Abstract
Micro-samples from 57 original paint tubes used between 1904 and 1909 by the Norwegian painter, Harriet Backer were studied with inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES). This accurate elemental characterisation of Backer’s original materials aims to fill several gaps in conservation science, painting conservation, and art technology. Firstly, it provides a novel and validated analytical method that can be applied to other painting materials. Secondly, ICP–OES offers scientific information about different oil colours from the late 19th to the early 20th century by Dr. Schoenfeld & Co., Düsseldorf, currently known as Lukas–Nerchau, whose archives were depleted during the Second World War. This work also lends new insights into the paintings of a renowned female Norwegian artist, whose painting materials have been little studied to date. ICP–OES results, coupled with a comprehensive, illustrated catalogue of paint tubes, will be instrumental for ongoing scientific investigations of this painter’s body of work.
Highlights
Harriet Backer (1845–1932) Harriet Backer is one of the most prominent painters of her generation in Norway [1, 2]
Analytical figures of merit of the inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES) method Table 4 reports the selected spectral lines, their view mode, the percentage deviation between the measured and the expected concentrations of the above-mentioned reference solution. This is based on the optimization of the ICP–OES method
The ICP–OES method developed for this work can be considered highly accurate, with values of closeness of agreement never above 6.0% and coefficient of variation (CV) of the measurements rarely exceeding 10%, well below the 15% for both trueness and precision reported in the literature [53]
Summary
Harriet Backer (1845–1932) Harriet Backer is one of the most prominent painters of her generation in Norway [1, 2]. Backer’s paint box with colour tubes in Uvdal Between 1904 and 1909, Backer spent every summer in the medieval stave church at Uvdal in the Numedal valley in eastern Norway [2]. Since 1901, Fortidsminneforeningen (The National Trust of Norway) has owned the church [3] This meant that the artist could turn the church into a studio without interruptions by church services. The box contains 259 colour tubes, 20 bottles of Lefranc’s Vernis à Peindre and a few paint rags [4] (Fig. 1). To our knowledge, this is the first study of this kind on this material
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