Analysis of Synthetic Organic Materials in Contemporary Art

In the last 50 - 70 years, an enormous array of new materials, especially pigments and binders have been developed and used by artists for their works. Hundreds of pigments based on traditional inorganic but also on synthetic organic materials are available on the market including house paints that were never intended specifically for application in art. On the other side, also the film forming transparent binders, in which the pigment particles are dispersed and that hardens and binds the pigments on the painted surface, can be natural or synthetic organic products. The enormous diversity in materials used in modern art has important implications for their preservation, since each type of material is likely to display its own unique set of physical and chemical properties as well as responses to ageing, environmental conditions, and conservation treatments. Yet neither the long-term aging behavior of these materials nor safe methods for conserving the vast majority of them are known. The main focus of the research project proposed is directed to develop an advanced analytical procedure for the characterization of the synthetic materials used in contemporary art works and building up a database for routine analysis. The developed analytical procedure will be applied to identify the organic components present in art works including the materials used for conservation interventions. Partners in this project are the Franz-West- Archive, the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna (MUMOK - Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig), the Conservation Science Department of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage (CACH). Samples of contemporary art works as well as of modern materials (synthetic polymers) applied to historic art objects during restoration and conservation treatments are available from these project partners. Additionally, the degradation of polymers as binding media, varnishes and as conservation materials will be studied considering also the influence of the most important pigments on that degradation process. Therefore, mock-ups of the most representative acrylic, but also alkyd and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) emulsions mixed with selected pigments will be prepared and artificially aged in a sunlight simulation chamber with UV illumination. The methods used for these material analyses are in general pyrolysis gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (Py/GC/MS), Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectrometry, and color measurements. The instruments of these methods have been obtained in the Program Infrastruktur-3 of the BM.WF (Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research) for the Institute of Science and Technology in Art of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. The investigations will be complemented by scanning electron and atomic force microscopic studies using instruments at the Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics.

The aim of the research project Analysis of Synthetic Organic Materials in Contemporary Art was to modify and adapt the methods mainly used in modern analytical chemistry for the material identification of art works. It has to be considered that artists nowadays are mainly using synthetic organic materials (SOM) for their artistic work and that scientists working in the fields of art and cultural heritage are mainly confronted with the so called non-destructive or non-invasive analysis, which means that no original material can/must be taken from an object and that in most cases also no changes on the art work can/must be carried out prior to, during, and after the analytical procedure. On the other hand, most of the analytical techniques applied for organic analysis require sample material or at least the modification of a specimen for the analysis. Therefore, mainly so called non-destructive analytical methods were chosen, where usually the sample material isnt changed during the analysis. Such methods are e.g. UV-vis, infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The results obtained by such investigations were accomplished and compared with data from gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) as well as pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Such instruments are available at the Institute of Science and Technology in Art (ISTA) of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and could be installed due to the Infrastructure Program of the Ministry for Science and Research prior to the submission of the proposal to the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Additionally, co-operations with institutes of the Vienna University of Technology as well as the University in Torino/Italy could be built up during the research project. In the cooperation with the Department of Chemistry and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surface-Centre of Excellence in Torino enabled us to carry out thermo-analytical investigations such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). For the systematic studies pure synthetic pigments, binding media and polymers as well as commercial products for artists could be applied and mock-ups of these products were analysed. Additionally, the specimen were artificially aged under controlled light and atmospheric conditions in order to test the long term behaviour of these products and to characterize and identify the degradation phenomena and the products formed during ageing. Furthermore, art objects of contemporary artists such as Franz West could be analysed due to the cooperation with the Franz-West-Archive and the Museum of Modern Arts in Vienna. The results obtained during the FWF research project are summarized in two PhD theses and about 12 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals and could be presented in more than 25 contributions (oral and posters) at scientific conferences or workshops.