Papers by Catherine Defeyt
Marat assassiné (Murdered Marat), one of the most famous masterpieces painted by Jacques-Louis Da... more Marat assassiné (Murdered Marat), one of the most famous masterpieces painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1793 has been investigated in situ by means of non-invasive and complementary analytical and imaging techniques. The overall material and technical information collected on this occasion led to important discoveries on the iconic picture of the French revolution. Following the identification of the palette used by David, we have shown the relationship between Marat assassiné and another David's painting. Features of David's artistic practice have been explained. Drastic changes in the final composition have been shown and explained based on scientific analysis and historical information. Finally we have formulated a hypothesis about how Marat assassiné could have been concealed.
The material study of ancient Egyptian paintings began with the advent of Egyptology during the 1... more The material study of ancient Egyptian paintings began with the advent of Egyptology during the 19th century. By the 1930s, a lot had already been sampled and described. The limited palette for example has been analysed from actual painted surfaces but also from pigments and painting tools retrieved on site. However, most of these studies took place in museums while the painted surfaces, preserved in funerary chapels and temples, remained somewhat estranged from this primary physical understanding. The artistic process has been also reconstructed, mainly from the information presented by unfinished monuments, showing surfaces at different stages of completion. A lot of this modern and theoretical reconstruction is, however, based on the usual archaeological guessing game that aims at filling the remaining blanks. Our interdisciplinary project has decided to experiment on-site with stateof-the-art portable analysis tools, avoiding any physical sampling, to see if our knowledge of the work of the ancient Egyptian painters and draughtsmen could be taken at a further stage, while based on physical quantification that could be seen as a stronger and more reliable foundation for a redefined scientific hypothesis. The use of XRF mapping has, for instance, been applied to a known case of correction by surface repaint, something that is supposedly rare in the ancient Egyptian formal artistic process, while another fully unexpected one was discovered during the analytic exploration of a royal representation. In both cases, the precise and readable imaging of the physical composition of the painted surface offers a renewed visual approach based of chemistry, that can be shared through a multiand interdisciplinary approach. However, this also leads to a more complex description of pigment mixtures that could have multiple meanings, where the practical often leads towards the symbolic, and from there hopefully to a renewed definition of the use of colours in complex sets of ancient Egyptian representations. At this stage, though the progress in this on-site material assessment of ancient works of art definitely means astonishing
Getty Conservation Institute, 2019
Peer reviewe
Memnonia, 2017
International audienc
La découverte de la Domus aux Bucranes, une maison tardo-républicaine remarquablement bien conser... more La découverte de la Domus aux Bucranes, une maison tardo-républicaine remarquablement bien conservée dans les couches les plus profondes du site de la Schola del Traiano à Ostia Antica , a permis le développement d’un projet de recherche interdisciplinaire portant sur le système décoratif de IIe style (pavements, enduits peints et reliefs de stuc) mis en œuvre à l’embouchure du Tibre, au cours du Ier s. av. J.-C. Outre son état de conservation exceptionnel, qu’il s’agisse d’éléments retrouvés in situ ou intégrés sous la forme de fragments dans les couches de remblais liés aux chantiers successifs, le système décoratif de la Domus aux Bucranes se distingue par la qualité des matériaux utilisés aussi bien que par la très grande maîtrise technique et artistique des ateliers alors sollicités. Fait remarquable : la fouille et l’étude de la stratigraphie de ce gisement a permis de restituer une séquence chronologique très précise concernant les phases de construction (60-50 av. J.-C.) et de destruction (30-20 av. J.-C.) de la domus, ainsi qu’une phase de restructuration intermédiaire (40-30 av. J.-C.) limitée à quelques pièces seulement. Si la destruction précoce de l’édifice a favorisé la conservation des pavements, ainsi que des enduits peints et des reliefs de stucs , la succession de deux phases de décoration durant le temps d’une même génération livre des informations de toute première importance quant à l’évolution du IIe style en Italie centrale, dans ses formes esthétiques aussi bien que dans ses compositions chimiques, au cours du deuxième tiers du Ier s. av. J.-C. De ce fait, en complément des traditionnelles études archéologiques et stylistiques, des analyses archéométriques ont été portées sur une partie significative du matériel sous enquête. Une telle démarche n’avait jamais encore été entreprise à Ostia Antica - sur des éléments en contexte aussi anciens - et les résultats obtenus, en cours d’interprétation , composeront une base de données de référence pour l’étude d’autres ensembles contemporains à Rome et ses environs. Nous en livrons ici les prémices, en limitant toutefois nos réflexions sur l’une des pièces restructurées et décorées durant la phase intermédiaire (40-30 av. J.-C.), l’« œcus des nains », ainsi nommée du fait de la nature des personnages mis en scène sur la frise peinte qui dominait la composition de cette pièce hors du commun.Peer reviewe
Additional file 1: Figure S1. Photography under UV light of Dieu n'est pas un saint. ©Ch. Her... more Additional file 1: Figure S1. Photography under UV light of Dieu n'est pas un saint. ©Ch. Herscovici, Belgium.
