The artists’ materials of P. S. Krøyer: An analytical study of the artist’s paintings and tube colours by Raman, SEM–EDS and HPLC

Abstract

An analytical study of two paintings by P. S. Krøyer and the tube colours found in his painting cabinet has been carried out in order to investigate the artists' materials used by Krøyer in the latter part of his oeuvre. The study has given a valuable knowledge about Krøyer's choice of materials and their composition that may be helpful in e.g. preservation issues. The pigments and dyes were analysed by micro-Raman spectroscopy (MRS), scanning electron microscopyenergy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD). The technical analyses were supplemented with archival studies of Danish nineteenth century paint shops. The results show that Krøyer used commercially available artists' materials typical for that period in time. Being a wealthy artist, he seems to have favoured expensive pigments such as cobalt blue, viridian and cadmium yellow. Based on the analyses, the main development in Krøyer's palette is the substitution of lead white with zinc white that appears to have taken place after 1886. The results also show that the contents of the tube colours in some cases differ from what was expected based on the trade names. This is particularly observed for the tube colours named "Oxide rouge" of which only one contains the expected hematite pigment, while all the remaining contain cadmium sulfide and natural organic red lakes. A rare tube colour named "Laque verte clair" was characterised to be mixture of Prussian blue and synthetic Indian yellow. The study therefore also illustrates that it was not always obvious to the artists what they bought from their colour merchant. It hence relates to existing international studies of nineteen century artists' materials, which highlight the complexity of tube colours from this particular period in time.

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of an Early 20th Century English Painted Organ Case by Temple Moore

“…The red specimen is interesting in that it is the only one that shows evidence of an organic additive, which could be either a varnish or an adhesive binder, such as, typically, a pine resin. Likewise remarkable are the absence of other strong pigments from his palette and favoured by many of his contemporaries [53,54] such as ultramarine, basic lead white (hydrocerussite), orpiment, azurite, malachite, and weaker but more common ones such as goethite and verdigris. The admixture of red lead and hematite in the red pigment is also rather curious and was intended obviously for a particular tonal shade.…”

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“…4 c. However, in the optical microscope image, the fluorescent particles are indistinguishable from the rest of the components of the ground. Therefore, a white pigment with fluorescence characteristics 24 , such as zinc white, must have been used in the preparation of the ground layer 43 . The average diameter calculated for those particles was 5 m. The evidence that zinc white may be present includes its cold, flat tone 34 , poor oil drying and low pigment density 42 .…”

Unveiling Harriet Backer: ICP–OES study for the characterisation of the colour tubes from her original paint box

“…Even more recently, Christiansen et al studied paint tubes and two paintings by P.S. Krøyer (1851-1909), which lent insight into the materials chosen by this Danish artist in the last part of his career [33]. This work relied on micro-Raman, SEM-EDX and HPLC, and in a subsequent study that focussed on the pigment in the tube labelled as "Jaune de Cadmium Citron" [34], they found that this contained a rare cadmium chromate compound (KCd 2 (CrO 4 ) 2 (H 3 O 2 )).…”