Smith Kari, Horton Kristin, Watling R John, Scoullar Natalie
Department of Applied Chemistry, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth W.A. 6845, Australia.
Talanta. 2005 Aug 15;67(2):402-13. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2005.06.030.
The nature of art lends itself to forgery as a skilled and determined forger can mimic the techniques and styles of an artist to a level where even an expert can be duped. The authentication of paintings is a subjective process, but modern techniques may provide the means to provenance artist pigments based on elemental composition. This study applies laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to the analysis of artist paints from different manufacturers to identify variation between the elemental association patterns of these materials. The technique facilitates comparison of the paints used by an artist with produced works of art to assist provenancing initiatives of questioned materials. The effects of the trace element profiles of the backing substrate and binder on analytical data were also identified. By applying the technique to paint scraped from real paintings, a limited database was created to allow comparison to be made with some of Australian artist, Kathleen O'Connor's artworks and assist in determining production chronology. Data from this study were able to facilitate comparison of blue paints from two different paintings and confirm their co-provenance consequently determining the relative production date of a separate painting of previously unknown age. Preliminary trials of a prototype collection device designed to reduce damage and allow for in situ sampling of artworks were also undertaken. The device, which allows direct laser-based sampling of a complete painting, was tested using a Francis Ryan painting. The prototype allows for the collection of debris directly generated by LA-ICP-MS of a predefined area of a painting prior to subsequent analysis using direct LA-ICP-MS. This collection method significantly minimizes the amount of damage produced by conventional sampling methods. Analyses of the debris collected, using the prototype, were found to be comparable to the scrapings of equivalent paint analysed using direct LA-ICP-MS analysis.
艺术的本质使其容易被伪造，因为技艺娴熟且意志坚定的伪造者能够模仿艺术家的技巧和风格，达到甚至能骗过专家的程度。绘画作品的鉴定是一个主观过程，但现代技术或许能提供依据元素组成来追溯艺术家颜料来源的方法。本研究将激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱法（LA-ICP-MS）应用于分析不同制造商生产的艺术家颜料，以识别这些材料元素关联模式之间的差异。该技术有助于将艺术家使用的颜料与已创作的艺术作品进行比较，以协助对有疑问材料的溯源工作。还确定了背衬基材和粘合剂的微量元素谱对分析数据的影响。通过将该技术应用于从真实绘画上刮下的颜料，创建了一个有限的数据库，以便与澳大利亚艺术家凯瑟琳·奥康纳的一些作品进行比较，并有助于确定创作年代顺序。本研究的数据能够促进对两幅不同绘画中蓝色颜料的比较，并确认它们的共同来源，从而确定一幅先前未知年代的单独绘画的相对创作日期。还对一种旨在减少损害并允许对艺术品进行原位采样的原型采集装置进行了初步试验。该装置允许对一幅完整的绘画进行基于激光的直接采样，使用弗朗西斯·瑞安的一幅画作进行了测试。该原型允许在随后使用直接激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱法进行分析之前，收集由一幅绘画预定义区域的激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱法直接产生的碎片。这种收集方法显著减少了传统采样方法造成的损害量。使用该原型收集的碎片分析结果与使用直接激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱法分析的同等颜料刮屑结果相当。
