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Bomb-pulse Radiocarbon Dating of Modern Paintings on Canvas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2018

Fiona Brock ,
Nicholas Eastaugh ,
Thierry Ford  and
Joyce H Townsend
Fiona Brock*
Affiliation:
Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the UK, Shrivenham, SN6 8LA, United Kingdom
Nicholas Eastaugh
Affiliation:
Art Analysis and Research Inc., London, SE1 2AN, United Kingdom
Thierry Ford
Affiliation:
Conservation Dept., National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, 0130, Oslo, Norway
Joyce H Townsend
Affiliation:
Conservation Dept., Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Radiocarbon (14C) dating has previously been applied to modern paintings on canvas from the 20th century to identify potential modern forgeries, and dates indicate a time lag of several years between the harvesting of plant fibers for making canvas, and completion of a painting. This study investigated both the length of this time lag and the potential of 14C dating to inform about an individual artist’s mode of working (for example long-term storage or reuse of canvases, or extended reworking on a single canvas) and/or to establish a chronology for a corpus of work. Two pre-bomb and 16 post-bomb artworks by 17 mid-20th-century Scandinavian artists were 14C dated. The majority of post-bomb samples indicated a time lag of 2–5 years between the harvesting of the plants and completion of a painting, but some samples recorded lags of up to 10 years, and others produced much earlier results, potentially indicating the use of much older canvases or challenges removing contamination prior to dating. The importance of thorough pre-screening of canvas samples for both synthetic fibers and contaminants prior to dating, and selection of the most suitable calibration curve, are highlighted.

Keywords

artworkbomb-pulsecanvaspaintingradiocarbon dating
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 61 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 39 - 49
Copyright
© 2018 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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