The Science of Paintings

by W. Stanley Taft, James W. Mayer, P.I. Kuniholm (Contributor)

One's appreciation of a beautiful painting is enhanced by knowing about the aesthetic choices the artist made in composition and execution of the painting. It is also enhanced by knowing how the artist's selection and use of materials - and their interplay with light - affects what we see in the painting. This book discusses the physics and materials science that go into making a painting appear the way it does: the physical principles behind the colors one sees in paintings and how they change with illumination; the pigments, binders, varnish, and support materials used in both old and modern paintings; the optics and microscopic structure of paint films; and the various physical and chemical methods used to investigate and authenticate paintings. Chapters on dating, binders, and dendochronology are contributed by experts in the respective fields. Based on courses given at Cornell and Arizona, the treatment requires no prior knowledge of physics or chemistry. The insights gained from this book can help the amateur or connoisseur and also the artist understand the advantages and limitations of materials used in paintings, and it can help the historian and conservator authenticate and preserve works of art.

Genres: Art, Art History

247 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 2000

Reviews

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great resource for people who lack a science degree but want to understand some of the intrincacies of art materials and conservation. It is not intended as an artist manual. Painters with some experience will find it interesting however, and the novice artist will get a very clear overview of the different kinds of art materials and what they have in common. For example, you will learn what are the different kinds of carbohydrate based binders (gums), protein based binders (tempera, casein) and others, like tryglicerides (oil) beeswax (hydrocarbon and fatty acids) and natural resins (diterpenoids and triterpenoids). Also, how binders can be clasifiend in water soluble and not soluble. This clear and crisp clasifications remove much of the misteries surrounding "art recipes" and will help avoid costly mistakes. A great section also are the chapters dealing with teh nature of pigment (not enough, that's why I remove a star) and color/light. Much of the book is devoted to the techniques used to identify forgeries and why these techniques work. That said, the first five chapters should be obligatory reading to any art student. There are even some neat cone and rod eye anatomy lessons! What it is missing in my opinion is a whole lot of other chapters that would have been very interesting for an artist, not just a conservator, like a lot more information on preparation of materials, safety and , why not, a few formulas to preserve artwork for the centuries. Alas, that was not the intention and the book accomplishes in a few pages what others seriously lack. Moreover, there is avery fadcinating article on how to paint artwork only visible with an atomic reactor, a beautiful list of color pigments by index of refraction and atomic structure as well as some heady stuff on how conservators can determina teh age of an artwork by the reaction of the pigments to x-rays, infrared and even the dendrochronology of the wood used in the panels.