DOCSLIB.ORG

Technical Art History a Handbook of Scientific Techniques for the Examination of Works of Art

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Technical Art History a Handbook of Scientific Techniques for the Examination of Works of Art Technical Art History A Handbook of Scientific Techniques for the Examination of Works of Art Ingeborg de Jongh, Milko den Leeuw, Jennifer Mass, Daniela Pinna, Lawrence Shindell, Oliver Spapens Technical Art History A Handbook of Scientific Techniques for the Examination of Works of Art Authentication in Art Foundation© 2018 ISBN 978-90-9031032-9 MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS Workgroup Technical Art History Members Eliza O’Donnel – PhD Candidate at Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, University of Melbourne Claire Grech – PhD Candidate at Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, University of Melbourne Drs Ingeborg de Jongh – Founder Atelier for Restoration & Research, Authentication in Art board member Milko den Leeuw – Founder Atelier for Restoration & Research, Founder Authentication in Art Foundation Dr Jennifer Mass – Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Cultural Heritage Science at Bard Graduate Center, President Scientific Analysis of Fine Art Dr Daniela Pinna – Adjunct Professor of Biology Applied to Cultural Herritage School of Sciences University of Bologna Raymonda Rajkowski – PhD Candidate at Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, University of Melbourne Lawrence Shindell – Former Chairman ARIS Title Insurance Prof Dr Robyn Sloggett – Director of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, University of Melbourne Oliver Spapens – Authentication in Art Associate Workgroup Technical Art History Contributors Dr Matthias Alfeld – Laboratoire d’Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale at Pierre and Marie Curie University Dr Susanna Bracci – Institute for the Conservation and Promotion of Cultural heritage, Italian National Research Council Daniel Fabian – Owner at Fabian Restauratoren Dr Irka Hajdas – Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Prof Dr Roger Lewis – Senior Professor of Physics at the University of Wollongong Dr David Mannes – Scientist at Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland Prof Dr Maria Perla Colombini – Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Pisa Dr Zachary Voras – Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware Dr Maurizio Vretenar – Coordinator of Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society, at CERN Dr Inez van der Werf – Researcher at Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro FOREWORD This publication is a compilation of descriptions of the fifty most commonly used scientific techniques for studying works of art and cultural heritage in general. It is the first time this information has been assembled in one publication in order to make the scientific component more understandable and accessible for people in allied fields, who are often the users of such data. Scientific reports that accompany objects of art are used by, for example, vetting committees at art fairs, art lawyers, art dealers, art collectors, art conservators, art historians, artists estates and auction house staff. Such reports are ideally prepared with an executive summary explaining the results in layman’s terms. However, without a baseline knowledge of the techniques used, the reader cannot discern if the appropriate techniques were used to address the question at hand, if the supporting results match the conclusions made, nor if any further research is required. The scientific reports that accompany objects of art vary in their level of detail and in their utility when addressing the salient questions about a work. For example, the low cost and portability of X-ray Fluorescence has made it widely accessible and therefore commonly used for studying works of