Picasso's 1917 Paint Materials and Their Influence on the Condition Of
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Research Article Picasso’s 1917 paint materials and their infuence on the condition of four paintings L. Fuster‑López1 · F. C. Izzo2 · C. K. Andersen3 · A. Murray4 · A. Vila5 · M. Picollo6 · L. Stefani6 · R. Jiménez7 · E. Aguado‑Guardiola8 Received: 4 June 2020 / Accepted: 29 October 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 Abstract This work aims to investigate the correlation between the painting materials used by Picasso to create four artworks in Barcelona in 1917 and their actual conditions. Specifcally, a range of crack types and patterns was observed in the painted layers. The paintings, kept together in Picasso’s family house until they were donated to the Museu Picasso in 1970, had signifcant diferences in their condition, even though they present several similarities in the choice of materials, tech- nique and in their conservation history. A multi-analytical approach was adopted to characterise the painted layers by X-ray fuorescence spectroscopy, fbre optic refectance spectroscopy in the 350–2200 nm range, gas chromatography- mass spectrometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The obtained results have been combined with those from a previous analytical campaign focused on the study of grounds and canvases of these four paintings and with visual examination of the cracks to establish hypotheses about the diferences in degradation. This combined overview of non-invasive documentation techniques, chemical analysis and observations of the mechanical damage has provided an insight into the possible contribution each layer could have played in the damage observed in the four canvas paintings. Keywords Picasso · Canvas paintings · XRF · OM · µ-FTIR · GC–MS · FORS · Failure mechanisms · Cracks · Mechanical properties 1 Introduction 100 × 70 cm), Woman on an Armchair (MPB110007; 92 × 64 cm), and Blanquita Suárez (MPB110013; 73 × 47 cm), This research presents results obtained by a multi-analyti- have a range of crack types and patterns in the painted cal study on the composition of paint layers in four paint- layers. This paper brings together the results of a previ- ings created by Pablo Picasso in Barcelona in 1917, now ous analytical campaign performed on the grounds and belonging to the Museu Picasso, compared to a descrip- canvases used by Picasso and the latest study on the paint tive analysis on the cracks observed. flms of the selected paintings in an attempt to shed some The paintings, namely Seated Man (MPB110005; light on the relationship between the choice of the mate- 104 × 54 cm), Man with Fruit Bowl (MPB110006; rials, environment conditions, failure mechanisms, and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https ://doi.org/10.1007/s4245 2-020-03803 -x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * L. Fuster-López, [email protected] | 1Universitat Politècnica de València, Instituto Universitario de Restauración del Patrimonio, Valencia, Spain. 2Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy. 3The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, School of Conservation, Copenhagen, Denmark. 4Art Conservation Program, Department of Art History and Art Conservation, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada. 5Fundació La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain. 6National Research Council, Istituto Fisica Applicata “Nello Carrara”, Florence, Italy. 7Museu Picasso, Barcelona, Spain. 8Escuela de Conservación Y Restauración de Bienes Culturales de Aragón, Huesca, Spain. SN Applied Sciences (2020) 2:2159 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03803-x Vol.:(0123456789) Research Article SN Applied Sciences (2020) 2:2159 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03803-x these case studies is that the paintings are mounted on the original stretchers and no evidence of conservation treat- ments prior to this donation has been found. In 2016 the museum noticed the need to consolidate only one of the paintings, namely Seated Man, due to extensive cracking and fear of paint loss. Considering that paintings are complex, heterogene- ous, multi-layered, and dynamic systems, identifying the composition and material properties of the diferent layers of a painting is critical in the understanding of degradation processes and products as well as their interactions [6, 8]. A previous study by the authors focused on the relationship between the composition and the physical–mechanical properties of painting support materials (canvases and the ground layers) used by Picasso in the four paintings [4]. The results had showed that, in all cases, the artist painted Fig. 1 Woman on an Armchair at Picasso’s family house. Casa Vilató on cotton canvases and applied two ground layers. The (Passeig de Gracia, 48, s/d, Barcelona). Fotografa de J. Francès Estorch. Fons Joan Vidal Ventosa, Museu Picasso, Barcelona. © of organic composition of the grounds mainly consisted of the reproductions of works by Pablo