Leighton Reeve Roy White1987 Van Gogh

8/16/2019 Leighton Reeve Roy White1987 Van Gogh

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National Gallery Technical Bulletin Volume 11, 1987

Vincent Van Gogh's 'A Cornfield, ith Cy!resses"

#ohn $eighton, Anthony %ee&e, Asho %oy and %aymond (hite

)ntroduction#ohn $eighton

Van Gogh painted three versions of ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’; a painting in aSwiss private collection (Fig.! is al"ost identical in si#e to the $ational Galleryversion ($o.%&'; Fig. and )late*, p.+*!, while a red-ction or s"all copy of thesa"e co"position is in an A"erican private collection (Fig.%! (note !. he treat"entof $o.%&' and the "aterials -sed /y Van Gogh are disc-ssed /elow /y Anthony0eeve and Asho1 0oy; this introd-ction provides a conte2t for the $ational Gallery ‘ACornfield, with Cypresses’ and p-ts forward so"e tentative s-ggestions a/o-t therelative stat-s of the three versions of this co"position. he recent e2hi/itions VanGogh in Aries and Van Gogh in Saint304"y and A-vers with their e2cellentcatalog-es, have provided co"prehensive art3historical st-dies of these periods inVan Goghs career, yet there re"ains a s-rprising dearth of detailed technicalanalyses of the artists wor1 (note !. 5ntil s-ch a /ody of infor"ation is co"piled,any generali#ations a/o-t Van Goghs wor1ing processes "-st re"ain-ns-/stantiated.

After a series of /rea1downs at Aries in the winter of &&&, Van Gogh vol-ntarily

entered the asyl-" of Saint3)a-l3de36a-sole in Saint304"y3de3)rovence on & 6ay&&7. he first "onth at Saint304"y was spent drawing and painting within thehospital gro-nds, /-t early in 8-ne, Van Gogh was a/le to report to his /rother heothat he had /eg-n to paint in the s-rro-nding co-ntryside. 9e first tac1led a "otifsi"ilar to that of $o.%&' in the ‘:heatfield’ painted in "id38-ne (note %!. y the endof the "onth he wrote to heo<

‘he cypresses are always occ-pying "y tho-ghts, = sho-ld li1e to "a1e so"ethingof the" li1e the canvases of the s-nflowers, /eca-se it astonishes "e that they havenot yet /een done as = see the" (note >!.’

As a s-/?ect, the cypress tree appealed /oth to Van Goghs eye and his i"agination;while the elegant silho-ettes were as /ea-tif-l of line and proportion as an @gyptiano/elis1. he traditional associations of the cypresses, the )rovenal tree of death,"ay also have appealed to Van Gogh; hc often descri/ed the" as so"/re andonce referred to the cypress as a splash of ‘/lac1’ in a s-nny landscape B.... (note+!. A/ove all, the cypress trees, along with the olive trees, the fig trees and the vineswere characteristic of )rovence. As he /eca"e "ore involved in the )rovencallandscape, Van Gogh spo1e of his a"/ition to create a scries of canvases which willfor" at /est a sort of whole, D="pressions of )rovenceD (note '!. For Vincent, thecypress trees were as "-ch a part of )rovence as the willows were of his native9olland.


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Cypresses appear in the /ac1gro-nd of several of Van Goghs paintings at Aries andthey are a do"inant ele"ent in ‘he Starry $ight’ painted in "id38-ne &&7 (note *!.=n two canvases dating fro" the end of 8-ne however, the cypress trees have/eco"e a s-/?ect in the"selves (note &!.

‘wo st-dies of cypresses of that diffic-lt /ottle3green h-e; = have wor1ed theirforegro-nds with thic1 layers of white lead, which gives fir"ness to the gro-nd (note7!.’

he first version of ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ (Fig.! was painted shortlyafterwards, early in 8-ly.

‘= have a canvas of cypresses with so"e ears of wheat, so"e poppies, a /l-e s1yli1e a piece of Scotch plaid; the for"er painted with a thic1 i"pasto li1e the6onticellis, and the wheatfield in the s-n, which represents the e2tre"e heat, verythic1 too (note E!.’

his description "atches the painting now in Swit#erland which has the sa"e densei"pasto as the recently co"pleted ‘Cypresses’, a s-rface which is an acc-"-lationof several layers of paint.

he activity of these early "onths at Saint304"y was /ro-ght to an a/r-pt halt /ythe severe attac1 which Van Gogh s-ffered while painting o-t3of3doors in "id38-ly.9e was ill for a/o-t five wee1s and did not res-"e painting -ntil the end of A-g-st.:riting to heo early in Septe"/er, Van Gogh pro"ised to send his /rother twelvesi#e %E canvases /y the end of the "onth, /-t they will nearly all /e the sa"e pict-re

twice over, the st-dy and the final pict-re (note !. =t see"s li1ely that the $ationalGallery, ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ is one of these si#e %E canvases, a st-diorepetition of the co"position first painted in 8-ly. he recent treat"ent of $o.%&'confir"s that it was pro/a/ly painted in a single sitting with so"e "inor lateradditions, and the rapidly achieved i"pasto is -ite distinct fro" the "ore heavilywro-ght s-rfaces of the earlier ‘Cypresses’ and ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ (Fig.!.here is considera/le variation in the te2t-re and thic1ness of paint in $o.%&'; inseveral areas, nota/ly the s1y and the cypress trees, the paint is thinly and evenlyapplied while the thic1est i"pasto is in the foregro-nd wheat and in the clo-ds. hegro-nd is often allowed to show /etween the /r-shstro1es and in the s1y this createsa s-/tle interplay /etween the war" gro-nd colo-r and the cool /l-es.

=n repeating the 8-ly version, Van Gogh has "ade several "odifications to theco"position. So"e of the areas in the "iddle distance have /een si"plified and thesilho-ettes of the cypress trees are livelier and "ore ani"ated. 9e has alsoe2aggerated the rhyth"ic lines which r-n across the co"position, especially theo-tline of the "o-ntains and the far edge of the wheatfield.

he relationship /etween these two versions of the sa"e co"position is interestingas it is often ass-"ed that Van Gogh prod-ced repetitions of his own wor1 cither asgifts for his fa"ily or /eca-se he was forced to rely on the inspiration of his own wor1d-ring periods of convalescence. he s"all red-ction of ‘A Cornfield, withCypresses’ (Fig.%! certainly /elongs to the for"er category as it was prod-ced to


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send to his "other and sister, /-t there are a n-"/er of repetitions which played a"ore i"portant role in Van Goghs wor1ing proced-re. Van Gogh was co""itted towor1ing fro" nat-re yet he strove to render the inner character of the landscaperather than to reprod-ce its s-perficial appearance. At Aries, -nder the s-pervision of Ga-g-in, he had e2peri"ented with the freedo" of painting fro" his i"agination

rather than after nat-re /-t he -ic1ly a/andoned this approach finding it alien to histe"pera"ent. :ith the e2ception of a s"all n-"/er of canvases incl-ding ‘heStarry $ight’, the paintings prod-ced at Saint304"y are /ased on a directo/servation of nat-re. he process of repeating a co"position in the st-dio allowedVan Gogh to e2plore the "ore decorative and e2pressive ele"ents in his art, while atthe sa"e ti"e retaining a close lin1 with the "otif.

=n a letter to @"ile ernard written in &&&, Van Gogh had already given a clearstate"ent a/o-t the relationship /etween a st-dy fro" nat-re and a finishedpict-re.

‘And = cannot wor1 witho-t a "odel. = wont say that = dont t-rn "y /ac1 on nat-rer-thlessly in order to t-rn a st-dy into a pict-re, arranging the colo-rs, enlarging andsi"plifying; B.... = e2aggerate, so"eti"es = "a1e changes in a "otif; /-t for all that, =do not invent the whole pict-re; on the contrary, = find it all ready in nat-re, only it"-st /e disentangled (note !.’

