Altered Blue and Red paints

Investigations of Old Man in Warnemünde and
The Drowned Boy by Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944)

Jin Strand Ferrer
MA DISSERTATION
Project-based Master’s Degree in Conservation
Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History

UNIVERSITY OF OSLO

Spring 2019

I

Copyright Jin Strand Ferrer 2019

Altered Blue and Red paints: Investigations of Old Man in Warnemünde and The Drowned

Boy by Edvard Munch (1863–1944) Jin Strand Ferrer http://www.duo.uio.no Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo

II

Table of contents

• 1
• Introduction......................................................................................................................5

• 1.1
• Background..........................................................................................................................5

1.1.1 Edvard Munch and Warnemünde (1907–1908)................................................................6

• 1.2
• Objectives and research questions...................................................................................10

1.2.1 Dissertation structure ......................................................................................................11

• 2
• Paint manufacture: cobalt blue, synthetic ultramarine, and red lake paints ..........13

• 2.1
• Paint manufacture.............................................................................................................14

Additives and extenders....................................................................................................14 Binding media: drying oils................................................................................................20 Blue paints..........................................................................................................................24
2.2 2.3 2.4

2.4.1 Cobalt blue ......................................................................................................................24 2.4.2 Synthetic ultramarine blue ..............................................................................................25

• 2.5
• Red lake paints...................................................................................................................26

2.5.1 Carmine (cochineal lake or kermes)................................................................................28 2.5.2 Madder lakes ...................................................................................................................28 2.5.3 Alizarin............................................................................................................................29 2.5.4 Redwood .........................................................................................................................29 2.5.5 Kopp’s purpurin ..............................................................................................................30 2.5.6 Garancine ........................................................................................................................30 2.5.7 Substrates ........................................................................................................................30

• 3
• The reference collection at the Munch Museum: Edvard Munch’s paintings

materials from Ekely .............................................................................................................33

3.1 Selected case-studies: review and discussion...................................................................35

3.1.1 Case studies concerning blue paints................................................................................35 3.1.2 Case studies concerning red lake paints..........................................................................37

• 4
• Instrumental methods....................................................................................................40

• 4.1
• Non-invasive analyses: paintings......................................................................................40

4.1.1 Visual investigation and microscopy ..............................................................................40 4.1.2 Portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (pXRF) .......................................................42

• 4.2
• Invasive analyses: samples, apparatus and protocol......................................................42

4.2.1 Samples ...........................................................................................................................42 4.2.2 Optical Microscopy (OM)...............................................................................................46 4.2.3 Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX)
46
4.2.4 Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)...........................................................47 4.2.5 Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC/MS).........................48

• 4.3
• Analytical methods: blue and red paint tubes ................................................................49

56
Paint tubes, Old Man in Warnemünde and The Drowned Boy: analytical results .53

• 5.1
• A summary of results on a selection of Munch’s paint tubes ........................................55

5.1.1 Cobalt blue and ultramarine blue paints..........................................................................55 5.1.2 Red lake paints................................................................................................................55 5.1.3 Binding media.................................................................................................................56

5.2 5.3
A summary of results on the painting Old Man in Warnemünde (1907).....................57 Summary of results from The Drowned Boy (1907–.......................................................64
1908).................................................................................................................................................64

Discussion........................................................................................................................68

6.1 6.2
Munch’s paint tubes..........................................................................................................68 Issues concerning blue paints ...........................................................................................69

III

6.2.1 Colour change: darkening ...............................................................................................69 6.2.2 Water sensitivity..............................................................................................................71 6.2.3 Separation of the medium ...............................................................................................72

• 6.3
• Issues concerning red lake paints.....................................................................................72

6.3.1 Cracking..........................................................................................................................73 6.3.2 Spotting ...........................................................................................................................74 6.3.3 Discoloration: darkening.................................................................................................74

• 7
• Conclusion and further research..................................................................................76

7.1.1 Avenues for future research ............................................................................................78

89
Bibliography...................................................................................................................80 Appendix.........................................................................................................................87

IV

List of figures and tables

Figure 1 Edvard Munch Self-portrait at 53 Am Strom in Warnemünde (1907). Gelatin silver contact print. (© Munch Museum) ..............................................................................6 Figure 2 Edvard Munch Old Man in Warnemünde (1907). Oil on canvas 110 x 85 cm. (MM.491/Woll M 755). Photo credits: Munch Museum/Ove Kvavik, 2015.......................8 Figure 3 Edvard Munch, The Drowned Boy (1907–1908). Oil on canvas. 85, 5 cm x 130,5 cm. (MM.559/Woll M 759). Photo credits: Munch Museum/Sidsel de Jong, 1998............9 Table 1 Commonly used additives in ready-made paints, including their purpose, their chemical composition and effects on ageing. .......................................................................16 Table 2 Summary of typical combinations of red lakes and associated aging phenomena. ..................................................................................................................................................27 Table 3 Summary of deterioration phenomena in blue paints related to specific case studies that address paintings by Mérodack-Jeaneau, Appel et al. ..................................36 Table 4 List of relevant types of organic red lake pigments and paints based on deterioration phenomena in case studies.............................................................................38 Table 5 Summary of non-invasive analysis performed on Old Man in Warnemünde and The Drowned Boy....................................................................................................................41 Figure 4 Old Man in Warnemünde. Areas of sampling are marked and numbered in yellow. Sample 1 A+B (S 1 A/B, MM.M. 491) were from the blue paint. The blue paint samples were taken from the same paint stroke, hence A and B. Sample 2 (S 2, MM.M.491) was taken from the red paint in the foreground ..........Feil! Bokmerke er ikke

definert.

Figure 5 The Drowned Boy. Areas of sampling are marked and numbered in yellow. Sample 1-3 (MM.M.559) were taken from blue paints.......Feil! Bokmerke er ikke definert. Table 6 Summary of invasive analysis performed on Old Man in Warnemünde, The Drowned Boy and Munch’s paint tubes. ..............................................................................45

Figure 6 Analysed blue paints from five of Munch’s tubes. All of them are labelled as oil

paints. From top left, Lusk & Holtz, Winsor & Newton, Mussini Schmincke, Winsor & Newton and Lefranc. .............................................................................................................52

Figure 7 Analysed red paints from five of Munch’s paint tubes, from the left, Lefranc,

Lusk & Holtz, two from Ambor and Mussini Schmincke..................................................52

Table 7 List of samples and summary of results from a selection of Munch’s paint tubes

from the collection..................................................................................................................54 Table 8 List of samples and summary of results from analysis from Old Man in Warnemünde...........................................................................................................................58 Figure 8 Old Man in Warnemünde. Outlined areas marking the location of detail images taken with HIROX RD-2000. Fig. 9, altered blue paint, in the background and Fig. 10, red paint outlining the cobblestones in the foreground. These areas were also the areas of the pXRF measurements...................................................................................................59 Figure 9 Detail image ultramarine blue paint in Old Man in Warnemünde. It shows the darkening as seen on the surface. The darkened area looks slightly glossier than the bright blue area. Photo credits: Emilien Leonhardt, 2017 HIROX RD-2000..................60 Figure 10 Detail of the thickly applied red lake paint (Old Man in Warnemünde). Typical features are the deep cracks and the uneven darkening. Photo credits: Emilien Leonhardt, 2017 HIROX RH-2000. .....................................................................................60 Figure 11 a) and b). Micro-FTIR spectra a) S 1 B (MM.M.491), ultramarine blue and oil. Spectra b) of S 2 (MM.M.491) alizarin..........................................................................63 Table 9 List of samples and summary of results of analyses of The Drowned Boy..........64