art. However, used on its own it cannot address key questions about a work that may require molecular, microscopic, or imaging methods in addition to elemental analysis. With the help of this publication, the non-scientists who use scientific reports on cultural materials in their work will have a guide for assessing these reports, for asking useful questions about the data presented and any logical next steps. In addition, they can use this information when hiring a scientific firm to make sure that the examination protocol proposed will address the key questions about the work in question. There is no overseeing body that provides accreditation to entities offering scientific services for authentication research and condition questions. As a result, not all of the firms, academia, museums or auction house laboratories, who offer such services have the requisite and full background ability or knowledge in all techniques or their intertwined relations. Neither do they always choose the appropriate tools for the research questions at hand. In addition, there are entities that offer certificates of authentication without providing any supporting data or information about their analytical protocols. It is up to the consumer of the data to understand if they have been given a report that will be useful to them, addressing the salient questions about the object. For this reason it is important, prior to commissioning a scientific report, that due diligence about the supplier and the proposed techniques is completed. This Authentication in Art - Technical Art History - publication, which will grow over time as new techniques are introduced to the field or existing ones improved, will empower all in the field of art to work effectively with cultural heritage scientists and provide greater transparency into the scientific component of the art industry. The publication was compiled by leading cultural heritage scientists and stands to become an essential tool for art market stakeholders. Authentication in Art - Technical Art History Workgroup Ingeborg de Jongh, Milko den Leeuw, Jennifer Mass, Daniela Pinna, Lawrence Shindell, Robyn Sloggett and Oliver Spapens CONTENT OF TECHNIQUES 1. Daylight Photography 8 15. Differential Scanning Calorimetry 35 Milko den Leeuw - DSC Zachary Voras 2. Ultraviolet Imaging 9 Milko den Leeuw 16. Neutron Activated Autoradiography 38 Milko den Leeuw 3. Infrared Photography 11 Milko den Leeuw 17. Neutron Radiography 40 Lachlan McInnes 4. Infrared Reflectography 12 Milko den Leeuw 18. Neutron Imaging - NI 41 Eberhard H. Lehmann 5. False Color Infrared 14 Milko den Leeuw 19. Raman Spectroscopy 43 Daniela Pinna 6. Transmitted Infrared 15 Milko den Leeuw 20. Fourier Transform Infrared 45 Spectroscopy - FTIR 7. Ultraviolet-Induced Infrared 17 Daniela Pinna Fluorescence Jennifer Mass 21. Synchrotron Radiation Fourier 49 Transform Infrared Spectroscopy 8. Fibre Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy 19 - SR-FTIR Imaging - FORS Jennifer Mass Daniela Pinna 22. Scanning Electron Microscopy - SEM 52 9. X-Radiography 21 coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Milko den Leeuw Spectroscopy - EDS or EDX Daniela Pinna 10. K-edge Imaging 23 Milko den Leeuw 23. Laboratory-Based Micro X-ray 54 Diffraction - XRD 11. Synchrotron X-Ray Fluorescence 25 Jennifer Mass Imaging David Thurrowgood 24. Surface-Enhanced Raman 57 Spectroscopy - SERS 12. Optical Coherence Tomography - OCT 27 Marco Leona Zachary Voras 25. Macro X-ray Fluorescence Imaging 59 13. X-ray Absorption Near Edge 30 - MA-XRF Spectroscopy - XANES Imaging Matthias Alfeld Jennifer Mass 26. Portable X-ray Fluorescence - pXRF - 62 14. Scanning X-ray Powder Diffraction 33 Spot Analysis -XRPD Imaging Jennifer Mass Frederik Vanmeert 27. Confocal X-ray Fluorescence - cXRF 65 40. Direct Temperature Mass Spectrometry 98 Matthias Alfeld - DTMS Zachary Voras 28. Proton Induced X-ray Emission - PIXE 68 Lorenzo Giuntini, Serge Mathot, Francesco 41. Thermogravimetric Mass 100 Taccetti & Maurizio Vretenar Spectrometry - TGMS or TGA-MS Zachary Voras 29. Microsampling 70 Daniela Pinna 42. Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled 102 Plasma Mass Spectrometry 30. Optical Microscopy - OM 72 Augustine Doronila Milko den Leeuw 43. Matrix assisted Laser Desorption 104 31. Atomic Force Microscopy - AFM 74 Ionization Mass Spectrometry Milko den Leeuw - MALDI MS Inez van der Werf 32. Cross Section Microanalysis using 76 UV/VIS Microscopy 44. Electrochemical Analytical Methods 106 Susanna Bracci Lachlan McInnes 33. Cross Section Microanalysis using 78 45. Lead Isotope Analysis 107 Staining Tests Daniel Fabian Susanna Bracci 46. Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging 110 34. Immunological Tests 80 Roger Lewis Daniela Pinna 47. Canvas Weave Thread Counting 112 35. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy 83 Milko den Leeuw - XPS Zachary Voras 48. Radiocarbon Dating Method 114 Irka Hajdas 36. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry 86 - SIMS 49. Radiocarbon dating using Bomb 116 Zachary Voras Peak C-14 Irka Hajdas 37. Gas Chromatography coupled with 90 Mass Spectrometry - GC-MS or GC/MS 50. Dendrochronology 118 Maria Perla Colombini Milko den Leeuw 38. Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography coupled 93 with Mass Spectrometry - Py-GC/MS Maria Perla Colombini 39. Electrospray Ionization Mass 96 Spectrometry - ESI-MS Zachary Voras AUTHORS’ BIOGRAPHY Dr Matthias Alfeld – studied chemistry at the University of Hamburg (DE) and did a double PhD at the Universities of Antwerp (BE) and Hamburg (DE). In his PhD he developed the first practical XRF scanners for the investigation of entire historical paintings and applied them with his colleagues in the investigation of more than 100 paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh and Caravaggio. After his PhD he worked for two years as a PostDoc at the German Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg (DE), implementing multivariate analysis for spectroscopic imaging data. Since 2015 he is Junior Chair at
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Core Conservation Courses (Finh-Ga.2101-2109)
    Conservation Course Descriptions—Full List Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts Page 1 of 38, 2/05/2020 CORE CONSERVATION COURSES (FINH-GA.2101-2109) MATERIAL SCIENCE OF ART & ARCHAEOLOGY I FINH-GA.2101.001 [#reg. code] (Lecture, 3 points) Instructor Hours to be arranged Location TBD The course extends over two terms and is related to Technology and Structure of Works of Art I and II. Emphasis during this term is on problems related to the study and conservation of organic materials found in art and archaeology from ancient to contemporary periods. The preparation, manufacture, and identification of the materials used in the construction and conservation of works of art are studied, as are mechanisms of degradation and the physicochemical aspects of conservation treatments. Enrollment is limited to conservation students and other qualified students with the permission of the faculty of the Conservation Center. This course is required for first-year conservation students. MATERIAL SCIENCE OF ART & ARCHAEOLOGY II FINH-GA.2102.001 [#reg. code] (Lecture, 3 points) Instructor Hours to be arranged Location TBD The course extends over two terms and is related to Technology and Structure of Works of Art I and II. Emphasis during this term is on the chemistry and physics of inorganic materials found in art and archaeological objects from ancient to contemporary periods. The preparation, manufacture, and identification of the materials used in the construction and conservation of works of art are studied, as are mechanisms of degradation and the physicochemical aspects of conservation treatments. Each student is required to complete a laboratory assignment with a related report and an oral presentation.