X-Ray Spectrometry, 2021
Painted in 1925 or 1926, over an older composition, La salle d'armes, is among the first ... more Painted in 1925 or 1926, over an older composition, La salle d'armes, is among the first Magritte's surrealist paintings. It is also one of the only four Magritte's using enamels reported in the René Magritte Catalog Raisonné. This paper presents the material and technical study conducted on this double painting. The complementary imaging and analytical methods applied for this purpose provided substantial information on both, the visible image and the hidden one. Concerning the latter, for instance, the obtained results permitted to iden- tify a cubo-futurist oil painting from the very early 1920s.
Artists started to experiment fluorescent colours shortly after the discovery of daylight pigment... more Artists started to experiment fluorescent colours shortly after the discovery of daylight pigments by the Switzer brothers in the 1940s. It is a new way of expression for painters from the 20th century such as Andy Warhol, Martial Raysse, Keith Haring and Pierre Alechinsky. More recently, artists from the 21st century use the daylight colours through new technics like aerosol spray paint [1]. It is well known that some fluorescent pigments are unstable. Indeed, phenomena of discolourations and fluorescence losses are often observed. The companies that provide this type of pigments kept secret the composition of their paints and aerosols. Moreover, knowledge of materials used by artists is so important for the history of the art of techniques but also for conservation issues. The aim of the study is to characterise and found identification markers from distinct fluorescent colours, from different manufacturers, using non-invasive methods namely Raman [2] and FT-IR spectroscopy, macro-XRF, X-ray diffraction and hyperspectral imaging. In a second step, after an artificial aging, the goal will be to observe how each pigment evolve to discern which are the most subject to the fading phenomenon. The final step of this study is to find the most optimal analytic strategy for the analysis of works of art, preserved at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, to identify pigments that are more susceptible to fade and enforce preventive conservation for this one. References [1] A. Colombini and C. Valageas, Technè, 38 (2013) 34-38 [2] W. Fremout, in: Conference paper from IRUG 11. (Boston, MA) (2014)Peer reviewe
1. Laboratoire d’Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale, UMR 8220 CNRS – Université Pierre et Mar... more 1. Laboratoire d’Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale, UMR 8220 CNRS – Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. 2. S.A.R.L. Grotte de Rouffignac, France. 3. Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, France. 4. Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain. 5. Centre Européen d’Archéométrie, University of Liège, Belgium.
Heritage Science, 2019
One of the two missing canvases from L’évidence éternelle of 1954, the one of the feet, has been ... more One of the two missing canvases from L’évidence éternelle of 1954, the one of the feet, has been discovered beneath a small woman portrait painted in 1958, La toile de Pénélope. Indeed, the underlying woman’s feet revealed through the IRR and XRR images leave little doubt about the identity of the hidden composition. All the more so as the canvas dimensions perfectly match with the format ascribed to the feet part in the diagram Magritte made of the 1954 variant of L’évidence éternelle. This paper presents the main results of the material study conducted on La toile de Pénélope by means of non-invasive and complementary imaging and analytical techniques. Furthermore, it proposes a virtual colorized reconstruction of the hidden picture, built on the basis of the XRR and IRR images, the elemental information provided by the MA-XRF analysis, the Raman results and the microscope examination of the painting surface.
Heritage Science, 2018
The Portrait de Suzanne Bambridge (1891) is the first oil painting executed by Paul Gauguin (1848... more The Portrait de Suzanne Bambridge (1891) is the first oil painting executed by Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) in Tahiti. A comprehensive material study of the painting by means of MA-XRF, Raman and FT-IR techniques has been conducted to understand Gauguin's practice. The obtained results allowed collecting unexpected material evidences, which suggest restoration and subsequent addition made by Gauguin himself. Moreover relevant compositional information has been provided that has influenced the decision-making process during the restoration of the painting as the removal of the old varnish and the overpaints, dating from undocumented past treatments, turned out to be much more complicated than expected. While X-ray radiography and multi-spectral imaging methods could not give sufficient information, overpaints and original paint layers have been distinguished through this multi-analytical approach.