=n another letter to ernard written a year later, fro" Saint304"y, Van Gogh againstressed his diffic-lties in disentangling what is already in nat-re (note %!. yprod-cing repetitions Van Gogh was a/le to develop his personal response to thes-/?ect witho-t "oving too far towards what he descri/ed as the enchanted gro-nd

of a/straction (note >!.

:hen heo Van Gogh wrote to Vincent to ac1nowledge receipt of the /atch ofpaintings which incl-ded /oth the si#e %E paintings of ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’he acc-sed his /rother of /eing preocc-pied with the search for so"e style. =n hisdefence Vincent replied<

‘B... the fact is that = feel strongly inclined to see1 style, if yo- li1e, /-t /y that = "eana "ore virile deli/erate drawing. = cant help it if that "a1es "e "ore li1e ernard orGa-g-in (note +!.’

he s"all /-t i"portant differences /etween ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ inSwit#erland and the version in the $ational Gallery ill-strate this atte"pt to achieve a"ore deli/erate drawing and show how, in the relative cal" of the st-dio, Van Goghso-ght to translate a heavily wor1ed st-dy after nat-re into a "ore concise andpowerf-l pictorial state"ent.

he two paintings of ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ were sent to heo on &Septe"/er &&7. Van Gogh often gave his /rother detailed instr-ctions on how tohandle and display his wor1s and his co""ents s-ggest that Vincent was well awareof the pro/le"s that his techni-es "ight ca-se in the f-t-re. =n Septe"/er &&7, for e2a"ple, he wrote to heo a/o-t the ‘edroo"’


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‘B... sooner or later it "-st /e ‘recanvased’ good and solid. =t was painted so -ic1lyand has dried in s-ch a way that the essence evaporated at once, and so the paint isnot fir"ly st-c1 to the canvas at all. hat will /e the case with other st-dies of "inetoo, which were painted very -ic1ly and very thic1ly. esides, after so"e ti"e thisthin canvas decays and cannot /ear a lot of i"pasto (note '!.’

n a n-"/er of occasions Van Gogh told heo to wash his canvases when they are-ite, -ite dry with ‘water and a little spirits of wine’ to ta1e away the oil and theessence in the i"pasto (note *!. hese instr-ctions were repeated when he senthis painting of ‘Cypresses’ to the critic, Al/ert A-rier, and Van Gogh also instr-ctedhi" to give the painting a goodly coat of varnish<

‘B... yo- will, /y varnishing, get the /lac1, the very /lac1 tones, necessary to /ringo-t the vario-s so"/re greens (note &!.’

=t is not clear why /oth the si#e %E versions of ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ escapedthis treat"ent /-t the diffic-lties in finding a s-ita/le protective layer for $o.%&' aredisc-ssed /elow /y Anthony 0eeve.

Acnoledgements= wo-ld li1e to than1 Cornelia )eres of the 0i?1s"-se-" Vincent Van Gogh, A"sterda" and 9ans S-si?n for their help and advice. = a" also gratef-l to S-sanStein at the 6etropolitan 6-se-" of Art, $ew Hor1 for o/taining a reprod-ction ofF*>%.

Notes and references

. he three versions are< A Cornfield, with Cypresses, $ational Gallery $o.%&',*> 2 7% c"; F'+ in de la Faille, ?3., ‘he :or1s of Vincent Van Gogh’, rev. ed.(A"sterda" 7*E!. A Cornfield, with Cypresses, *% 2 7%.+c"; F**. A Cornfield,with Cypresses, +.+ 2 '+ c", F*>%.. Van Gogh in Aries, he 6etropolitan 6-se-" of Art, $ew Hor1, & ct. to %EIec. 7&>. Van Gogh in Saint304"y and A-vers, he 6etropolitan 6-se-" of Art,$ew Hor1, + $ov. 7&' to 6ar. 7&*.%. Green :heat, $JrodnK Galerie, )rag-e, F*7.>. ‘he Co"plete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh’, three vols., ha"es and 9-dson(London 7+&!, Vol.===, $o.+7'.+. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.+7'.

'. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.'E7.*. See for e2a"ple, F>&+, F>7' and F+%. he Starry $ight, 6-se-" of 6odern Art, $ew Hor1, F'.&. Cypresses, he 6etropolitan 6-se-" of Art, $ew Hor1, F'%. Cypresses,0i?1s"-se-" Mroller36-ller, tterlo, F'E.7. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.+7'. See also $o.+> in which Van Gogh descri/es thecypress as f-nereal.E. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.+7*.. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.'E>.. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, 7.%. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, E.>. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, .+. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, 7 and $o.'%.


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'. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.'E>. Van Goghs edroo", A"sterda", 0i?1s"-se-"Vincent Van Gogh, F>&.*. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.+7%. See also ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.+'%, where Van Goghe2plains that, Ga-g-in has told "e how to get rid of the grease in the things paintedin i"pasto /y washing fro" ti"e to ti"e.

&. ‘Letters’, Vol.===, $o.''a.

Cleaning and restorationAnthony %ee&e

‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ (see )late *, p.+*! is one of fo-r paintings /y Van Goghin the $ational Gallery (note !; the others are< ‘he Chair and )ipe’ ($o.%&'!,painted in Aries in &&&; ‘S-nflowers’ ($o.%&'%!, pro/a/ly painted in Aries in &&&,and ‘Long Grass with -tterflies’ ($o.>'7!, pro/a/ly painted in the year of theartists death, &7E.

Van Goghs paintings li1e those of "ost artists, vary in techni-e and style. hethic1ness of the gro-nds and of the paint layers varies considera/ly fro" one pict-reto another. For e2a"ple the paint of the ‘S-nflowers’ is e2traordinarily thic1; it is not1nown what type of gro-nd the pict-re has. he canvas of ‘he Chair and )ipe’ isprepared only with a thin application of si#e, and is also thic1ly painted pro/a/ly intwo layers. ‘Long Grass with -tterflies’ is si"ilar to ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’ inthat the gro-nd has /een left showing thro-gh the paint.

Since the paint on $o.%&' contin-es ro-nd the t-rned over edges, the canvas "ayhave /een pinned o-t on a /oard or fra"e when it was painted as the only visi/le set

of tac1 and pin holes "atch -p with the holes on the e2isting stretcher.

he paint was pro/a/ly wor1ed straight fro" the t-/e onto the canvas and then/r-shed while still wet, as traces of colo-r "i2ing can /e seen, for e2a"ple, of greenin the /l-e of the "o-ntains.

his pict-re is tho-ght to have /een painted in a very short ti"e with very "inoradditions of yellow to the centre left and the right edge, and a few /rown stro1esacross the corn as a final colo-r ad?-st"ent. hese are "ost clearly seen in the 5V3fl-orescence photograph ()late 7, p.+*!. So"e of his paintings have /een rewor1edconsidera/ly after the initial painting. 9is canvases were generally co""erciallyprepared, with an oil gro-nd. =t has also /een noted that Van Gogh so"eti"esapplied a layer of watercolo-r over the oil gro-nd.

he vigoro-s swirling /r-shstro1es are very clearly displayed in the photograph ofthe reverse /y trans"itted light (Fig.>!. he condition of the painting sets it apartfro" the three others in the Collection as it is /oth -nlined and not i"pregnated withanything which wo-ld change the refractive inde2 of the paint and gro-nd. =t hasnever /een varnished or treated with polishing wa2.