    [Show full text]
  • CATS Annual Report 2018
    ANNUAL REPORT 2018 CATS Centre for Art Technological Studies and Conservation The centre is a strategic research partnership between three Copenhagen based research institutions Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK) The National Museum of Denmark (NMD) The School of Conservation at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation (KADK) The cornerstone of CATS is technical art history, which is an interdisciplinary field of research between conservators, natural scientists and scholars from art historical and cultural studies. Technical art history investigates the making and meaning of art works, painting techniques and artists’ materials. A main objective of the research centre is to develop new and more exact methods to diagnose, treat and preserve our art historical heritage. The exploration of artistic practices is aimed at shedding light on the complex and fascinating cartography of ageing processes within works of art – to contribute to and advance the field of technical art history. The establishment of the Centre for Art Technological Studies and Conservation was made possible by a donation by the Villum Foundation and the Velux Foundation, and is a collaborate research venture between Statens Museum for Kunst, the National Museum of Denmark and the School of Conservation at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation. Contact CATS Website: www.cats-cons.dk E-mail: [email protected] 2 CATS Annual Report, January - December 2018 Contents INTRODUCTION
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Ron Spronk Professor of Art History
    Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Ron Spronk Professor of Art History Department of Art History and Art Conservation Ontario Hall, Room 322 67 University Avenue Kingston, Ontario Canada K7L 3N6 Hieronymus Bosch Special Chair Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands T: 613 533-6000, extension 78288 F: 613 533-6891 E: [email protected] Degrees: Ph.D., Groningen University, Netherlands, Department of History of Art and Architecture, 2005. Doctoral Candidacy, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA, Art History Department, 1994. Master’s degree equivalent (Dutch Doctoraal Diploma), Groningen University, Netherlands, Department of History of Art and Architecture, 1993. Current affiliations: Since 2007: Professor of Art History (tenured), Department of Art History and Art Conservation, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Department Head from 2007 to 2010. Since 2010: Hieronymus Bosch Special Chair, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands (Bijzonder Hoogleraar, 0.2 FTE). Employment history: 2006-2007: Research Curator, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge MA, USA. 2005-2007: Lecturer on History of Art and Architecture, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. 1999-2006: Associate Curator for Research, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge MA, USA. 2004: Lecturer, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Groningen University, Netherlands. 1997-1999: Research Associate for Technical Studies, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge MA, USA. 1996-1997: Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellow, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge MA, USA. 1995-1996: Special Conservation Intern, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge MA, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • Is a Filmmaker, Visual Artist, Programmer, and Writer, As Well As
    is a filmmaker, visual artist, programmer, and writer, as well as a media conservation and digitization specialist at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Her multimedia works and films have been shown nationally, including at Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX, List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, and the Studio Museum, the Maysles Cinema, and Microscope Gallery, all in New York City. Archer was previously a studio artist in the Whitney Independent Study program, a NYFA Multidisciplinary Fellow, a 2005 Creative Capital grantee in film and video, and she has been awarded numerous residencies. A contributor to Film Comment Magazine as well as other film periodicals and three blogs (Continuum Film Blog, Black Leader, Ina’s Horror Blog), she received a BA in Film/Video from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and an MA in Cinema Studies from New York University. is associate professor of comparative literature and visual studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she is also dean of Humanities and Arts. Since 2013 she has been a research associate in the VIAD Research Centre in the faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Her areas of research span literature and philosophy, contemporary art, and photography, with a linguistic and cultural focus on French and Francophone worlds and a geographic focus on contemporary Africa. She was lead curator of C.A.O.S. (Contemporary Africa on Screen) at the South London Gallery in 2010–2011, and has been awarded fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation, and the Clark Art Institute, among others.
    [Show full text]
  • Graduate Programs in Art History
