A Comprehensive and Systematic Diagnostic Campaign for a New Acquisition of Contemporary Art—The Case of Natura Morta by Andreina Rosa (1924–2019) at the International Gallery of Modern Art Ca’ Pesaro, Venice

Abstract

A multi-analytical approach has been employed to investigate the painting Natura Morta (1954–1955) by Andreina Rosa (1924–2019) to assess the state of conservation and to understand more about the painting materials and techniques of this artwork, which was recently donated by the painter’s heirs to the International Gallery of Modern Art Ca’ Pesaro (Venice-Italy). A comprehensive and systematic diagnostic campaign was carried out, mainly adopting non-invasive imaging and spectroscopic methods, such as technical photography, optical microscopy, Hyperspectral Imaging Spectroscopy (HIS), fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), External Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ER-FTIR), and Raman spectroscopies. Microsamples, collected from the edges of the canvas in areas partially detached, were studied by Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). By crossing the information gained, it was possible to make inferences about the composition of the groundings and the painted layers, the state of conservation of the artwork, and the presence of degradation phenomena. Hence, the present study may be of interest for conservation purposes as well as for enhancing the artistic activity of Andreina Rosa. The final aim was to provide useful information for the Gallery which recently included this painting in its permanent collection.

Preliminary Identification of Mixtures of Pigments Using the paletteR Package in R—The Case of Six Paintings by Andreina Rosa (1924–2019) from the International Gallery of Modern Art Ca’ Pesaro, Venice

“…The artist seems to have preferred oil paints according to Piccolo et al [53], which were most likely directly procured in the form of paint tubes, judging by her quick brushstrokes, especially in the case of R5, which is a landscape, and it is highly probable that it was painted in plein-air. Moreover, her color palette is narrow, generally comprising of primary colors and neutral colors, as she opted for mixing to obtain secondary/tertiary/composite colors and modulate their brightness or darkness.…”

A Non-Invasive and Sustainable Characterization of Pigments in Wall Paintings: A Library of Apulian Colors

“…Differently, fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) was widely applied in the colored surface characterization field, i.e., for the identification of pigments used in pictorial retouching [2], in manuscripts [3] and in modern and contemporary paintings [4,5], for the analysis of red chalk drawing [6], historical glass deterioration [7], dyestuffs in artistic textiles [8] and in wall paintings of artistic and archaeological sites [9][10][11]. Besides, it appears very useful to detect color changes connected to aging, pigment alteration and the presence of alteration products [12].…”

Towards a More Sustainable and Less Invasive Approach for the Investigation of Modern and Contemporary Paintings

“…She preferred to use paints with a high tinting strength without applying varnish layers on her finished artworks. The six paintings that have been included in this study have been previously analyzed and, thus, similar to Guido Cadorin, and the presence or lack of mixtures was already known [19,20]. Their titles are Nudo Coricato (1948)(1949), Natura morta con lanterna (1950)(1951)(1952)(1953), Giulia con Michele (1954), Natura Morta (1954)(1955), Case sul lago (1954)(1955), and Variazione sul Tema Maiastra: Il Fiore per la Principessa (1989), and are also shown in Figure 1b.…”

“…The computational methodology was applied on the sixteen paintings by Guido Cadorin, Andreina Rosa, and Boris Brollo and the outcomes were confronted with the analytical results in order to validate it. This paper mainly presents the results obtained in the case of Boris Brollo as the materials that have been identified in the artworks of the other two Venetian artists had been already described in the previous publications [14,15,19,20]. In the case of Andreina Rosa, a comparison was required between the use of K-means clustering that was also employed in [20] and Fuzzy C-means clustering to check whether the latter performed better.…”