CeROArt, 2011
Histoire matérielle de l'oeuvre Problématique En juin 1939, se tint entre les murs de la galerie ... more Histoire matérielle de l'oeuvre Problématique En juin 1939, se tint entre les murs de la galerie Theodore Fischer, à Lucerne, la très controversée vente aux enchères de peintures et sculptures de maîtres modernes provenant des musées allemands : formule pudique qui désignait en réalité une vente destinée à débarrasser les musées allemands d'un art considéré comme dégénéré, autrement dit, non conforme à l'idéologie du Troisième Reich. Parmi les cent vingt-cinq oeuvres mises en vente se trouvait le portrait de La Famille Soler peint par Pablo Picasso en 1903. À l'issue d'enchères rondement menées et pour une somme modique, la ville de Liège devint l'heureuse propriétaire de la composition proto cubiste du maître espagnol. La scène dépeint les époux Soler en compagnie de leurs quatre enfants, il y règne une atmosphère champêtre et certains attributs, comme le fusil et le lièvre mort, suggèrent un retour de chasse. Ce tableau au format imposant (150x200cm) confisqué par le régime nazi au Musée de Cologne en 1937 1 , correspond à la partie centrale d'un triptyque commandé par Benet Soler (1874-1945), tailleur du peintre à l'époque ou celui-ci vivait à Barcelone. Le portrait de Benet Soler, actuellement conservé au State Hermitage Museum, à Saint-Pétersbourg et celui de son épouse Montserrat, conservé, quant à lui à la Neue Pinakothek, à Munich 2 constituent les parties latérales de ce triptyque démembré, issu de la période bleue. En 2008, à l'occasion de l'exposition parisienne Picasso et les maîtres 3 , les trois parties ont été offertes aux yeux du public. Si l'on se fie à la littérature traitant du sujet 4 , il semblerait que le fond initialement Auteur Catherine Defeyt Catherine Defeyt est titulaire d'un Master II en conservation-restauration, orientation peinture de chevalet et d'un Master II en histoire de l'art et archéologie, orientation archéométrie. Doctorante en Arts et Sciences de l'art au Centre Européen d'Archéométrie de l'Université de Liège, elle effectue dans le cadre de sa thèse une recherche sur l'influence des solvants aromatiques sur les propriétés optiques du bleu de phtalocyanine de cuivre en milieu pictural. Articles du même auteur
CeROArt, 2010
Actuellement, cinq formes de bleu de phtalocyanine de cuivre sont utilisees comme pigments artist... more Actuellement, cinq formes de bleu de phtalocyanine de cuivre sont utilisees comme pigments artistiques: PB15, :1, :2, :3, :4, et :6. PB15 qui correspond a la forme la plus utilisee apres PB15 :3 est sujette a la cristallisation. Ce phenomene qui s’observe plus particulierement en presence de solvants aromatiques entraine un glissement de teinte du bleu vers le vert et une perte du pouvoir couvrant du pigment. Or, l’usage de solvants aromatiques dans le champ de la conservation-restauration de peintures de chevalet est relativement commun. Citons par exemple, le toluene et les xylenes qui entrent dans la composition de certains melanges de solvants, de certains types vernis (Laropal A81) et d’adhesifs (Beva 371). C'est pourquoi il est necessaire d’effectuer une recherche de maniere a determiner si les conditions d’utilisation des solvants aromatiques en conservation-restauration provoquent la cristallisation de PB15. Dans cet article, les premiers resultats obtenus sur des echantillons de PB15, :1, :2, :3, :4 et :6 en poudre sont presentes. Les cinq formes susmentionnees ont ete examinees sous microscope polarisant et analysees par spectroscopie infrarouge a transformee de Fourier et diffraction de rayons X, avant et apres leur immersion dans les solvants aromatiques, de facon a pouvoir comparer les proprietes optiques et chimiques.
Heritage Science, 2018
The last missing quarter of La pose enchantée, a 1927 Magritte's oil painting disappeared in 1932... more The last missing quarter of La pose enchantée, a 1927 Magritte's oil painting disappeared in 1932, has been finally found beneath Dieu n' est pas un saint, picture painted by the Belgian surrealist between 1935 and 1936, conserved at the Brussels Magritte Museum (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium) (inv. 11681). The in-depth study conducted on Dieu n' est pas un saint by means of non-invasive and complementary imaging and analytical techniques has allowed formulating substantiated conclusions regarding this double painting. On the one hand, the routine imaging methods, including XRR, IRR and digital microscopy, have delivered a comprehensive outcome regarding the transformation process of the right top part of La pose enchantée into the current composition. On the other hand, the pigments used for both the visible and the hidden composition have been characterized through the MA-XRF analysis of the whole picture and punctual Raman measurements. Additionally, the present paper proposes a virtual colorization of La pose enchantée, which has been build on the basis of the overall material evidences collected about the right top part lying beneath Dieu n' est pas un saint.