    The CAA Directory 2017 Art History Arts Administration Curatorial & Museum GRADUATE Studies Library Science PROGRAMS Financial Aid Special Programs in art history Facilities & More 978 1 939461 44 5 INTRODUCTION iv About CAA iv Why Graduate School in the Arts v What This Directory Contains v Program Entry Contents v Admissions v Curriculum CONTENTS vi Students vi Faculty vi Resources and Special Programs vi Financial Information vii Kinds of Degrees vii A Note on Methodology GRADUATE PROGRAMS 1 Art History with Visual Studies and Architectural History 140 Arts Administration 157 Curatorial and Museum Studies 184 Library Science INDEXES 190 Alphabetical Index of Schools 191 Geographic Index of Schools ABOUT WHAT THIS DIRECTORY CONTAINS TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score, bachelor’s degree, college transcripts, letters of recommendation, a personal Graduate Programs in Art History is a comprehensive directory of statement, foreign language proficiency, writing sample or under- programs offered primarily in the English language that grant graduate research paper, and related work experience. a graduate degree in the study of art. (For graduate programs in the practice of art, please see the companion volume, Graduate Programs in the Visual Arts.) Programs offering an advanced degree The CollegeCollege Art Association CURRICULUM WHY GRADUGRADUATEATE in art history and related disciplines are included here. This section lists information about general or specialized courses represents the professional SSCHOOLCHOOL of study, number of courses or credit hours required for gradua- interests of artists, art historians, Listings are divided into four general subject groups: tion, and other degree requirements. IN THE ARTS • Art History COURSES: Institutions usually include the number of courses museum curators, educators, (including the history of architecture and visual studies) that the department offers to graduate students each term and • Arts Administration students, and others in the United the number whose enrollment is limited to graduate students.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflecting on Theory, History, and Ethics in the Conservation of Paintings from Sources to the Wider Social Context
    REFLECTING ON THEORY, HISTORY, AND ETHICS IN THE CONSERVATION OF PAINTINGS FROM SOURCES TO THE WIDER SOCIAL CONTEXT 6-7 February 2020 CONFERENCE BOOKLET Introduction This meeting intends to explore in which ways cultures of conservation of paintings have changed throughout the years, and how they continue to shift in light of recent social and theoretical advancements. Ahead of ICOM-CC’s 19th Triennial Meeting, to be held in Beijing in 2020, this joint Interim Meeting on Paintings and Theory, History, and Ethics of Conservation Working Groups will focus on various aspects of conservation practice, starting on how we get to know the artworks we conserve, and exploring in which ways our ways of seeing them are influenced by both the context of their emergence and the contexts and conditions in which conservators operate. In other words, this joint meeting aims at discussing the multiple ways cultures of conservation, conservators, and artworks co-constitute each other in practice and theory. Cultures of conservation might vary in scale – from institutional cultures, to regional or national cultures, or even disciplinary cultures. In this meeting we will reflect on ethical issues that emerge through the intersection of different cultures and practices of conservation in relation to the care of paintings in various supports. Historical analysis of conservation treatments and approaches seems to be particularly helpful. What was considered good practice in the 1960s, is now regarded differently for reasons that range from a deeper knowledge of materials and techniques to the evolving nature of art theory and social understanding of artworks. Revisiting past decision-making processes allows us to understand not only in which ways the way art is seen, known, and conserved has changed, but also the importance of various sources, as well as the role of structures and theoretical frameworks in the way we engage with knowledge production activities that we call conservation.
    [Show full text]
  • Time-Based Media Art Conservation Education Program at NYU: Concept and Perspectives
    Electronic Media Review The postprint publication of AIC's Electronic Media Group Time-based Media Art Conservation Education Program at NYU: Concept and Perspectives Christine Frohnert, Hannelore Roemich The Electronic Media Review, Volume Five: 2017-2018 ABSTRACT In recognition of the ever-changing field of contemporary art conservation, New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center expanded its curriculum in the fall of 2018 by establishing a specialization explicitly for the conservation of time-based media art—the first of its kind in the United States. This innovative course of studies will require students to cross the disciplinary boundaries of computer science, material science, media technology, engineering, art history, and conservation. In addition to graduate-level education, the Conservation Center will o!er mid-level training courses to meet the immediate needs of the profession as well as a series of evening lectures intended for broader audiences. Reference is made to the Institute’s public outreach program and related events, including the recent symposium, It’s About Time! Building a New Discipline: Time-Based Media Art Conservation. This article outlines the planning that preceded the Mellon-funded time-based media art conservation initiative and how it will augment the body of knowledge and respond to the needs of a rapidly growing conservation discipline. THE DEVELOPMENT OF TIME-BASED MEDIA ART CONSERVATION FOUNDATIONS The middle to late 1990s marked an important point for the formation of time- based media (TBM) art conservation as a new specialty. Since then, engaged and determined conservators and allied professionals have pioneered the conservation of TBM art and have built up a body of published research, including case studies, the introduction of methodologies, and ethical discourses, for example, on video migration or the conservation of computer-based art.
