Painting on the margins: investigating the pigments, media, and techniques of Séraphine Louis

Abstract

The richly decorative and imaginative works by French artist Séraphine Louis (1864–1942) have long elicited fascination, and her working methods have often eluded art historians and conservators alike. Working in secret and outside established art circles, Séraphine employed materials such as natural resin varnishes and was said to have used household paints in addition to traditional artists' oil paints. In this study of six works in the collections of the Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie, Senlis (MAA), The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (MMA), attention was given to Séraphine's choice of colors and paints, in addition to identifying possible additions to or manipulations of painting media by the artist. Technical imaging was carried out using UVF to visualize the extent of Séraphine's use of natural resins. Analysis of the palette relied on XRF techniques and limited sampling for analysis by Raman and µ-FTIR spectroscopies. Overall, the following pigments were identified: lead white, zinc white, carbon-based black, red and brown ochres, umber, vermilion, alizarin lake, rhodamine B lake, Prussian blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, chrome green, emerald green, viridian, cadmium yellow, and lead chromates, including chrome yellow deep and light, zinc yellow, and chrome orange. THM-Py-GCMS analysis of selected samples supported the documentary evidence of Séraphine's use of household oil paints; a single instance of a cellulose nitrate enamel paint was additionally determined by µ-FTIR. The chromatographic analysis also indicated a natural plant resin in her varnishes, probably dammar in combination with pine resin. Overall, this material investigation, accompanied by the art historical record, better reveals the techniques of an experimental painter whose works have come to epitomize French outsider artists of the early twentieth century.