Camille Pissaro (1830-1903), Orchard at Pontoise, 1878, Oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm, Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne. |
Emil Lugo (1840-1902), Edmund Kanolt and Emil Lugo Painting en plein air, 1880, Oil on paper and plywood, 18 x 29 cm, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. |
The Palettes and Hidden Techniques of the Impressionists |
Vincent van Gogh (1853-90), Bridge at Clichy, 1997, Oil on canvas, 55 x 46.3 cm, Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne.
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Sara with a Dark Bonnet, 1901, Oil on canvas, 67.2 x 56.2 cm, Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne.
Théo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926), After the bath, 1896, Private collection, Courtesy Olivier Bertrand, Belgian Art Research Institute. |
Palazzo Strozzi Painting Light: The hidden techniques of the Impressionists comprises over 60 works including masterpieces by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Caillebotte and Signac shown alongside such evocative objects as one of Monet’s palettes as well as technological images of the pictures themselves. This juxtaposition of art and extensive research produces a fascinating insight that will take visitors by surprise What techniques and materials did Impressionists use to give life to their hugely influential contribution to the evolution of modern art? Much information hidden beneath the visible surfaces of paintings has been revealed through extensive technological study undertaken by a team of expert restorers, scientists and art historians. This important project called ‘Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Painting Technique’ began in 2002 under the direction of the restoration department of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud in Cologne where this innovative and informative exhibition was shown earlier this year. The valuable works have been studied using up-to-date techniques such as stereomicroscopy, scientific materials analysis and X-ray, ultra violet and infra-red imaging as well as a detective’s nose for clues. The research team analysed the various processes involved in creating the paintings, checked for natural signs of aging or searched for particular signs of manipulation, all of which threw new light on the history of each picture. The research even provided proof that an artist had actually painted outdoors. The exhibition explores aspects of Impressionism and poses a series of questions beginning with "What is an impression?" The physical elements of light, colour and sensory perception are highlighted while projections of changing light imitating different times of day demonstrate the influence of light on paintings. The materials and implements the Impressionists used are explored through a re-creation of a 19th century art supplies shop displaying brushes, canvases, palettes and paints This shows the immense influence of such technical progress as recently discovered colour tones or the invention of oil paint in tubes that made it so much easier for the Impressionists to create their legendary plein air or open air paintings. The technological detective work has in many cases been able to pinpoint where a painting was originally created. For example the question "Inside or out?" has been answered by discovery of countless grains of sand in The Sea at Saint-Palais by Armand Guillaumin and a poplar tree bud found in the landscape Laundry Drying on the Bank of the Seine by Gustave Caillebotte. This section also re-creates a studio and an open air situation with original props. The section "Spontaneous or strategic?" presents research that answers this question. Invisible underdrawings, first drafts and other meticulous preparations show how, behind the façade of spontaneity, artists such as Gauguin, Van Gogh or Caillebotte worked methodically. An infra-red reflectogram of Van Gogh’s Bridge at Clichy, 1887, reveals a pencil underdrawing and perspective frame guidelines.. Among initial criticisms aimed at Impressionist pictures was an apparent lack of finish. The sketchy style, frequent lack of signature or varnish went against usual rules presenting a problem for critics, collectors, dealers and even artists themselves. The frame became a new sign of a completed painting for many artists who believed that its form and colouring should harmonise and enhance the work. Camille Pissarro, for example, was a great proponent of a stark white frame which has been reconstructed for Orchard at Pontoise at Sunset. Impressionist paintings still in their original frames are extremely rare. Paintings change over time through natural aging and later interventions such as overpainting or restoration. The technological studies undertaken demonstrate how changes of canvas, ground or colour layer influence the whole appearance of a painting. Farm at Bazincourt by Pissarro shows how pictures were added to and supposedly ‘improved’ by brushstrokes by others — additions that were not unusual in Impressionist works. Similarly forgeries created during the lifetime of the artists, a clear sign of their growing public recognition, can be unmasked by technological study. It can also give evidence for the attribution of an unacknowledged painting to a prominent artist.
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Gustave Caillebotte (1848-94)m Laundry Drying on the Bank of the Seine, c. 1892, Oil on canvas, 105.5 x 150.5 cm, Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne. |
