paint layer on the bottom of the canvas. The second canvas, Broken Line, is also painted in yellow and black, but with a different modus operandi. The movement is more fluid, the surface' sagging is less evident and the canvas does not show any evident alterations. The preliminary results here presented concern the study of the materials used by the artist and on the identification of the alteration phenomena. Both the paints were firstly investigated by means of external reflection infrared spectroscopy (ER-FTIR), in order to identify the materials and highlight, where present, possible chemical modifications induced by alteration processes. ER-FTIR has shown the presence of intense and complex C=O signals, suggesting the presence of alkyd paints probably mixed with a lipidic medium, and an inorganic (CO3=) filler. Concerning the Quartet, no evident differences in chemical features were detected between the non-altered and the altered surface. That being so, a micro-sampling campaign was performed to study in detail the nature of the alteration and to describe the alteration processes. ?-ATR confirms the presence of an alkyd paint (alkyd yellow paint by W&N). Further ?-ATR investigations on the cross-section will be presented, in order to understand the sequence of the material used by Harding. The absence of evident chemical modifications of the polymeric paint allow to hypothesize a physical transformation induced by the environmental conditions. In order to investigate on these possible transformations, thermal analysis was also performedI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
