Explore the vast range of titles available.

In 1842, the pioneering French photographer Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (1804-1892) set out eastward across the Mediterranean with a custom-built camera to explore ancient lands that were largely unknown to the Western world. This book is the first to fully consider the hundreds of daguerreotypes that resulted from his three-year journey, many of which were made using innovative techniques that fascinate photographers to this day. The images, including the first-known photographic documentation of significant locations, offer tangible evidence of historic sites, many of which have since been destroyed, in places such as Greece, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, and Jerusalem. They are remarkable and unparalleled portraits of a world gone by. Copiously illustrated and featuring a geographic glossary of the sites and images, Monumental Journey sheds new light on the arc of Girault's career, the vibrant orientalist milieu of 19th-century France that shaped his work, and his inventive contributions to the nascent field of photography. It introduces modern audiences to a brilliant yet enigmatic talent, as well as the stunning images, many published here for the time, that make a major contribution to the histories of both photography and eastern Mediterranean.--Exhibition: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (30.10-12.05.2019); Musâee d'Orsay, Paris, France (17.06-13.10.2019).

Adoration of the Magi (ca. 1695–1700), an enconchado painting attributed to Miguel González, active in Mexico in the late seventeenth century, exemplifies the refinement of the arts produced in Spanish America as a response to the taste for Asian goods during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The painting and its original mother-of-pearl inlaid frame were examined and analyzed using non-invasive and micro-sampling methods, an approach that permitted answering outstanding questions about the stratigraphy, pigments, and the use of shells throughout the painting and frame. The identification of the mother-of-pearl, determined to be from a Pinctada species, was a central focus of this study. In addition to the inlaid shells in the painting and frame, shell fragments were observed mixed with gypsum in the ground preparation of the painting by SEM–EDS. To our knowledge, this is a novel identification of marine shells in the ground of an easel painting. Traces of workmanship in the inlaid shells observed by SEM and optical microscopy are possibly connected to pre-Hispanic methodologies of mother-of-pearl refinement.

Vincent van Gogh’s still lifes Irises and Roses were investigated to shed light onto the degree to which the paintings had changed, both individually and in relation to each other since they were painted, particularly in regard to the fading of the red lakes. Non-invasive techniques, including macroscopic X-ray fluorescence mapping, reflectance imaging spectroscopy, and X-radiography, were combined with microanalytical techniques in a select number of samples. The in-depth microchemical analysis was necessary to overcome the complications that arise when evaluating by non-invasive methods alone the compositions of passages with complex layering and mixing of paints. The results obtained by these two approaches were complemented by color measurements performed on paint cross-sections and on protected edges, and with historical information provided by the artist’s own descriptions, early reviews and reproductions, and the data was used to carry out digital color simulations that provided, to a certain extent, a visualization of how the paintings may have originally appeared. Graphical abstract Irises , 1890, Vincent van Gogh. The Metropolitan Museum of Art #58.187. Zn ( upper right ), Pb ( bottom left ), and Br ( bottom right ) distribution maps acquired by XRF imaging.

Jacques-Louis David’s (1748–1825) iconic portrait of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) and Marie-Anne Lavoisier (Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, 1758–1836) has come to epitomize a modern couple born of the Enlightenment. An analytical approach that combined macro-X-ray fluorescence with the examination and microanalysis of samples by Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry to investigate imprecise indications of changes to the composition observed by microscopy and infrared refectography allowed the visualization of a hidden composition with a high level of detail. The results revealed that the first version depicted not the progressive, scientific-minded couple that we see today, but their other identity, that of wealthy tax collectors and fashionable luxury consumers. The first version and the changes to the composition are placed in the context of David’s mastery of the oil painting technique by examining how he concealed colorful features in the first composition by using paint mixtures that allowed for maximum coverage with thin paint layers. The limitations of the analytical techniques used are also discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth technical study of a painting by J.-L. David.

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.

