AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

Sometimes things are not what they appear to be. A thorough investigation of ‘Young Man at His Window’ by Gustave Caillebotte using broadband UV, visible light, infrared, and X-ray imaging showed that the painting had multiple varnish layers applied over significant losses to the original paint and ground which had been extensively overpainted. However, the unexpected happened during what was anticipated to be a relatively straightforward treatment: newspaper print and gauze were discovered along one of the edges of the painting when a small window was opened in the paper tape. Was this evidence of a transfer? A closer visual examination supported by a full technical investigation into the composition of the previously applied conservation materials using scanning macro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (MA-XRF), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS) confirmed that the painting was, in fact, a transfer!

Painted in 1876 on a finely woven canvas, the work likely suffered significant damage from shrinking after exposure to water. Presumably, the damage to the original canvas was sufficiently great to warrant transferring the painted image to a new support. The materials used in the ensuing structural treatments, as well as their sequence of application, were deduced from the material evidence still present on the painting. First, the damaged painting was faced using newspaper and stiff cardboard. The original canvas was then removed from the paint and ground layers. A new priming layer - composed of barium sulfate, zinc white, and gypsum bound in linseed oil - was then applied to the exposed ground. Next, gauze was laid over the dried priming layer. The newly transferred painting was then lined, using starch and animal glue to affix it to an auxiliary canvas support, and re-stretched. The final step in the transfer process would have been to remove the temporary facing. Small islands of paint affixed upside down and rotated with respect to the surrounding weave suggest that additional damage occurred during this step, necessitating further conservation treatment. Large areas of the painting were covered using a chalk-based filler and overpainted using pigments bound in modern resins. Multiple varnish layers containing pine resin, dammar, bleached shellac, drying oil, and a UV-absorber were identified on the surface of the painting.

The results were contextualized through archival research and studying textual sources [1]. The materials associated with the transfer and lining coupled with their order of application are a close match with published Parisian recipes and documented workshop practices. In this case study, the materials used in the previous treatments functioned to hide the complete extent of damages, rendering many losses invisible using standard broadband imaging techniques. This treatment and scientific examination serve as a reminder that we should expect the unexpected in every work of art.

Bibliography

[1] Rostain Emile. 1981. Rentoilage Et Transposition Des Tableaux. Puteaux France: Erec.