=n vario-s areas of thic1 i"pasto in ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses, he Chair and )ipe’

and ‘Long Grass with -tterflies’ there are i"pressed "ar1s of other canvases(Fig.+!. his "ay have happened when the pict-res were rolled for sending to their


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vario-s destinations; and the s-pposition is strengthened /y the direction of thevertical crac1ing visi/le in the s1y paint of the ‘Cornfield’, perhaps s-ggesting that itwas rolled fro" the short sides with the paint o-twards to "a1e the s"allest /-ndle.=t is also possi/le that the pict-res were stored flat and that this ca-sed thei"pressed "ar1s.

he infra3red photograph (Fig.'! ta1en d-ring e2a"ination of the pict-re alsodisplayed the -n-s-al /-t interesting pheno"enon of o"itting a section of theco"position, the whole area of distant "o-ntains, which "-st /e ca-sed /y having/een painted with pig"ents showing a high reflectance for infra3red (see /elow!.

he painting posed a "ost diffic-lt pro/le" for cleaning as can /e seen in a ra1inglight photograph (Fig.*!. he i"pasto is e2tensive and very raised with "any delicate/rittle points. his ro-gh s-rface co-ld not /e cleaned -sing nor"al "ethods.=nstead of -sing conventional lightly rolled cotton3wool swa/s on wooden stic1s, along3handled long haired se"i3soft /ristle /r-sh was -sed, ena/ling the raised paints-rface to /e cleaned at every angle very gently. he pict-re was first tested -singde3ioni#ed water. his proved to /e very s-ita/le for re"oving a thic1 layer of dirt,after which the paint s-rface was swa//ed with, white spirit (see )late &, p.+*!. =norder to assess the effectiveness of the cleaning "ethod, sa"ples of the paints-rface /efore and after treat"ent were e2a"ined in the scanning electron"icroscope (Figs.7a,/!. he pict-re was inspected again, and on f-rther testing asecond layer of dirt "ore fir"ly ingrained than the first was fo-nd. his was re"oved-sing N potassi-" oleate in de3ioni#ed water -sing the sa"e cleaning "ethod as/efore. $o varnish was fo-nd on the pict-re, and no other layer (for e2a"ple eggwhite, which is "entioned in one of the letters!.

After cleaning, the -nlined linen canvas was re"oved fro" its stretcher. hestretcher is tho-ght to /e that on which the pict-re was first s-pported, tho-gh it isnot 1nown how "-ch ti"e elapsed /etween the pict-re /eing painted and its /eingstretched. he original paint was t-rned over the edges on the right and /otto" sides(Fig.&! proving the pict-re was not painted whilst on this stretcher. hese edges havenow /een reclai"ed /y -sing a larger stretcher. he original /l-ed tin tac1s had/een -sed evenly at an average distance of O in. (c.' c"! apart and the s"allt-rnovers on the corners were held with one s"aller /l-ed tin tac1.

he canvas t-rned over the sides of the stretcher and aro-nd the /ac1 is of a varying

width and was held down with fo-r layers of paper and an a-eo-s gl-e. he first, areddish /rown fi/ro-s paper ne2t to the original was only present on two sides. hesecond was a si"ilar fi/ro-s paper, /-t "-ch dar1er /rown in colo-r. hen ca"e athin light paper with definite parallel lines r-nning P in. (> ""! apart, which passedaro-nd to the edge of the paint. he last reddish fi/ro-s paper "-st have e2tendedacross an earlier fra"e. he re"oval fro" the previo-s fra"e co-ld have /een theca-se of the c-ts on the right side in the original canvas ?-st at the edge of thet-rned over paint.

Since the painted edges were to /e reclai"ed and "inor s-rface defor"ationsre"oved, it was decided to rela2 and regenerate these areas so far as possi/le-sing "oist-re treat"ent on the low3press-re vac--" ta/le (note ! with heating to%+QC and "oist-re vapo-r applied for twenty "in-tes -nder a low vac--". he


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pict-re was dried in the rela2ed state "aintaining the vac--" for three ho-rs. hepainting rela2ed and refor"ed in a "-ch flatter plane than /efore, so there was noneed for the i"pregnation of an adhesive. A few "inor fla1e losses and so"ecrac1ing were sec-red with dil-te st-rgeon gl-e on the low3press-re ta/le (Fig.E!/y re"oving the s-rface "e"/rane and drawing the adhesive in -sing the vac--".

As the edges were /rittle having /een t-rned aro-nd the stretcher, a strip3lining ofSta/ilte2 (note %! (polyester "-ltifila"ent fa/ric! i"pregnated with eva %* wasnap3/onded onto the /ac1 of the original -sing a war"ed spat-la (Fig.!. he stripse2tended to the edge of the paint so as to s-pport the t-rnovers for re3sec-ring to anew stretcher. he s"all losses were filled -sing chal1 and gelatine and reto-ched-sing watercolo-r. he -s-al s-rface coating of a nat-ral or synthetic varnish appliedafter restoration was not s-ita/le in this case as it wo-ld inevita/ly dar1en thepict-re. he gro-nd plays an i"portant part in the colo-r co"position and any for"of dar1ening wo-ld ca-se a serio-s i"/alance. here is therefore pro/a/ly so"eloss of colo-r intensity which is seen when the s-rface is wetted with white spirit. Agelatine /ased coating was considered as a possi/le varnish layer to regain the lost

depth of colo-r, and also to give so"e protection.

F-rther tests were done on the paint sol-/ility. A "in-te r-/ test was perfor"ed-sing de3ioni#ed water. So"e of the colo-rs proved slightly water sensitive< thestrong yellow3greens (/ac1gro-nd!, dar1er yellow (corn!, dar1 /l-e (trees!, and thishas now totally r-led o-t a water /o-nd protective coating (note >!. =t was decided toleave the pict-re -nvarnished, /-t -nfort-nately it has now to /e gla#ed to protectthe s-rface fro" acc-"-lating f-rther dirt.


. Iavies, 6., ‘French School< @arly 7th Cent-ry, ="pressionists, )ost3="pressionists’, $ational Gallery Catalog-es (London 7*E!, pp.%'R%7.. 0eeve, A.6., A $ew 6-lti3)-rpose Low3)ress-re Conservation a/le for thereat"ent of )aintings, ‘St-dies in Conservation, 7’, % (7&>!, pp.>R&.%. Sta/ilte2 is s-pplied /y the Swiss Sil1 olting Cloth Co., Grtlistrasse '&, )ostfachC93&E*, T-rich , Swit#erland.>. Sensitivity of the paint to a/rasion in the a/sence of any solvent has /een noted inthe yellows and yellow3greens of another Van Gogh landscape. See 0-he"ann, 9.,he 0estoration of DLa 9aieD< Landscape $ear Aries, ‘St-dies in Conservation’, , (7+%!, pp.**R*&.

The materials of Van Gogh's 'A Cornfield, ith Cy!resses'Asho %oy

he cleaning and conservation treat"ent of the $ational Gallery ‘A Cornfield, withCypresses’ presented -s with a welco"e opport-nity to e2a"ine the techni-e of thepainting and to identify the "aterials involved, partic-larly the pig"ents, in a n-"/erof sa"ples ta1en d-ring treat"ent. =t is of interest to -s to 1now so"ething of thehistory of the artists palette in French painting in the later part of the nineteenthcent-ry, and we have now /een a/le to e2plore the painting "aterials in individ-alpict-res /y 6onet (note ,!, 0enoir (note !, C4#anne (note ! and 6anet (note %!.Consistent patterns in the -ses of nineteenth3cent-ry pig"ents /egin to e"erge,altho-gh the techni-es of painting re"ain a characteristic of the painter. he


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present Van Gogh shows "-ch that is close to the ="pressionist palette, altho-ghthe painters predilection for #inc white in place of the "ore -s-al lead pig"ent for oilpainting see"s to /e -n-s-al a"ongst his conte"poraries.