Studies in Conservation, 2017
The study of La Famille Soler using non-invasive imaging, molecular, structural, and elemental an... more The study of La Famille Soler using non-invasive imaging, molecular, structural, and elemental analysis allowed the re-examination of changes of the work. Considered as the earliest of Picasso's versions of Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by E. Manet, evidence suggests that an underlying landscape painted by Vidal in 1903 also referred to Manet's masterpiece. On the other hand, new results suggest that the cubist sketch undertaken by Picasso in 1912, prior to the current blue background, could be an uncompleted transformation of Vidal's landscape into synthetic cubism. Through study the main pigments used in the underlying compositions were successfully identified.
Heritage Science, 2017
Because PU coatings offer a compromise between aesthetic and performance expectations, unachievab... more Because PU coatings offer a compromise between aesthetic and performance expectations, unachievable with other types of industrial paints, they are currently recognized as the most appropriate option to coat sculptures intended for an outdoor setting. However, the PU class includes various systems, such as two package solvent-borne, two package water-borne, one package water-borne and fluoropolymer polyurethanes, which possess very different properties. 115 reference samples of PU coatings were investigated by means of Py-GC/MS, in order to outline the differences and the similarities existing, in terms of composition, between the major PU systems used for creating as well as for conserving modern painted outdoor sculptures. The Py-GC/MS study of an extended number of reference samples showed that the composition of equivalent PU systems strongly varies depending on the product line and the manufacturer. Furthermore the comparison of all the produced pyrograms allowed defining characteristic marker compounds helpful to discriminate specific PU paint systems.
Heritage Science, 2017
Like acrylics and alkyds, polyurethanes (PUs) represent an important class of industrial paints a... more Like acrylics and alkyds, polyurethanes (PUs) represent an important class of industrial paints adopted by 20th and 21st artists; primarily by those creating outdoor painted sculptures (OPS). Because PU coatings offer a compromise between aesthetic and performance expectations, unachievable with other types of paints, they are commonly recognized as the most appropriate option for painted artworks intended for an outdoor setting. However, the PU class includes various systems and subgroups possessing very different properties. Through the FTIR-ATR study of 137 PU coating references from the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) reference collection, this paper outlines the differences and the similarities existing, in terms of the composition, of two package solvent-borne, two package waterborne, one package water-borne and fluoropolymer polyurethanes. The comparison of the obtained FTIR-ATR results allowed determining markers helpful to discriminate specific PU subgroups by means of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The goals of this paper are to provide to the conservation professionals a better understanding of the versatility and diversity of PU coatings and to facilitate the identification of the various types initially used by the artists.
Heritage Science, 2017
Despite the fact that Kees van Dongen was one of the most famous painters of the twentieth centur... more Despite the fact that Kees van Dongen was one of the most famous painters of the twentieth century, only little information about his palette and his technique is available. To contribute to the characterization of van Dongen's painting materials, La Violoniste, painted by the artist around 1922, has been analyzed by using three complementary techniques: macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF), Raman spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging. The elemental repartition given by MA-XRF and the results obtained thanks to Raman spectroscopy help us to complete the identification of pigments contained in La Violoniste (lead white, iron oxides, cadmium yellow, vermilion, Prussian blue, titanium white, ultramarine, a red lake, a chromium pigment and carbon black) while the results obtained via hyperspectral imaging reveal a hidden woman portrait. Besides the fact that Kees van Dongen was particularly renowned for his female portraits, this hidden composition presents stylistic similarities with the well-known portraits produced by the artist from around 1920, when he was a famous worldly portraitist. Thanks to Raman spectroscopy, visual examination and MA-XRF, we show that the original background contains ultramarine, the hidden portrait's clothes are maybe made of the same colour as the present violinist's dress and her face contains zinc, contrary to the violinist's flesh which is mainly made of lead white.
Applied Physics A, 2016
The present paper proposes an overview of the painting materials experimented with over the years... more The present paper proposes an overview of the painting materials experimented with over the years by Sam Francis, leading figure of the post-World War II American painting, through the analytical study of an extended number of paint samples supplied by the Sam Francis Foundation. In total, 279 samples taken from twenty-eight artworks made between 1946 and 1992, were analyzed by Raman, FTIR and Py-GC/MS techniques. The obtained results revealed the Francis' preference in terms of pigments, i.e., phthalocyanine blues and greens, and outlined unconventional combination of binder media.
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Papers by Catherine Defeyt