We are very pleased to announce a new, online edition of the NICAS colloquium on Thursday 14 May 2020 from 12.00 to 13.00 hrs. The colloquium will take place through Microsoft Teams.
The chair of this colloquium will be Katrien Keune (Rijksmuseum/University of Amsterdam).
►Selwin Hageraats – Nanoscale X-ray Studies Reveal Previously Unkown Properties of Zinc White
The degradation of zinc white oil paints poses a very significant threat to the conservation of many 19th and 20th century oil paintings. For some unknown reason, the extent of degradation varies widely from painting to painting. Although environmental factors and paint composition are widely considered to play a role, there is also an increasing amount of evidence that suggests an effect of the intrinsic properties of the pigment. This talk will discuss recent studies that have succeeded in characterizing the intrinsic chemistry of the zinc white pigment at the nanoscale. A previously unknown physico-chemical property is presented that is hypothesized to be related to the catalytic activity of zinc white in the hydrolysis of the oil binder.
Selwin Hageraats is currently working as a PhD student for the Rijksmuseum where he is working on the development of new methodological approaches to study pigment degradation in oil paint. He is currently residing in France to carry out his research at the IPANEMA research institute and SOLEIL synchrotron.
►Emilie Froment – The Consequences of Wax-Resin Linings on the Appearance of Seventeenth Century Netherlandish Paintings on Canvas; Results of Research
In the Netherlands, from the first half of the nineteenth-century until the 1970s, paintings on canvas were commonly wax-resin lined. This restoration technique, however, is known to change colours in paintings. In seventeenth-century Netherlandish paintings the ground is often left visible and used as a middle tone. Colour change of the ground would therefore alter the overall aesthetic of the painting. Furthermore, color change is considered a sign of the modification of the painting’s materials, which is relevant for the future conservation of these works. The research examined the conditions and extent of change in ground reconstructions from seventeenth-century Netherlandish paintings on canvas.
Dr. Emilie Froment (1973 in Bordeaux, France) is paintings conservator and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). She studied art history and the conservation-restoration of cultural heritage at the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne (M.A in 1998 and 2003). Between 2004 and 2005 she worked as paintings conservator for the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In 2005 she joined the permanent staff of the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg. In 2008 she became permanent staff at the UvA and since then has been teaching the practice of paintings conservation. In January 2019 she received her PhD on the consequences of wax-resin linings for the present appearance and conservation of seventeenth century Netherlandish paintings on canvas.
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