:e are fort-nate to /e a/le to co"pare the res-lts of o-r pig"ent analyses with

those given in a recent co"prehensive and e2cellent st-dy "ade at the Fogg Art6-se-", 9arvard 5niversity of the Van Gogh ‘Self3)ortrait Iedicated to )a-lGa-g-in’ (note >! painted in Aries a/o-t a year /efore the $ational Gallerylandscape. he palette /etween Aries and St. 04"y clearly evolved little. =n additionthe re-ests for s-pplies of painting "aterials in so"e of Vincents letters to heo(note +! gives another so-rce for co"parison with the palette that can /e ded-cedfro" the paint analyses noted here.

)ig"ent identifications fro" the $ational Gallery painting were "ade /y aco"/ination of optical and che"ical "icroscopy, U3ray diffraction analysis (U0I!,and e"ission spectrography with the laser "icropro/e (L6A!. he res-lts arepresented in s-""ary for" in a/le . :e note /elow the diffic-lties that arise incharacteri#ing /y analytical "eans alone certain nineteenth3cent-ry pig"ents,partic-larly the variety of chro"e yellows which had /eco"e availa/le (note '!, andwhich here for" an i"portant part of the paint of the cornfield. For these sa"ples,scanning electron "icroscopy (S@6 (note *!! was -sed to loo1 closely at pig"entparticle "orphology, and an atte"pt "ade to correlate the res-lts with the o/servedcolo-rs of the paint and with crystallographic identification of the "aterials /y U0I.

Notes to the Ta*le. he pig"ent identifications noted are /y spectrographic analysis, U3ray diffraction,

and where no "ethod is recorded, /y optical "icroscopy. )ig"ents listed in /rac1etsare present only in s"all -antities in the sa"ple.. Appearance of the paint layer in -ltra3violet light (see )late 7, p.+*!. A lightWfl-orescent /ehavio-r, where #inc white is present; dar1Wnon3fl-orescent/ehavio-r.%. Appearance of the paint layer in the infra3red photograph (Fig.'!. he painta/sor/s infra3red radiation where the copper pig"ent, e"erald green is -sed, and toso"e e2tent where p-re chro"e yellow (lead chro"ate! occ-rs.>. :ea1er e"ission lines fro" "inor co"ponents are listed in /rac1ets.+. U3ray diffraction analysis with the Ie/ye3Scherrer ca"era. he col-"n noteswhere agree"ent was fo-nd with the 8C)IS file, given in s-are /rac1ets. :here

relevant, the appropriate "ineralogical na"e of the pig"ent is -oted.'. Sa"ple possi/ly contains stronti-" chro"ate.*. 6icroscopical identification only.

Ta*le 1 )ig"ent "i2t-res -sed in Van Goghs ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’.

+am!le igment-s.note 1/

0VBeha&iour.note2/

)nfrared!hotogr a!h.note 3/

+!ectrogra!hic Analysis.$4A/ .note 5/

6rayiffractionAnalysis .6%/.note /


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:hite gro-nd lead white A light )/ hydrocer-ssiteB%R%

:hite clo-d #inc white A light Tn #incite B+R''>

)ale /l-e s1y, top edge #inc white(co/alt /l-e!

A light R R

6id3/l-e s1y, top edge #inc whiteco/alt /l-e

A light Tn, Co, Al R

6id3/l-e "o-ntain, l.h.edge

#inc whiteco/alt /l-e

A light Tn, Co, Al #incite B+R''>co/alt al-"ini-"o2ide BER>+&

Iar1 /l-e line, "iddledistance ()late Ec,p.+*!

-ltra"arinee"eraldgreen

dar1 Al, Si, C-, As R

Iar1 /l-e line, r.h.edge

-ltra"arine(red la1e!

A light R -ltra"arine BR%+

0ed of poppies ver"ilion light 9g cinna/ar B'R+'Iar1est yellow ofcornfield

chro"e yellow grey )/, Cr crocoite B&RE7

rownish yellow ofcornfield, l.h. edge

chro"e yellow(earthpig"entX,ver"ilion,viridian!

light )/, Cr (Fe, Al, Si, 9g!

crocoite B&RE7

6id3yellow of cornfield,l.h. edge

chro"e yellow#inc white

A grey )/, Cr, Tn crocoite B&RE7#incite B+R''>

Lightest yellow of

cornfield, l.h. edge

#inc white

chro"e yellow

A light Tn, )/, Cr #incite B+R''>

crocoite B&RE7I-ll yellow of cornfield,l.h. edge

chro"e yellow#inc white(e"eraldgreen!

A light Tn, )/, Cr (C-, As!

#incite B+R''>crocoite B&RE7

6-stard yellow hillside,l.h. edge

chro"e yellow#inc white(earthpig"entX,e"eraldgreen,

ver"ilion!

A grey )/, Sr, Cr, Tn(Fe, Al, Si, C-, As, 9g!

R

-r-oise s1y, top right #inc whiteviridian

A light Tn, Cr

)ale green /-shes, l.h.edge

#inc whitechro"e yellowviridian

A light R

6id3green, /otto"edge

#inc whiteviridianchro"eyellow(note '!

(e"eraldgreen!

A grey Tn, Cr, )/, Sr (C-, As!


10/19

Iar1 green, /otto"edge

viridiane"eraldgreen chro"eyellow (#incwhite,

ver"ilion!

dar1 Cr, C-, As, )/(Tn, 9g!

I-ll green, /otto"edge ()late Ed, p.+*!

#inc whitee"eraldgreen viridianchro"eyellow(note '!

(ver"ilion!

A dar1 Tn, C-, As, )/,Sr Cr (9g!

Hellow3green, /otto"edge

chro"e yellowe"eraldgreen #incwhite(viridian!

A grey R

6id3green /-sh, infront of cypresses

e"eraldgreen

dar1 R

6id3green /-sh, rightof cypresses ()lateE/, p.+*!

#inc white-ltra"arineviridiane"eraldgreen(chro"eyellow!

A grey R

6a-ve3grey strea1,foregro-nd ()late Ea,p.+*!

#inc white-ltra"arinechro"eorangeX(note *!

(viridian!

A light R

Analysis of the paint "edi-" /y gas3chro"atography is given /y 0ay"ond :hite ina/le /elow.

=t is evident that Van Gogh wo-ld have painted the ‘Cornfield, with Cypresses’ -iterapidly, and the inter"ingling of colo-rs revealed /y so"e of the cross3sectional

sa"ples confir"s this. For e2a"ple, in the strea1s of "a-vish grey in the foregro-ndat the very edge of the cornfield, the colo-r can /e seen to have /een wor1ed intothe -nderlying white and yellow layers whilst the paint "-st still have /een wet (see)late Ea, p.+*!. @lsewhere, tho-gh, a "ore organi#ed, discrete layer str-ct-re isfo-nd s-ggesting s-/se-ent ad?-st"ents to the co"position after the initial layershad dried (see, for e2a"ple, )late E/, p.+*!. here is also evidence fro" theconstit-tion of the paint that "odifications to the design, if only "inor, were "ade ata later stage (see the pig"ent section /elow -nder white!, which s-pports the viewthat $o.%&' was not the first in the series of paintings, /-t evolved /y Van Gogh inthe st-dio as a version of the the"e. Several of the sa"ples show a thin,discontin-o-s layer of /lac1 pig"ent recogni#a/le "icroscopically as wood charcoalon top of the white gro-nd, indicating so"e preli"inary s1etching of the design/efore painting (see )late Ec, p.+*!. =t is li1ely that Van Gogh wo-ld have defined


11/19

the principal parts of the co"position in a charcoal drawing on the canvas whenwor1ing fro" one of his earlier pict-res of the gro-p. =n each case the -nderdrawingis present /eneath lines of paint which divide the "ain ele"ents of the landscapehori#ontally Y at the point for e2a"ple where the dar1 /l-e line separates thecornfield fro" the "ore distant /l-e hills and "o-ntains, and in the i""ediate

foregro-nd where the yellow stal1s of corn give way to pale green and crea".