Picasso: Pablo Picasso’s Estate. animal glue, mixed with small amounts of drying oils and VEGAP. Madrid, 2020. Permission to reproduce courtesy of VEGAP polysaccharide compounds. In the four paintings, the bot- tom ground layer was richer in binding media than the upper one. In particular, the upper ground layer of Man degradation patterns. The main aim was to determine with a Fruit Bowl was mainly composed of a zinc (Zn)- whether diferences in the composition of the paints could containing compound, whereas the upper ground layer have contributed to the variation in degradation shown in the three other paintings was mainly composed of lead by each painting. white and other materials including calcite. This had prob- The selected paintings were created during Picasso’s ably caused the slight diferences in the tone of the four stay in Barcelona (June–November 1917) in a cubist ground layers, ranging from grey to orange tinges. The style. In this period, Picasso often worked in Rafael Mar- previous work already addressed some hypotheses about tinez Padilla’s studio. This aspect is of utmost relevance. the diference in crack patterns observed in the paintings The existing documentation indicates that Picasso did (Table 1) linked to the presence of either Zn or lead (Pb) in not have his own studio; therefore, he did not re-use any the grounds [7], the amount of animal glue in ground lay- canvas (as he commonly did) and had to purchase all the ers, and the degree of tightness in the canvas weave [4–6]. painting materials including canvases, brushes, turpentine In this study, a multi-analytical study was carried out to and oil paints. This could explain the narrow palette used, study the colour palette of the four paintings, prioritizing limited to seven colours (white, black, brown, red, yellow, the use of non-invasive techniques such as in-situ X-ray green and blue) plus two more colours resulting from their fuorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and fbre optic refec- combination (grey and beige). Given the geometric and tance spectroscopy (FORS). Moreover, a small number colour similarities, these four paintings represent a series of micro-samples from each painting was analysed by within the group of 11 paintings created in Barcelona in optical microscopy (OM) and gas chromatography-mass 1917, leading to this comparative study. When Picasso spectrometry (GC–MS). Micro-Fourier transform infrared returned to Paris, the paintings were stored in his family spectroscopy (µ-FTIR) analysis was also performed, when house until they were donated to the Museu Picasso in there was a sufcient amount of remaining sample. In this Barcelona in 1970, the institution that still owns the works way, the results obtained through elemental analyses were [1–3] (Fig. 1). One fnal aspect relevant to the selection of combined with the spectroscopic and chromatographic Table 1 Overall description of the crack patterns observed in the four paintings Seated Man (MPB110005) Woman on an Armchair (MPB110007) Man with a Fruit Blanquita Suárez (MPB110013) Bowl (MPB110006) Extensive cracks through paint Local cracks narrow in brown paint as No cracks Predominantly local impact and and ground layers over the entire well as two scratches and one local area handling cracks through paint surface of impact cracks and ground layer Vol:.(1234567890) SN Applied Sciences (2020) 2:2159 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03803-x Research Article Fig. 2 XRF spot analysis. © of the reproductions of works by Pablo Picasso: Pablo Picasso’s Estate. VEGAP. Madrid, 2020. Permission to repro- duce courtesy of VEGAP results, allowing the identifcation of the palette and the A small number of micro-samples from the painted binding media used by the artist. layers of the four artworks were collected to identify the inorganic and organic binding media. The samples were analyzed by micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy 2 Methods (µ-FTIR) in attenuated total refectance (ATR) and transmit- tance mode with a Thermo Fisher Scientifc Nicolet iN10 In situ elemental analysis was performed non-invasively MX Ultra Fast Motorized stage with MCT Detector. The with portable Elio X-ray fuorescence equipment by XGlab spectra were acquired between 4000 and 600 cm−1, 128 X and Gamma Ray Electronics, which has been successfully scans, with a resolution of 4 cm−1. applied on modern and contemporary paintings [8]. The The organic binding media was also analysed by GC–MS paint examination was performed directly on the surface using an Agilent 6890NGC instrument with a capillary HP-5 of the areas marked in Fig. 2. The analysis was carried out (5%-phenyl)-methylpolysiloxane column (30 m, 0.25 mm, in air, with a sample area of 1 mm diameter, 100 s acqui- 0.25 µm), interfaced with an Agilent 5973NetworkMS. The sition live-time at 40 kV and 100 μA, using an Rh-target temperature programme was set from 80 °C to 315 °C, without fltration. 10 °C/min. The MS was run in FullScan mode (m/z 50–600), Non-invasive fbre optics refectance spectroscopy was 1.9 scans/s.