Abstract
Jackson Pollock’s Number 1A, 1948 painting was investigated using in situ scanning macro-x-ray fluorescence mapping (MA-XRF) to help characterize the artist’s materials and his creative process. A multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) approach was used to examine the hyperspectral data and obtain distribution maps and signature spectra for the paints he used. The composition of the paints was elucidated based on the chemical elements identified in the signature spectra and a tentative list of pigments, fillers and other additives is proposed for eleven different paints and for the canvas. The paint distribution maps were used to virtually reconstruct the artist process and document the sequence and manner in which Pollock applied the different paints, using deliberate and specific gestures
Highlights
Jackson Pollock painted Number 1A, 1948 at a transformative time in his career, when he abandoned the easel to ‘paint’ flat on the floor, gradually introducing the use of household enamel paints that he poured, dripped and splattered on canvas at an increasingly large scale
We aim to demonstrate the advantages of a multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) approach [22] to decompose the Macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-X-ray fluorescence (XRF)) data cube into the contributions of paints instead of chemical elements
They were evaluated and compared to complimentary spectra acquired by XRF spot analysis using the handheld instrument to confirm the elements identified for the different paints
Summary
Jackson Pollock painted Number 1A, 1948 at a transformative time in his career, when he abandoned the easel to ‘paint’ flat on the floor, gradually introducing the use of household enamel paints that he poured, dripped and splattered on canvas at an increasingly large scale This is one of the rare instances where he used his hands to stain and mark the raw canvas, perhaps to provide a compositional structure for the layers that followed. Analysis was done in the past to characterize the paints he used to execute some of his paintings in the 1940s and early 1950s [1,2,3,4,5] and the paint cans that have been preserved in his studio [3, 6] These studies required sampling and the use of sophisticated and ultrasensitive analytical methods to identify the paint media and pigments. The interpretation of the spectra can be complex for layered and mixed paints and the technique provides information on the elements present
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