$o sign of the drawing shows in the infra3red photograph (see Fig.'!, partly /eca-seit is present /eneath paint containing pig"ents which reflect infrared radiationstrongly, s-ch as synthetic -ltra"arine, and partly also /eca-se the paint is so thic1lyapplied that there can /e no penetration of infra3red.

he -se of individ-al pig"ents is descri/ed in "ore detail /elow.

(hite Apart fro" a thin gro-nd on the canvas which was shown /y U3ray diffraction to /elead white, all the white pig"ent -sed is #inc white (#inc o2ide, Tn!. =t is very thic1lyapplied for the s1y, /oth in the white clo-ds and for the /l-e and t-r-oise parts(Fig.*! where it is co"/ined with /l-e and green pig"ents (see a/le !. Tinc o2idehas only a "oderate a/sorption coefficient for U3rays, a/o-t half the val-es for leadwhite and ver"ilion and ro-ghly e-al to that for e"erald green (copperacetoarsenite! (note &!, also -sed e2tensively in the pict-re. he paint in the s1y isso heavily applied, however, that the thic1est swirls of clo-d appear as areas of highdensity in the U3radiograph (Fig.!.

Van Goghs li1ing for #inc white is evident fro" his letters (note +!. 9e clearly

regarded it as in so"e way "ore per"anent than lead white. 9e was also aware ofits relatively poor drying -alities, and in the i"pasto of the p-re white of the s1y in$o.%&' relatively deep, sharped3edged crac1s have for"ed. =n addition it has /eenshown that #inc o2ide and "oist-re "ay generate hydrogen pero2ide in the paint fil"/y a photoche"ical reaction, leading to degradation of the "edi-" and possi/ly tochal1ing of the s-rface (note 7,E!. =n the ‘Cornfield, with Cypresses’ however, the#inc3white3containing paint see"s sta/le and no ill effects res-lted fro" "oist-retreat"ent of the canvas (see a/ove!. y the later part of the nineteenth cent-ry it isli1ely that transition "etal siccatives were added to #inc white, partic-larly"anganese, to assist drying altho-gh the -antity wo-ld pro/a/ly /e too low to /edetected in the e"ission spectr-" of sa"ples.

Tinc white was a French invention of the *&Es attri/-ted either to C-rtois or toG-yton de 6orvea- /oth of Ii?on (note !, /-t it was not -ntil the &>Es that it/eca"e co""ercially availa/le in -antity as an oil paint. =ts application as awatercolo-r pig"ent had /een appreciated earlier in the cent-ry since it does notdiscolo-r in a-eo-s "edia as lead white is prone to do. Fro" his letters Van Goghappears to have "ade -se of /oth 1inds of white, /-t so"e of the lead white "aywell have /een intended for gro-nds.

Altho-gh p-re #inc o2ide will a/sor/ 5V3light strongly (note !, it generally alsoe2hi/its a strong /l-ish or yellowish white fl-orescence when ill-"inated withradiation /elow a/o-t %&En". =n "icroscopic sa"ples and cross3sections thefl-orescence is seen as s"all sharp /right points of light against an overall light


12/19

/ac1gro-nd. his effect arises fro" a highly fl-orescent i"p-rity in the pig"ent,-s-ally #inc s-lphide. he s-lphide "ay /e present fro" "an-fact-re or for"ed insit- /y reaction of the o2ide with at"ospheric hydrogen s-lphide, altho-gh theproportion "-st /e low since no phase other than #inc o2ide is detected /y U0I. =nany event the characteristic 5V3fl-orescence which res-lts is diagnostic for the

pig"ent, altho-gh a "icroche"ical test or so"e other confir"atory "ethod ofidentification s-ch as U0I is desira/le. he painting as a whole shows a generallystrong light3colo-red fl-orescence in 5V3light which cannot /e attri/-ted to anyco"ponent of the paint "edi-" (see /elow!. he effect is partic-larly clearlyde"onstrated in an -ltra3violet photograph ta1en on colo-r fil" ()late 7, p.+*!. Al"ost all areas of paint have /een shown /y analysis to contain #inc white, and it isonly where the white is a/sent that the 5V3fl-orescence photograph appears dar1.)erhaps the "ost stri1ing e2a"ple is in the two neigh/o-ring patches of green to theright edge /y the cypress trees, which appear very ali1e in colo-r on the painting, /-tare /ro-ght into sharp contrast in 5V3light. ne appears entirely dar1 whilst the other is a light sage green. he e2planation lies in the -ite different pig"ent co"position

of the paint. he section which shows no 5V3fl-orescence is essentially a singlethic1 layer of e"erald green (see /elow!, whereas the /right3see"ing ad?acent areaco"/ines #inc white, -ltra"arine, viridian, e"erald green, with so"e chro"e yellow()late E/, p.+*!. =t is the white co"ponent which do"inates the fl-orescence, theother pig"ents showing no significant /rightness in 5V3light. he pig"entco"position of each of these greens is so distinctive that it s-ggests they werepro/a/ly applied at -ite separate stages of the painting.

=n those other parts which appear dar1 in the 5V3photograph, #inc white was alsode"onstrated analytically to /e a/sent fro" the paint, for e2a"ple in the dar1est

yellow stro1es on the cornfield which co"prise a p-re deep chro"e yellow, and thedar1 green interior of the cypress, where only green pig"ents are -sed.

Bluewo /l-e pig"ents are present in the sa"ples. Co/alt /l-e (co/alt al-"inate,Co.Al%! is -sed "ost e2tensively< to tint the #inc white for the /l-e of the s1y, andat a greater concentration in the wedge of "o-ntains which occ-py the "iddledistance. =nterestingly, no "atter how thic1ly the paint was applied, in those areaswhich contain co/alt /l-e the drying crac1s in the s1y are less prono-nced than inthe passages painted in #inc white alone. he effect of co/alt pig"ents in assistingthe drying of oil paint is well3esta/lished (note %!, and pro/a/ly acco-nts here for

the good state of preservation of the "i2ed light /l-es in the pict-re. he infra3redphotograph (Fig.'! shows a stri1ing change in the i"age when co"pared to thepict-re in visi/le light. he division /etween s1y and "o-ntains all /-t disappears,"erging into a single light area. 0eflection of infra3red /y #inc white, and all whitepig"ents is strong, /-t a high =03reflectance in the /l-e pig"ents is "ost -s-allyassociated with -ltra"arine, whether it is synthetic or nat-ral. 9ere, however, it is theco/alt /l-e which also strongly reflects the infra3red radiation (note >!, eradicatingthe hori#on fro" the i"age. Significantly perhaps, /oth -ltra"arine and co/alt /l-eshow a strongly rising reflectance at the red end of the spectr-" (note +!, -itedistinct fro" the reflectance c-rve for a#-rite, the copper3containing /l-e pig"ent,which registers as totally dar1 in infra3red photographs. he =03photograph

incidentally also shows that no copper green was -sed in the t-r-oise areas of s1y,


13/19

which in fact contain the transparent chro"i-" o2ide pig"ent, viridian, to tint thewhite.

he second /l-e pig"ent is -sed "ore sparingly. Synthetic -ltra"arine ($a&RE Al'Si'>S3>! "i2ed with e"erald green for"s the dar1est line separating the

cornfield fro" the "ore distant landscape, and the o-tlines of the /-shes to the right.=t pro/a/ly also appears in the deepest /l-e shading of the cypresses, altho-gh nosa"ple was ta1en, and is incorporated into so"e of the colo-r "i2t-res, partic-larlythe greens. =n the dar1est parts the -ltra"arine is -sed at f-ll strength showing togood advantage its high tinting strength.

he paler appearance of the cypresses in the infra3red photograph is pres-"a/ly theres-lt of -ltra"arine3containing paint.

