Protrusions in a painting by Max Beckmann examined with confocal μ-XRF

Faubel, W.; Simon, R.; Heißler, Stefan; Friedrich, Frank; Weidler, Peter G.; Becker, Hans; Schmidt, Wolfhardt

doi:10.1039/c0ja00178c

Cited by 31 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Published analyses of zinc soaps in oil paintings have used primarily FTIR or Raman spectroscopy, often combined with imaging techniques (van der Weerd et al 2003;Keune 2005;Osmond et al 2005Osmond et al , 2012O'Donoghue et al 2006;Faubel et al 2011). Certain of these studies also reported selected results using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), which has the advantage of spatially resolving components in the zinc soap aggregates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…While the presence of a certain amount of metallic soaps can help to create a well-dried paint film, high concentrations of zinc soaps have been associated with various types of deterioration in modern oil paintings. Zinc soaps sometimes produce efflorescence or disfiguring protrusions at the surface of paintings (van der Weerd et al 2003;Keune 2005;Osmond et al 2005;O'Donoghue et al 2006;Faubel et al 2011). High concentrations of zinc soaps within the oil paint matrix have also been linked to a lack of cohesion and brittleness in the paint (Rogala et al 2010;Maines et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Conservation Issues in Several Twentieth-Century Canadian Oil Paintings: The Role of Zinc Carboxylate Reaction Products

Helwig¹,

Poulin²,

Corbeil³

et al. 2014

Issues in Contemporary Oil Paint

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In an on-going study of the materials and techniques of twentieth-century Canadian painters, similar conservation issues in oil paintings by various artists have been noted. These include delamination and lifting paint, zinc soap protrusions and surface efflorescence or accretions. Examples of these phenomena are presented. Delamination in an oil painting from 1956 was found to be related to an underlayer with a high concentration of zinc fatty acid salts (zinc soaps). In two paintings that date from 1936 and 1937, zinc soaps have aggregated and formed protrusions that have broken through the paint surface. The protrusions were analysed using a combination of SEM-EDX, GCMS and FTIR. The FTIR spectra were compared to those of synthetic zinc palmitate, stearate, azelate and oleate. The combined GCMS and FTIR results indicate that the protrusions contain primarily zinc palmitate and stearate. Peak splitting in the FTIR spectrum, which is not observed in synthetic zinc palmitate, stearate or binary palmitate-stearate salts, is likely due to structural distortion. The final example describes a disfiguring surface accretion on a 1952-1954 painting caused by the reaction of zinc with a low molecular weight carboxylic acid (2-hydroxypropanoic or lactic acid).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Conservation Issues in Several Twentieth-Century Canadian Oil Paintings: The Role of Zinc Carboxylate Reaction Products

Helwig¹,

Poulin²,

Corbeil³

et al. 2014

Issues in Contemporary Oil Paint

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show abstract

“…Besides fully exploiting 2D imaging techniques, a few studies have recently explored the third dimension and obtained a full 3D description of soap protrusions (morphology, elemental composition, crystalline phase composition) using state-of-the-art SR based micro-analytical techniques, namely SR micro-tomography (Ferreira et al, 2009), SR confocal μXRF (Faubel et al, 2011) as well as SR 3D μXRD (Vanmeert et al, 2015), respectively.…”

Section: Identification Of Metal Soaps In Paintings: a Dramatic Evolumentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead soaps in paintings: Friends or foes?