    [Show full text]
  • Technical Art History Colloquium: Reconstruction/Re-Performance As Research Method
    TECHNICAL ART HISTORY COLLOQUIUM: RECONSTRUCTION/RE-PERFORMANCE AS RESEARCH METHOD L1) Frans Francken II (attributed to), Crucifixion, dated between 1581-1642, Museum Leuven (MM, no. 13), Detail showing the intricate pattern created by mordant gilding technique. L2) Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Fr. 640, fol. 66r, “Dorer mouleure de tableaulx d’or mat” (Gilding painting mounts with or mat). L3) @Making and Knowing, Spring 2016: Njeri Ndungu mordant gilding technique reconstruction. R) Book cover, Vivian van Saaze, Installation Art and the Museum. Presentation and Conservation of Changing Artworks (Amsterdam: AUP, 2013: Cover illustration: ensemble autour de MUR (1998) by Joëlle Tuerlinckx. Collection Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium. The Technical Art History Colloquium is organised by Sven Dupré (Utrecht University and University of Amsterdam, PI ERC ARTECHNE), Arjan de Koomen (University of Amsterdam, Coordinator MA Technical Art History), and Abbie Vandivere (University of Amsterdam, Coordinator MA Technical Art History & Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis, The Hague). Monthly meetings take place on Thursdays, usually in Utrecht and Amsterdam. In the tenth edition of the Technical Art History Colloquium, Jenny Boulboullé (Utrecht University) and Vivian van Saaze (Maastricht University) will give presentations about reconstruction/re- performance as research method. Reconstructions and re-performances are much-used methods in the conservation of art objects and performance-based artworks. They can contribute to developing adequate procedures to clean and conserve artefacts that have been produced with materials and technologies from past periods, but they can also be understood as a form of research that provides important information on the making processes of objects and the work-defining properties of performances.
    [Show full text]
  • FALL 2014 826Schermerhorn
    COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY MIRIAM AND IRA D. WALLACH FINE ARTS CENTER FALL 2014 826schermerhorn 1 from the chair’s office TRAVEL SEMINAR TO GREECE: Sacred Space from Greek Antiquity to Byzantium s a sequel to their spring 2014 graduate seminar, Sacred Space from Greek Antiquity to Byzantium, Professors Holger Klein and Ioannis Dear Alumni and Friends, Mylonopoulos led a travel seminar to Greece in late May. Covering over 1,000 miles in a rather ancient bus, participants from the Depart- ment of Art History and Archaeology and the Classical Studies Program visited twenty-one Greek and Byzantine sites and eight museums. As my three-year term as Chairman of our distinguished department is beginning to wind down, FromA Attica to Boeotia to Thessaly, and finally to the Peloponnese, the students acquired first-hand knowledge of sites, such as the Acropolis of I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you, who, through Athens, the monastery of Hosios Loukas, the Pan-Hellenic sanctuaries of Delphi and Olympia, and the Byzantine cities of Mystras and Monem- contributions large and small, have helped the Department of Art History and Archaeology to vasia. Thanks to the generosity of the Greek authorities, the seminar participants were able to enter areas that are usually inaccessible to the public: grow in scope and reputation, and to extend its reach well beyond College Walk and the Morning- the interior of the Parthenon, the storage areas and laboratories for pottery and sculpture of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, side campus.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Access in the Age of Documented Art
    PUBLIC ACCESS IN THE AGE OF DOCUMENTED ART GLENN WHARTON falta afiliação ABSTRACT FALTA TRADUÇÃO Ephemerality and variability in contemporary art is fostering an age of documentation within museums. Conservators, curators, and other museum professionals spend an increasing amount of resources documenting technical details and conceptual underpinnings in an effort to provide a knowledge base for future staff that will design new exhibitions and conduct conservation interventions. The resulting archives contain information about production methods, materials, past manifestations, and artists’ concerns that can inform art history, art criticism, and public understanding. This article proposes activating these closed archives by opening them to scholars, educators, and the public. In addition to providing access for greater awareness, further benefit can be gained through participatory programming that promotes public contributions in a form of crowd documentation. The article traces ethical, legal, and