$o )r-ssian /l-e was fo-nd in the pict-re.

%ed0ed pig"ents are not pro"inent in the co"position, e2cept for the /rilliant scarlet ofthe poppies which /order the cornfield. he red pig"ent here is ver"ilion ("erc-rics-lphide, 9gS! -sed as co"pletely p-re to-ches. @2a"ination of a dispersed sa"plein the S@6 shows the particle for" to /e si"ilar to reference speci"ens ofprecipitated "erc-ric s-lphide (Figs.%a,/!. he wet process had /eco"e the "ain"ethod of "an-fact-re in @-rope for ver"ilion /y the nineteenth cent-rys-perseding the earlier so3called dry process which involved direct synthesis fro""erc-ry and s-lph-r, followed /y s-/li"ation (note '! (see also p.&E of this‘-lletin’!. ther than in coarsely3gro-nd speci"ens of nat-ral cinna/ar ver"ilion,

the detail of the particle "orphology is /eyond the resolving power of the optical"icroscope and it is only in the S@6 that it can /e e2a"ined; the average grain si#ein the Van Gogh sa"ple lies well /elow , altho-gh the particles cl-"p together tofor" aggregations in the RZ range. :here the particle for" is /est developed,precipitated ver"ilion shows interloc1ing distorted c-/es associated with "orero-nded particles, which have f-sed into rosette3shaped cl-"ps. he distri/-tion of"orphology and grain si#e is li1ely to vary fro" speci"en to speci"en (note *!.

ellohe cornfield itself is do"inated /y yellow, ranging fro" a dar1 "-stard to a lightstraw colo-r. he entire area "a1es -se of large -antities of chro"e pig"ent, very

thic1ly applied. )recise identification of the "aterial is pro/le"atic for severalreasons. he nineteenth cent-ry saw the introd-ction of a n-"/er of yellowchro"ate pig"ents. he "ost i"portant of this gro-p was lead chro"ate ()/Cr>!,generally called chro"e yellow, /-t the co"po-nds of /ari-", stronti-" and #incalso fo-nd application as artists pig"ents. he first two are -s-ally descri/ed /y the"an-fact-rers as le"on yellow, /-t the ter" "ay e-ally have /een applied to alight shade of lead chro"ate or to "i2t-res of different pig"ents. All these chro"atesare crystalline, so in principal U3ray diffraction analysis "ight /e -sed for theiridentification, especially if the ele"ental co"position is 1nown fro" spectrographicor U3ray fl-orescence analysis to assist interpretation of the powder patterns.9owever, the U0I patterns for the -s-al for" of p-re lead chro"ate (crocoite! isvery close to at least one crystalline "odification of stronti-" chro"ate, and wherewhite pig"ents are also present in the sa"ples, for e2a"ple #inc o2ide, the patterns


14/19

/eco"e very diffic-lt to assign with certainty. =n addition, nineteenth3cent-ry paintoften contains e2tenders s-ch as /ari-" s-lphate which conf-se ele"ental analysesof the yellows. here are f-rther co"plications. Lead chro"ate itself can e2ist in twocrystalline for"s Y one "onoclinic, the other orthorho"/ic (note &! and in thevariety of shades of colo-r that are sold as pig"ents /oth types "ay /e present.

rthorho"/ic lead chro"ate is -nsta/le with respect to the "onoclinic "odification,/-t "ay /e sta/ili#ed in solid sol-tion with lead s-lphate with which it is so"eti"esco3precipitated for pig"ent -se. he "onoclinic variety is also "an-fact-red inco"/ination with lead s-lphate, and so U3ray diffraction analysis provides no clearsol-tion to identification, partic-larly since the U0I patterns for lead s-lphate and#inc o2ide overlap to a significant degree. he variety of possi/le chro"e yellowtypes is therefore rather large especially when so"e additional co"ponent "ay /epresent either fro" "an-fact-re or "i2ed in /y the artist. Chro"e yellows havealways /een prepared in a range of h-es, fro" pri"rose to dar1 /rownish yellow,depending on conditions of for"ation and ad"i2t-re with other "aterials. Van

Goghs letters, for e2a"ple, "ention in one case, % Bt-/es chro"e =, Bt-/echro"e ==, and in another section, ' Bt-/es chro"e citron, ' Bt-/es chro"e citron, ' Bt-/es chro"e % citron (note 7!, pres-"a/ly referring to different shadesof the pig"ent.

Five sa"ples of yellow were ta1en fro" the paint of the cornfield, ranging in colo-rfro" the palest straw3colo-red tint to a dar1 yellow3/rown -sed for the stro1es in theforegro-nd. hese were e2a"ined /y U0I, L6A and frag"ents were dispersed /yvario-s "ethods for e2a"ination of the particle for" in the S@6. Spectrographicanalysis (L6A! in each case showed intense lines for lead, chro"i-", and in all

sa"ples /-t the dar1est colo-rs, lines for #inc. A strongly colo-red /rownish yellowof the cornfield, and the "-stard yellow of the ad?acent hillside to the right alsoshowed so"e concentration of iron, silicon and al-"ini-" s-ggesting a content of alittle earth pig"ent. he latter sa"ple contained stronti-" in addition. he only U3raypowder patterns that co-ld /e -na"/ig-o-sly interpreted were for the dar1 yellow3/rown speci"ens, which agreed well with that for p-re "onoclinic lead chro"ate(crocoite!. Tinc white was shown /y U0I to /e a/sent fro" these sa"ples, which inconfir"ation were also fro" areas e2hi/iting no 5V3fl-oresence. he other sa"plesall contain greater or lesser a"o-nts of #inc white, detecta/le in the powder patterns,e"ission spectra, and in 5V3light -nder the "icroscope. he U0I res-lts can /einterpreted as showing a content of lead chro"ate, as the "onoclinic (crocoite! for",

in all of the yellow sa"ples, /-t the presence or a/sence of lead s-lphate cannot /ede"onstrated for the reasons e2plained a/ove. =n the sa"ple which showede"ission lines for stronti-", stronti-" chro"ate "ay have /een -sed, altho-gh the#inc white wo-ld tend to o/sc-re the relevant e2tra lines in the diffraction pattern.

=n an S@6 "icrograph, a reference speci"en of p-re lead chro"ate co"prises"ainly rod3shaped crystals in the range of RZ in length and less than ‘c’.E.>Zdia"eter (Fig.>a!. hey are associated with a s"all -antity of "ore ro-nded,ro-gh3edged particles less than Z across. he dar1est yellows fro" the Van Goghare rather si"ilar (Fig.>/!, altho-gh the rod3shaped particles are acco"panied /y aproportion of irreg-lar he2agonal /ipris"s. 0ods are seen in all the sa"ples, /-t

they tend to /e shorter (‘c’.E.+Z! in the light3colo-red speci"ens (Fig.>c!. heproportion and di"ensions of the he2agonal3faced pris"s are also varia/le. he ratio


15/19

to rod3li1e particles is highest in the "id3tone shades (Fig.>d!, and their individ-alaverage vol-"e greatest for the pale yellows (Fig.>e!. hese /-l1ier particles "ayrepresent solid sol-tions of lead chro"ate and lead s-lphate. :here #inc white ispresent in the sa"ples it is disting-isha/le /y a very low average grain si#e (‘c’.E.Z,see Fig.>f! and the tendency for the fine particles to lin1 into a networ1 of sin-o-s

chains.

he thic1ness of application of chro"e yellow in the cornfield prod-ces a densei"age on the U3radiograph (see Fig.!, and the lead content of the paint hasens-red that the whole area has dried well with scarcely any crac1ing.