The exhibition Matisse: The Red Studio allowed for an in-depth study of The Red Studio (1911) and six of the works featured in the painting by Henri Matisse (1869–1954) of his studio in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris. The grouping includes three paintings from the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst (Le Luxe II, 1907, Nude with White Scarf, c. 1909, and Bathers, c. 1909), one painting from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Young Sailor II, 1906), a painting from a private collection (Cyclamen, c. 1911), and a glazed and hand-painted earthenware plate from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (Untitled (Female Nude), 1907). The six paintings were investigated using technical (X-radiography, ultraviolet-induced fluorescence, infrared reflectography) and chemical imaging (MA-XRF) and, in some cases, spectroscopic techniques (FORS, SEM–EDS, Raman, SERS, and μ-FTIR), to better elucidate Matisse’s materials and working techniques for this selection of paintings; the plate was also analyzed using MA-XRF. New findings revealed the full extent to which Matisse had completed The Red Studio before applying its hallmark color, referred to as Venetian red in his correspondence, over the original palette of blue, pink, and ochre that dominated the composition. Particular attention was given to identifying the wide range of pigment choices made by Matisse in the execution of the works from 1906 and 1911 that are depicted in The Red Studio. These pigments include lead white, zinc white, bone black, earth reds, madder lake, carmine lake, vermilion, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, aureolin (cobalt) yellow, orpiment, viridian green, chromium-oxide green, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, Prussian blue, cobalt violet (deep and light), and other cobalt violets, as well as possibly manganese violet and eosin red lake. The results of these analyses allowed for a direct comparison between the original works and their depictions and revealed that Matisse, unsurprisingly given his strong association with color, often translated the pigment choices faithfully between the actual works and their depictions in The Red Studio.

Carmen Herrera, born on May 30th, 1915, is a Cuban American abstract minimalist artist, whose first solo show was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 2016–2017. On this occasion, a scientific study of five paintings from the artist’s time in Paris (1948–1953) revealed her pioneering use of solvent-based acrylic paints in post-war Europe. This article presents a second phase of research into Herrera’s work aiming to shed light on her studio practice and ascertain the possible presence of other early acrylic paints in her pre-1963 artistic production. A selection of four paintings, namely Iberia #25 (1948), Iberic (1949), Flights of Colors #16 (1949), and Early Dynasty (1953), was subjected to an analytical campaign that relied on both non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques. Results confirmed the use of both oil and solvent-based acrylic paints, supporting our primary research and uncovering the first-known occurrence of acrylic binders in Herrera’s Iberia #25. In all cases, the ground layer consists of a mixture of titanium white in its tetragonal form of rutile, anhydrite, and talc, while the color palette was found to be based on both traditional and modern pigments. In most areas, several paint layers appeared to be overlaid on top of one another, revealing a creative process that developed through subsequent compositions. Remnants of earlier paint layers, which appeared to have been scraped off before new ones were applied, were observed directly above the ground in some of the samples examined. In addition, Iberia #25 and Iberic, with analogous geometric and chromatic schemes, underwent technical imaging, which exposed pencil lines and notes underneath the paint layers likely indicative of the intended design and polychromy. Besides corroborating a major alteration in the current scholarship on the availability and use of acrylic-based artists’ paints in post-war Europe, this research provides new insights into Herrera’s materials, techniques, and studio practice. In addition, the results of this scientific study assisted the development of a suitable treatment plan for Iberic in preparation for its display in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s galleries as part of the museum’s 150th anniversary exhibition Making The Met, 1870–2020.

The Thannhauser Collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, represents an important survey of European avant-garde art production during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the works included in this collection are three paintings by Vincent van Gogh, namely Roadway with Underpass (1887), Landscape with Snow (1888), and Mountains at Saint-Rémy (1889). These examples each exhibit some degree of surface alteration, including fading of specific pigments and, in one case, a non-original, discolored varnish, resulting in obscured color and spatial relationships, as well as being the subject of questions regarding authenticity in the case of the two earlier pictures. Initial examination involved documentation of the brushwork, paint quality, and distribution of colors under magnification. Infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) photography, as well as X-radiography, provided additional information on the surface coatings, the structure of the works, and their supports. Subsequently, an in-depth scientific investigation of the ground and paint layers, with a special focus on fading colors and altered surfaces, was carried out non-invasively with point and macro-X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, visible reflection spectroscopy, and multi-channel visible spectrum four-light imaging, followed by the analysis of cross sections and dispersed pigment samples by means of optical microscopy, transmission Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), as well as high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Results indicated that both the brushwork and artist's palette of all three paintings are consistent with data previously reported for other Van Gogh works and with pigments described in the artist’s letters to his friends and his brother Theo. Most notably, evidence of biodeterioration and paint alteration phenomena was found on Roadway with Underpass, while specific pigments such as eosin red—historically sold as geranium lake—were detected in areas of Landscape with Snow and Mountains at Saint-Rémy that display severe fading. In addition to assisting the development of a suitable plan for the conservation of the 1887 painting, this study traces the progression of Van Gogh’s practice over three years critical to his artistic development, discusses the historical context in which each masterpiece was created, identifies the range of materials and techniques used, and addresses authenticity questions by providing a comparison with results of scientific analysis from other similar works.