Why are van Gogh's paintings slowly turning white? VanGogh_1.jpg <http://pri-113a.kxcdn.com/sites/default/files/story/images/VanGogh_1.jpg>
Two people sit in front of Vincent Van Gogh's *Mountains at Saint Remy, Wheat Field with White Cloud* (landscape from Saint Remy) and E*nclosed Field with Rising Sun*. Scientists in Belgium report that red lead, a semiconductor pigment, is the cause behind several discolorations of Van Gogh's work. Credit: Luke MacGregor/Reuters Something's different about Vincent van Gogh's work.to the Story.t's been puzzling art curators and experts for a long time, but scientists at the University of Antwerp discovered <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ange.201411691/abstract>the reason why some of van Gogh's most prized works of art are turning white. It's the plumbonacrite! Vincent van Gogh's *Wheat Fields Under Cloudy Sky* originally featured bold reds. But scientists at the University of Antwerp discoved that the red lead paint used to create the vibrancy contains a mineral compound that fades in the light. Credit: Courtesy of WikiCommons Also known as red lead, plumbonacrite is suspected to be one of the first synthetically-made paints known to man, and van Gogh was a particular fan of the stuff. In many of his paintings he used bold colors — including the red hue — which apparently degrades like a Gobstopper candy <http://hyperallergic.com/187745/the-chemistry-of-why-van-gogh-reds-are-going-white/> when exposed to light. Francesca Casadi, a conservation scientist with the Art Institute of Chicago <http://www.artic.edu/>, says "We have known for some time that some of the pigments that van Gogh used alter with time. But honestly I was quite surprised to find that the red lead the mineral pigment that typically is considered relatively stable also failed him." Casadi says that at the time many artists like van Gogh were swept up my the insdustrial revolution and it's impact on the art world — like the manufacturing of paint. "This is the time right after the industrial revolution when pigment was manufactured. You don’t have the work-ship or assistance grinding minerals and having all control on the production, you have the first industrial production. And I suspect that the failing of this red lead may have to do with something in the way it was produced." "Some of the industrial manufacturing did include impurities we know now cause some of these changes," Casadi says. "But artists, of course, love the convenience of buying paint in a tube and not having to make their own paint." To figure out how red lead was changing colors, the Belgium researchers took a tiny white piece of van Gogh's*Wheat stack under a cloudy sky. *They examined the white speck under a microscope and fired x-ray lasers through the sample to determine what minerals it contained. Turns out that speck of paint was originally red. The team of scientists note that, “this is the first reported occurrence of this compound in a painting dating from before the mid 20th century.” But this isn't the same reason <http://hyperallergic.com/110385/the-chemistry-of-the-canvas-returning-the-red-to-a-renoir/> why Renior's 1883's *Madame Léon Clapisson* is fading. The red color used for that painting comes from an insect known as a cochineal, which, when exposed to light separates it's organic and inorganic compounds. That turns the red in the Renior's work into a mellow gray color. Casadi says that while it's considered unethnical to touch up the paintings to restore them to their original vibrant redish hue, digital technology does allow for us to see how the artist first painted their works of art. For example, she says that the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam <http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/> has an app that allows the user to get an up close look at van Gogh's work- on the surface and underneath the paint. Francesca Casadio, a conservation scientist with the Art Institute of Chicago says that her team is, "feverishly working on an accurate re-colorizatoin," of van Gogh's *The Bedroom* from 1889. She says it's another one of van Gogh's paintings that have faded over time. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