Cotte

Checroun

Nolf

et al. 2016

Studies in Conservation

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The origin(s) and role(s) of metal soaps in paints are a worldwide concern today. These hybrid compounds, containing both fatty acid chains and metals associated with a carboxylate function, are increasingly identified in paints. As reviewed in the first part of this work, the presence of metal soaps in paints is differently interpreted in scientific publications: metal soaps are sometimes considered to play a positive role as anchor points, during paint drying processes; they can also be considered as responsible for many degradation processes (protrusions, efflorescences, darkening, etc.). Their origins are also interpreted in various ways. In some paintings (in particular from the twentieth century), they have sometimes introduced on purpose, as additives, to modify the physical properties of the painting materials. In older paintings, metal soaps are usually thought to result from an uncontrolled reaction of oil with lead-based pigments, in particular lead white, red lead, and lead tin yellow. In the second part of this work, the review of historical recipes of lead-based paint shows an important number of recipes based on controlled mixing of oil with lead driers. In the third part, the experimental reproduction of such traditional recipes using walnut oil and litharge (PbO) shows that lead soaps can be formed, both in about one hour at ∼100°C, or in about one month at room temperature. It shows as well that after a few years, litharge is no longer detected in the paint medium, while different lead carbonates are. Finally, the micro-infrared spectroscopy and micro-X-ray diffraction re-analysis of protrusions from a nine-year model painting shows together with lead soaps, the presence of Pb 5 (CO 3 ) 3 (OH) 2 O ('synthetic plumbonacrite'), an unusual phase recently observed in a protrusion from a painting by Vincent Van Gogh. This work highlights (i) the multiple origins and roles of metal soaps in paints and (ii) the importance of combining the analysis of fragments from historical paintings with the analysis and reproduction of historical recipes. In particular, we show that the components detected today in historical paintings may severely differ from those originally used or prepared by the painter, complicating the assessment of the painter's intentions. More than the presence of metal soaps, the key questions to be tackled should be about their origins and (re)mobilization.

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“…This seems to suggest that zinc white was introduced on Krøyer's palette somewhere between 1886 where he finished the portrait of Christoffer, and 1903 where he begun painting the Drachmann portrait. Zinc white has previously been linked to a number of conservation issues due to the pigment's strong tendency to form zinc carboxylates [13][14][15]. We therefore investigated the formation of zinc soap.…”

Section: Paintingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The artists’ materials of P. S. Krøyer: An analytical study of the artist’s paintings and tube colours by Raman, SEM–EDS and HPLC

Christiansen¹,

Baadsgaard²,

Sanyova

et al. 2017

Herit Sci

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An analytical study of two paintings by P. S. Krøyer and the tube colours found in his painting cabinet has been carried out in order to investigate the artists' materials used by Krøyer in the latter part of his oeuvre. The study has given a valuable knowledge about Krøyer's choice of materials and their composition that may be helpful in e.g. preservation issues. The pigments and dyes were analysed by micro-Raman spectroscopy (MRS), scanning electron microscopyenergy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD). The technical analyses were supplemented with archival studies of Danish nineteenth century paint shops. The results show that Krøyer used commercially available artists' materials typical for that period in time. Being a wealthy artist, he seems to have favoured expensive pigments such as cobalt blue, viridian and cadmium yellow. Based on the analyses, the main development in Krøyer's palette is the substitution of lead white with zinc white that appears to have taken place after 1886. The results also show that the contents of the tube colours in some cases differ from what was expected based on the trade names. This is particularly observed for the tube colours named "Oxide rouge" of which only one contains the expected hematite pigment, while all the remaining contain cadmium sulfide and natural organic red lakes. A rare tube colour named "Laque verte clair" was characterised to be mixture of Prussian blue and synthetic Indian yellow. The study therefore also illustrates that it was not always obvious to the artists what they bought from their colour merchant. It hence relates to existing international studies of nineteen century artists' materials, which highlight the complexity of tube colours from this particular period in time.

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Protrusions in a painting by Max Beckmann examined with confocal μ-XRF

Cited by 31 publications

References 9 publications

Conservation Issues in Several Twentieth-Century Canadian Oil Paintings: The Role of Zinc Carboxylate Reaction Products

Conservation Issues in Several Twentieth-Century Canadian Oil Paintings: The Role of Zinc Carboxylate Reaction Products

Lead soaps in paintings: Friends or foes?

The artists’ materials of P. S. Krøyer: An analytical study of the artist’s paintings and tube colours by Raman, SEM–EDS and HPLC

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