Green=t has /een pointed o-t earlier that so"e of the greens of the landscape "a1e -se of pig"ent "i2t-res, altho-gh nowhere has /l-e and yellow alone /een co"/ined forthe p-rpose. All the sa"ples contain either viridian (hydrated chro"i-" (===! o2ideCr %.9! or e"erald green (copper acetoarsenite, C-(C9%C!.%C-(As!!,and so"eti"es /oth pig"ents ()late Ed, p.+*!. he occ-rrences are noted in a/le. Viridian and e"erald green are often fo-nd to have /een "i2ed together in="pressionist painting (note ,!, /-t altho-gh certain of the sa"ples fro" the VanGogh contain the two, they are also -sed independently. For e2a"ple, the two ro-nd/-shes i""ediately in front of the taller cypress are painted in virt-ally p-re e"eraldgreen over the white gro-nd, whilst strea1s of -n"i2ed viridian -nderlie lighteryellowish "i2ed greens of the "eadow to the left3hand edge. he na"es of thesepig"ents in @nglish and French are conf-sed /y contradictory ter"inology, since inFrance verte e"era-de (e"erald green! is the transparent chro"i-" o2ide pig"ent(viridian!, and what is called e"erald green in @ngland, is in France -s-ally called

Veronese green. =n the @nglish edition of the letters, Van Gogh specifies a pig"enttranslated as "alachite green, and this is "ost li1ely to /e copper acetoarsenite(note E!.

he green pig"ents are also -sed in "i2t-re with synthetic -ltra"arine for thedeepest greenish /l-es of the cypresses, and for the lines which define theneigh/o-ring landscape. :herever the copper pig"ent occ-rs, the paint appearsrelatively dar1 in the infra3red photograph. =n the cold green sections of s1y thepig"ent is viridian "i2ed with white.

:ther !igments

he "ain gro-p of pig"ents -sed in $o.%&' is given a/ove, /-t there are s"all-antities of so"e others detected in the sa"ples. =n several of the spectrographicanalyses, partic-larly of the yellows, /-t also in one of the /l-e sa"ples, iron andsilicon were detected s-ggesting the addition of earth pig"ents. A fine3grainedcrystalline orange of fairly high refractive inde2 also occ-rred in "i2t-re with #incwhite, synthetic -ltra"arine and a little viridian for the "a-vish grey foregro-ndcolo-r ()latela, p.+*!, and altho-gh this co-ld not /e separated for specificidentification, appears "icroscopically si"ilar in particle for" to reference speci"ensof chro"e orange (/asic lead chro"ate, )/Cr>, )/(9!!.

=n a single sa"ple, a light "a-ve paint layer -nderlies the green of the landscape tothe right3hand edge of the pict-re ()late E/, p.+*!, representing an e2peri"ent inthe colo-r co"position of the "iddle distance, and perhaps originally intended to


16/19

reflect the pale "a-vish patch of the present foregro-nd. he paint co"position/eneath the green co"prises white "i2ed with co/alt /l-e, a s"all -antity ofviridian and so"e red la1e. his area is -n-s-al a"ongst the sa"ples in containinga la1e pig"ent. =t is here and in the foregro-nd "a-ve, which differs "ar1edly inpig"ent constit-tion, that the pict-re shows "ost evidence of a change of "ind in

the evol-tion of the final co"position.

Fo-r of Van Goghs p-/lished letters to heo are relevant and give lists of re-estsfor s-pplies of t-/e colo-rs< two are fro" the Arles period, and two fro" St. 04"y(note +!. he St. 04"y palette fro" this so-rce co"prises< lead white (fla1e white!,#inc white, co/alt and -ltra"arine /l-e, vario-s earth pig"ents (yellow ochre, redochre, raw sienna!, red lead (orange lead!, e"erald green ("alachite green!, viridian(e"erald green!, and ivory /lac1. nly traces of /lac1 are present in $o.%&'. heearlier Arles lists are "ore e2tensive, incl-ding )r-ssian /l-e, ver"ilion, a variety ofchro"e yellow pig"ents, and three 1inds of red la1e pig"ent. he co"pleteselection for the $ational Gallery ‘Cornfield, with Cypresses’ is fo-nd to /e listed in

these fo-r letters, altho-gh certain of the colo-rs are a/sent, for e2a"ple the)r-ssian /l-e and red lead. nly the s"allest a"o-nt of red la1e is -sed. he f-llanalytical st-dy (note >! of the Van Gogh ‘Self3)ortrait’ "ade at the Fogg Art6-se-" is interesting since it incl-des the res-lts of pig"ent identification forseveral other Arles period pict-res. he pig"ents which were -sed "ost reg-larlysee" to /e the whites of #inc and lead, e"erald green, ver"ilion, and chro"e yellowin the for" of lead chro"ate; these "-st for" the core of Van Goghs palette in thelate &&Es.


. :ilson, 6., :yld, 6. and 0oy, A., 6onets Dathers at La Greno-ill[reD, ‘$ationalGallery echnical -lletin’, + (7&!, pp.R+.. 0oy, A., he )alettes of hree ="pressionist )aintings, ‘$ational Galleryechnical -lletin’, 7 (7&+!, pp.RE.%. o"ford, I. and 0oy, A., 6anets Dhe :aitressD< An =nvestigation into its riginand Ievelop"ent, ‘$ational Gallery echnical -lletin’, * (7&%!, pp.%R7.>. 8irat3:asi-tyns1i, V., $ewton, 9.., Farrell, @. and $ew"an, 0., ‘Vincent vanGoghs ( Self3)ortrait Iedicated to )a-l Ga-g-in< An 9istorical and echnical St-dy’,Center for Conservation and echnical St-dies, 9arvard 5niversity Art 6-se-",Ca"/ridge, 6assach-setts (7&>!. he st-dy of Van Goghs painting "aterials isgiven on pp.&R%&.

+. ‘he Co"plete Letters of Vincent van Gogh’, three vol-"es, ha"es and 9-dson(London 7+&!. )artic-larly Vol..'. Mhn, 9., Chro"e Hellow and other Chro"ate )ig"ents in 0. Feller (ed.!, ‘Artists)ig"ents< A 9and/oo1 of their 9istory and Characteristics’, $ational Gallery of Art,:ashington, Ca"/ridge 5niversity )ress (7&'!, pp.&*R*.*. Sa"ples were e2a"ined in a Ca"/ridge =nstr-"ents Stereoscan EE, after partialre"oval of the paint "edi-" with di"ethylfor"a"ide or a-eo-s sodi-" hydro2ide.he pig"ent particles were dispersed on "icropore filters and gold3coated. = a"gratef-l to Aviva -rnstoc1 for preparing the sa"ples of lead chro"ate for electron"icroscopy, and for ta1ing the "icrographs.&. See 0ees8ones, S., )aintings and ptical A/sorption< U30ay A/sorption, ‘-lletin

de l=nstit-t 0oyal d- )atri"oine Artisti-e’, UV (r-ssels 7*+!, pp.%%ER%.


17/19

7. :inter, G. and :hitte", $., Fl-orescence and )hoto3Che"ical Activity of Tinc2ides, ‘8o-rnal of il and Colo-r Che"ists Association’, %%, >** (7+E!, pp.>*7R&.E. 6orley3S"ith, C.., he Ievelop"ent of Anti3Chal1ing French )rocess Tinc2ides, ‘8o-rnal of il and Colo-r Che"ists’ Association, %%, >&> (7+E!, p.>7+.

