Case study in the use of lasers to remove overpaint from Ad Reinhardt’s Black Painting, 1960–66

Abstract

The effectiveness of modern laser cleaning methodologies has been gaining recognition, and lasers have been successfully used in a number of cases for the removal of encrustation from stone. Revealing the stratigraphy of a painted structure, i.e. finding the successive paint layers, is necessary for the characterisation of the artist’s original technique and the presence of unwanted overpainting. Ad Reinhardt was aware that his fragile surfaces were prone to accidental markings. He often repainted his own paintings to remove damages, using the same oil binder and pigment mixtures that he had used originally to create the painting. When compared to the unrestored surfaces of other Reinhardt black paintings, the surface left on the study painting after laser treatment looked matt and non-reflective once more, simulating the surfaces of an untouched Reinhardt. The results of the laser ablation tests on Reinhardt’s Black Painting are promising: a surface once thought lost under dense overpainting has been returned, in part, to life.