Anikó Bezur

Scientifically Investigating Picasso's Suspected Use of Ripolin House Paints in Still Life, 1922 and The Red Armchair, 1931

Abstract Ripolin – a popular French house paint – was used extensively by Pablo Picasso and some of his contemporaries. Its presence in particular artworks, however, has been difficult to confirm scientifically due to the chemical similarities between Ripolin and contemporary artist’s tube paints, and the lack of knowledge about Ripolin paint formulations. This study compares data collected from a large reference set of historical samples of Ripolin and artist’s tube paints with new analytical results from two Picasso paintings in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago suspected to contain Ripolin: Still Life (1922) and The Red Armchair (1931). A variety of non-invasive and micro-invasive analytical techniques, including x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, fiber-optics reflectance spectroscopy (350 to 2500 nm), Raman spectroscopy, optical and polarized light microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, were used to analyze the paint samples. The results indicate that Still Life does not contain Ripolin, as it has pigments, such as vermilion and lead white, and extenders, such as barium sulfate, not used in French Ripolin house paints. On the other hand, The Red Armchair has paints matching closely with samples of Ripolin Blanc de neige, used alone and mixed with artist’s tube colors.

X-ray fluorescence applied to overglaze enamel decoration on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century porcelain from central Europe

Abstract Technical and chronological aspects of overglaze enamel production at historic porcelain factories in central Europe are discussed based on studies of over 180 objects at various laboratories. Results of analyses on representative objects, carried out primarily with X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, are presented. Examples of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century decoration by Meissen, Du Paquier, and Hausmaler painters are described in detail. The findings highlight established glaze formulation practices and enhance understanding of the dating of objects based on the detection of zinc in yellow, blue, and green glazes. This study is the first to provide extensive scientific evidence on the composition of nineteenth-century overglaze enamel colors. In particular, the research highlights the frequent co-occurrence of both eighteenth- and nineteenth-century enamel formulations on objects, underscoring the need to examine all overglaze enamel colorants on porcelains before attributing the decoration to a particular time period.

“Mixed Media”: An Example of Pablo Picasso's Combination of Non-Artist’s Paints with Tube Colors from the Menil Collection

Abstract Pablo Picasso created the painting Femme au chapeau assise sur une chaise (Seated woman with a hat) in Mougins, France, on September 10, 1938. He gave form to the paintings figure by adhering coarse-grained sand to the primary wood panel support. He then applied color to the composition using fluid and glossy paints. The swirling of colors at interfaces resembles the appearance of marbled paper, which suggests that the paint colors were applied in close succession. The relatively fast drying of the paint may be inferred from the retention of discrete boundaries between the wisps of different colors. Colors applied at a later stage appear to be level with earlier ones, indicating that Picasso added them while the latter were still fluid. In situ XRF analysis of the various colors indicates that some contain colorants uncharacteristic of house paints. Though analysis of the white, blue, and black areas did not allow their positive identification as Ripolin paint colors, their pigment components are consistent with contemporary formulation of non-artists paints. Picasso may have taken and applied these three colors from “can to canvas,” while he manipulated artists tube paints to achieve the handling properties he desired.

PART TWO OF SPECIAL ISSUE: FROM CAN TO CANVAS

The availability of gloss andmatte house paints (enamel paints) at the beginning of the  century had a profound impact on artists such as Pablo Picasso and many others of his generation. These artists used enamel paints because of their surface qualities, handling properties, and an avant-garde interest in unconventional painting materials that subverted the traditional vocabulary of academic painting. Although the  century also saw the introduction of a wide variety of synthetic polymers for use as paint binding media, it is only from the early s that the supremacy of oil-based paints in artists’ practice has been diminished by the wide popularity of acrylics and other synthetic resins. Many artists still use oil-based paints today, as attested by the high number of oil media descriptions in major modern and contemporary art collections. As a result, the in-depth study of oil paint formulations of the last two centuries continues to be as important as the study of the oil media of the Old Masters. Recent interest in this area is reflected in the popularity of conferences such as “Issues in Contemporary Oil Paint” (Amersfoort, The Netherlands, March ) and “From Can to Canvas: Early uses of house paints by Picasso and his contemporaries in the first half of the th century” (Marseille and Antibes, France, May ). It is precisely the latter meeting that gave the inspiration for the collection of papers gathered in these two special issues. While research has been conducted on modern and contemporaryartist’s tubepaints, surprisingly little attention has been devoted by the scholarly community to the study of early enamel paints, aside from anecdotal evidence and visual observations. The articles featured in these two special issues aim to fill this gap, with a special focus on the historic house paints manufactured by the French company Ripolin. At the same time as Picasso’s star was rising in the art world, the brand gained such popularity in Europe that the term “ripolin” became synonymous with enamel paints in general. This rich collection of essays for the first time fully explores the extent of use of oil-based enamel paints in the work of modern avant-garde artists with deep scientific rigor and far-reaching interdisciplinary inquiry. The papers explore topics relating to the use of non-artist’s enamel paints in the first half of the  century, including: intended and unintended meanings of artists’ material choices; techniques of paint application; issues of preservation; the materials and technology of paint production; and the challenging and multifaceted scientific characterization of nonartist’s paints. Part two of the special issue explores the potential use of Ripolin and other brands of non-artist’s paints by contemporaries of Picasso during the first half of the th century. While the six papers detail similar scientific approaches to identifying these materials in paintings, the authors face distinct challenges in evaluating their findings in the context of each artist’s practice and the available supporting material and written evidence. In studying Sidney Nolan’s use of Ripolin brand paints, Dredge et al. were in the enviable position of having access to over a dozen cans of Ripolin from the artist’s Wahroonga studio, in addition to writings explicitly detailing his use of the paint in his works. Their study of the pigment and organic components of glossy and flat tints provides invaluable information about Ripolin formulations produced in England beginning in  and made it possible to confirm Nolan’s use of the paint based on close matches of FTIR and XRF results from his works and paint-outs from Ripolin cans. This correspondence is encouraging in light of Harriet Standeven’s article in the first part of the special issue in which she cautions about frequent reformulations by paint manufacturers. The technical study of a  Giacomo Balla painting by Piccirillo et al. represents the other end of the spectrum when it comes to pursuing evidence for the use of non-artist’s paints. Lacking specific written references to the artist’s material choices, the authors turned to detailed studies of paint layers to tease out how Balla might have pursued the Futurist program. Piccirillo et al. highlight the need for research into non-artist’s paint formulations available in Italy in order to improve our understanding of how artists implemented Futurist manifestos and their explicit embrace of modern industrial materials. While László MoholyNagy made specific references to using industrial paints in the mid-s, the verification of this practice in his painting Z VII () represented a challenge to Tsai et al. Not only did Moholy-Nagy use various techniques, such as selective varnish application, to achieve