AIC's 46th Annual Meeting

In anticipation of a multi-disciplinary exhibition devoted to a reassessment of Picasso's Blue Period (with the Phillips Collection, Washington, in 2020) the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) engaged Senior Imaging Scientist John Delaney and the special expertise of scientists at Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago (NU-ACCESS) to study two important Picasso Blue Period paintings:  La Miséreuse accroupie (1902) and La Soupe (1902-3).  The research has provided valuable insights into the artist's process with a particular focus on his materials, the relationship of underpainting to the visible composition, the chronology of the pentimenti and the relationship of all forms to extant drawings and other paintings of the period. Diffuse hyperspectral infrared reflectography was used to expand on the results of traditional infrared reflectography and x-radiography of both paintings. Fibre optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) was also collected from numerous sites to help with pigment identification. Hyperspectral image cubes consisting of ~200 images (spectral range 967 to 1680 nm) were generated. Significant changes in composition were revealed in both paintings. One of the major findings was that La Miséreuse accroupie is painted over another composition estimated to be by an artist and friend of Picasso, in Barcelona at the time. In addition, reflectance transformation imaging combined with photometric stereo provided detailed information about the brush strokes as well as the application of colour, and served to clarify complexity in the surface texture. New findings were further explored with point and 2D macro-X-Ray Fluorescence analyses. Elemental maps revealed more subtle changes in the composition of the underlying paint layers. It also helped selecting sites from which cross-sections were sampled, to potentially elucidate the chronology of the image changes. A complex stratigraphy was frequently revealed. Micro-sampling analyses allowed further differentiation of the artist's palette in the development of the painting and will be discussed within the context of current Blue Period Research. In depth studies of Pablo Picasso’s painting materials and techniques, though rare in the past, have seen a resurgence in the past ten years. This study is exemplary because of the high level of integration of curatorial, conservation and conservation science research. Curatorial input on visual sources for the artist, in the form of related drawings and artworks has accompanied the analytical campaign hand in hand, influencing, directing and inspiring interpretation of the scientific imaging. Furthermore, two different groups of scientific experts have been involved, thus pushing the limit of interdisciplinary research beyond the boundaries of a single discipline or institution in a fully integrated, not consultancy-based framework. This study greatly enhances our knowledge of the AGO Picasso Blue Period paintings and their relationship to other paintings and drawings of the period by drawing on a global network of experts and increasing body of knowledge.