artistic challenges to greater transparency of museum documentation. Despite these hurdles, tools are emerging that facilitate public access and participation in documenting the art of our times. KEYWORDS CONTEMPORARY ART; CROWD DOCUMENTATION; MEDIA ART CONSERVATION; METADATA; PUBLIC ACCESS RHA 04 174 DOSSIER PUBLIC ACCESS IN THE AGE OF DOCUMENTED ART – – – – – – – – – – – – Introduction This buildup of documentation is now common practice 1 For more information about IKEA arly in 2012 I was contacted by the Architecture for conceptual, ephemeral, and variable works. Creating Disobedients see: http://www.moma.org/ collection/object.php?object_id=156886; Eand Design Department at the Museum of Modern this documentation involves considerable time and labor http://cargocollective.com/anapenalba/ Art (MoMA) where I served as Media Conservator. They to record what the work has been, what it is, and what it Collaboration-ANDRES-JAQUE (Accessed July 20, 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • Materials and Techniques Between the Humanities and Science: Introduction
    FORUM Materials and Techniques between the Humanities and Science: Introduction Sven Dupré, Utrecht University/University of Amsterdam ABSTRACT Collaborations and conflicts between the sciences and the humanities are central to disciplines from digital humanities to archaeology. The exploration of these tensions and synergies in the newly emerging field of technical art history is the focus of this forum. This is also a first step toward the writing of the history of conservation. The disciplinary conflict between science and the humanities in the study of materials and techniques relies on hierarchies of the material and the intellectual and of the hand and the mind. These same epistemic hierarchies are still at work in shaping processes of collaboration between conservators, conservation scientists, and art historians. The forum marks a few signposts that will help us to complete our picture of the long-term development of the study of materials and techniques in art from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. n the 1990s David Bomford coined the term “technical art history” to refer to a field of q1 study concerned with the making of art that “goes far beyond the physical materials of I ’ ”1 works of art into questions of artists methods and intentions. Trained as a chemist, Bomford was a senior restorer at the National Gallery responsible for several publica- tion projects in the seminal Art in the Making series before he moved to his current position as director of conservation at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Bomford publicized the term “technical art history” in conference proceedings edited by Erma Hermens.
    [Show full text]
  • Art History and Visual Studies in Europe Brill’S Studies in Intellectual History
    Art History and Visual Studies in Europe Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History General Editor Han van Ruler, Erasmus University Rotterdam Founded by Arjo Vanderjagt Editorial Board C.S. Celenza, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore M. Colish, Yale College J.I. Israel, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton M. Mugnai, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa W. Otten, University of Chicago VOLUME 212 Brill’s Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History General Editor Robert Zwijnenberg, Leiden University VOLUME 4 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/bsih Art History and Visual Studies in Europe Transnational Discourses and National Frameworks Edited by Matthew Rampley Thierry Lenain Hubert Locher Andrea Pinotti Charlotte Schoell-Glass Kitty Zijlmans LEIDEN • BOSTON 2012 This book was supported by funds made available by the European Science Foundation (ESF), which was established in 1974 to provide a common platform for its Member Organisations to advance European research collaboration and explore new directions for research. This publication was supported by grants from the Aby Warburg-Stiftung and the Hamburgische Wissenschaftlich Stiftung, both in Hamburg. Cover illustration: Elliott Erwitt. Personal. 1996. © Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Art history and visual studies in Europe : transnational discourses and national frameworks / edited by Matthew Rampley, Thierry Lenain, Hubert Locher, Andrea Pinotti, Charlotte Schoell- Glass, Kitty Zijlmans. pages cm. — (Brill’s studies in intellectual history, ISSN 0920–8607 ; v. 212. Brill’s studies on art, art history, and intellectual history ; v. 4) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-21877-2 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-23170-2 (e-book) 1.
    [Show full text]