. Mhn, 9., Tinc :hite in 0. Feller (ed.!, ‘Artists )ig"ents< A 9and/oo1 of their9istory and Characteristics’, $ational Gallery of Art, :ashington, Ca"/ridge5niversity )ress (7&'!, pp.'7R&'.. )aint 0esearch Station, eddington, 5ltra3Violet 0eflectance of :hite )ig"entsand )aints, ‘0esearch 6e"orand-" $oA7*’, Vol.7, $o.* (7+!, p.'.%. Si"-n1ova, @., rothan1ova3-cifalova, 8. and Telinger, 8., he =nfl-ence ofCo/alt l-e )ig"ents on the Irying of Linseed il, ‘St-dies in Conservation’, %E, >(7&+!, pp.'R''.>. Farnsworth, 6., =nfra30ed A/sorption of )aint 6aterials, ‘echnical St-dies inthe Field of the Fine Arts’, V==, (7%&!, pp.7%R7*. Certain speci"ens of co/alt /l-eshow a high reflectance in the infra3red, whilst others a/sor/.

+. Staniforth, S., 0eto-ching and Colo-r 6atching< he 0estorer and 6eta"eris",‘St-dies in Conservation’, %E, % (7&+!, p.E>.'. Gettens, 0.8., Feller, 0.L. and Chase, :.., Ver"ilion and Cinna/ar, ‘St-dies inConservation’, *, (7*!, pp.>*R+.*. =n a recent e2a"ination /y S@6 of a speci"en of ver"ilion fro" 6onetsathers at La Greno-ill[re ($o.'>+'!, the sa"e general particle "orphology wasnoted /-t with a lesser -antity of ro-ghly c-/ical crystals present. he averageparticle si#e of /etween E.RE.+Z was co"para/le to the Van Gogh sa"ple.&. Mhn, 9., Chro"e Hellow and other Chro"ate )ig"ents, ‘op.cit.’, p.7.7. ‘he Co"plete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, op.cit.’, Vo=.===, $o.+&>, p.+.E. Gen-ine "alachite, green /asic copper car/onate, is not -s-ally identified as anineteenth3cent-ry pig"ent, altho-gh it has /een noted in a painting /y 0enoir. SeeGettens, 0.8. and Fit#h-gh, @.:., 6alachite and Green Verditer, ‘St-dies inConservation’, 7, (7*>!, p.&.

Ta*le 2 Vincent Van Gogh, ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’. )aint "edi-" analysis.

+am!le rying:il.note a/

A-.note */-+.note c/

Ceresine.note d/

;atty acids assalts .soa!sof !almiticand stearic/

Comments

. Gro-nd %.' %.* not detected not detected )oppyseed oil/inder. So"eprotein present,pro/a/ly gl-e si#e(note e! on canvas

. Golden3yellow ofcornfield, right edge

E. %.+ )resent present So"e drying oil

%. Iar1 /l-e of"o-ntain tops, rightedge

E.& .E not detected not e2a"ined So"e drying oil

>. :hite of clo-d,

right edge

E.% .' present not e2a"ined $o protein

detected, hence noegg (fats! present.


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So"e drying oil

+. 0ed i"pasto, rightedge

E. %.% trace s-/stantial Soft, plastici"pasto,v-lnera/le to

action of water(note f, g!. So"edrying oil

'. Green of /-shes,left edge

E.' .& not detected not e2a"ined So"e drying oil

*. )ale yellow ofdistant cornfield, leftedge

E. .% not detected not e2a"ined So"e drying oil, noprotein present(note e!

Notesa. Saponification, acidification and "ethylation of res-lting fatty acids, see p.7.

/. A#elate to pal"itate ratio; for significance see te2t.c. )al"itate to stearate ratio.d. GC analysis of /en#ene sol-/les or /y presence of hydrocar/on pea1s (/asepea1 ‘"\#’ +*! in saponified, acidified and "ethylated ether e2tract (note >,+!.e. $inhydrin test on hydrolysed frag"ent.f. he presence of s-/stantial fatty acid soaps wo-ld acco-nt for this.g. A "ethanol e2tract of a frag"ent showed negligi/le free fatty acids. en#enesol-/les of the acid3treated sa"ple, after "ethylation showed AW) ] E, )WS .7+.

The medium

%aymond (hite

=t is clear fro" the val-es of the ratios for "ethyl a#elate to pal"itate and "ethylpal"itate to stearate, that the gro-nd has a /inder /ased on p-re poppyseed oil.here can /e little do-/t that the protein present originated fro" gl-e si#e on thecanvas, since it was i"possi/le to o/tain a sa"ple of gro-nd witho-t so"e fi/resfro" the s-pport /eing incl-ded. A s-rvey of the AW) ratios in a/le , reveals a widerange of val-es. :here AW) ratio of "-ch a/ove .E is recorded, one can haveco"plete confidence that p-re drying oil has /een -sed. S"aller val-es wo-lds-ggest incorporation of non3drying fats, s-ch as egg fats and tallow, or non3dryingoils. As the AW) ratio decreases, so we "ay reasona/ly infer progressively greater

dil-tion of the drying oil /y s-ch fats and oils. hat s-ch non3drying co"ponents donot originate fro" ad"i2t-re with egg te"pera is de"onstrated /y the a/sence ofdetecta/le protein in sa"ples of pale yellow and white paints. n /alance, theanalytical res-lts for the "edi-" of this painting wo-ld s-ggest the -se of oil paints-pplied /y artists colo-r"en. he presence of fatty acid soaps and ceresine wa2 toaid and "aintain the dispersion of pig"ent in the "edi-" in t-/e colo-rs wo-ldsee" -ite reasona/le. As the pict-re had not /een re3lined, there is no -estion ofthe wa2 originating fro" s-ch a process. 6oreover, given the notoriety of #inc whitepig"ent (present in these sa"ples! for ca-sing shrin1age and serio-s crac1ing ofdried oil paint, the presence of non3drying oils in the "i2t-re wo-ld "ini"i#e this /yacting as a plastici#er. =n passing it is worthy of note that there are recipes of the

period, incorporating soaps with oil paint to f-rnish fle2i/le paint B.... =t is -sed topaint on canvas (note !. Certainly Van Gogh, in his correspondence, "entions the


19/19

slow drying of his paints, only part of which he attri/-ted to #inc white (note !. $on3drying oils incorporated as plastici#ers wo-ld slow down the drying processso"ewhat. =n the case of ‘A Cornfield, with Cypresses’, he spea1s of the necessity towash it a good "any ti"es with plenty of water in order to get the oil o-t, and =t will/e a year /efore the st-dy that = a" going to send yo- will /e thoro-ghly dry (note

%!.

%eferences. rannt, :.. and :ahl, :.9., ‘he echno3Che"ical 0eceipt oo1’ B...., Sa"psonLow, 6arston, Searle ^ 0ivington (London &&'!, p.'%.. ‘he Co"plete Letters of Vincent van Gogh’, Vol., ha"es and 9-dson (London7+&!, $o.+E>.%. ‘i/id.’, Vol.===, $o.''a.>. :hite, 0., he Application of Gas3Chro"atography to the =dentification of :a2es,‘St-dies in Conservation’, %, (7*&!, pp.+*R'&.+. 6ills, 8.S. and :hite, 0., he 6edi-"s -sed /y George St-//s< So"e F-rther

St-dies, ‘$ational Gallery echnical -lletin’, 7 (7&+!, pp.'ER'>.

$ational Gallery )-/lications )-/lished /y order of the r-stees

Scientific Adviser, 8ohn 6illsChief 0estorer, 6artin :yld@ditor< Asho1 0oy

_ he $ational Gallery 7&*

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Documents

Leighton Reeve Roy White1987 Van Gogh