'Hidden' Van Gogh painting revealed

The analysis of the painting 'Patch of Grass' by Vincent Van Gogh by means of an advanced form of non-destructive X-ray analysis allowed to reveal in unprecedented detail the original portrait, also by Van Gogh, over which the landscape was painted. This development will greatly facilitate the study of other 'over painted' works of art in the future. Credit: DESY Hamburg

It is well-known that Vincent van Gogh often painted over his older works. Experts estimate that about one third of his early paintings conceal other compositions under them. A new technique, based on synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, reveals this type of hidden painting. The techniques usually used to reveal concealed layers of paintings, such as conventional X-ray radiography, have their limitations.

Together with experts from the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Hamburg and the Kröller-Müller Museum, TU Delft materials expert and art historian Dr Joris Dik, and University of Antwerp chemistry professor Koen Janssens therefore chose to adopt a different approach. The painting is subjected to an X-ray bundle from a synchrotron radiation source, and the fluorescence of the layers of paint is measured.

This technique has the major advantage that the measured fluorescence is specific to each chemical element. Each type of atom (e.g. lead or mercury) and also individual paint pigments can therefore be charted individually. The benefit of using synchrotron radiation is that the upper layers of paint distort the measurements to a lesser degree. Moreover, the speed of measurement is high, which allows relatively large areas to be visualised.

more:

http://www.physorg.com/news136632636.html

for all you south park fans -- Look closelier.

actually, I think this is a wonderful use of tech.

there's a REASON why we paint over a painting dammit!

we don't like what's under! fooey! but then nobody cares what is under mine. so no biggie.

"A new scientific procedure allows us to hear what the band 'radiation therapy' recorded over in the studio. Early listens reveal that it is pretty much what you have already heard, but with all the FUCK UPS left in..."

I can see him in the studio now...."Bah, this painting is CRAP! I'll paint some grass over it instead."

He was always begging his brother for money for canvas and paints. So maybe he felt the need to recycle, but not because he hated the old painting but because he needed to paint, period.

When I was a kid, my dad had a friend with a genuine Van Gogh hanging in his living room. His family was from the Netherlands, and the story is that a very poor Vincent Van Gogh wanted to spend a few weeks in the countryside in the early 1880's but didn't have the money to pay for boarding. The guys ancestor found him sleeping under a tree and when he discovered that Van Gogh was a painter, offered to let him stay in a small outbuilding on the backside of his farm. Van Gogh stayed there, and as thanks offered the guy one of his paintings when he left. The guys ancestor (great grandfather, IIRC) thought the painting was awful and stuck it in the attic. By the time his son immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920's, Van Gogh's paintings had already accumulated a bit of value, so he gave the painting to the son thinking he could sell it to make some money and get established in the new country. The son moved to San Francisco and did fairly well for himself anyway, and the painting ended up being passed down. The immigrants grandson (my dads friend) finally sold it to another private collector for millions back in the 90's. One of the things he wanted to do with the money was to go back and buy his families old farm in the Netherlands and rebuild the outbuilding where Van Gogh had slept, but it turned out that the farm had been built over by the expanding town back in the 1950's. There's an apartment block in the site today.

It's kind of interesting that a gift from a broke painter to a kindly farmer would make that farmers descendants millionaires a century later.

but then, I am no art critic..