A re-assessment of Hanson's paper on the painting materials of J.M.W. Turner
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Townsend, Joyce H.
Date published
2005
Abstract
Hanson's paper on the painting materials of J.M.W Turner is re-assessed. During Hanson's time, no comparative findings have been used. Some of his works include modification of his chosen method emission spectrography using a 2 mg. sample instead of the usual 10 mg. Hanson also made one very basic study of pigment properties: he painted out Turner's organic pigments in water, exposed them to a mercury arc lamp for 24 hours and compared results. He then reported that only the madder lakes were at all lightfast in comparison to industrial paints in his era. Additionally, Hanson claimed that he could distinguish aged mastic from aged dammar using wet chemistry and infrared spectroscopy on fresh material. Overall, aged and altered materials should have been sought instead of fresh samples which led to many negative result for historic paint analysis. Presently, there are attempts to reproduce formulations of the past, using materials that are more realistic in terms of processing and composition.
Journal title
Studies in Conservation
Volume
50
Issue
4
Publisher
International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
Place of publication
London
ISSN
0039-3630
eISSN
2047-0584
Official URL