The Broad Spectrum

Colour on paper presents significant treatment challenges and research opportunities for the conservator and conservation scientist. Understanding the use of colored media on paper informs art historical interpretations of works of art and leads to a better appreciation of technique. Recently, a distinguished group of conservators, conservation scientists and art historians came together in Chicago to discuss and debate advances in the investigation of colored media as used by artists over five centuries. This book presents the edited proceedings of the conference, ‘The Broad Spectrum: The Art and Science of Conserving Colored Media on Paper’, and is centered on five broad themes: – Pastel and Chalk – Watercolor and Ink – Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Materials – The Colored Materials of Asian Art – New Methods and Technologies for Assessing Fading of Colored Media This comprehensively illustrated volume represents a unique collection of expertise and will be of interest to art historians and curators as well as researchers, practitioners and students of conservation. The title is due for publication in May 2002. CONTENTS: CHAPTER 1: Pastel and Chalk 1. An Aesthetic Overview of the Pastel Palette: 1500 1900 Marjorie Shelley 2. Distinguishing Between Chalk and Pastel in Early Drawings Thea Burns 3. Making Up the Face: Technique and Meaning in the Pastels of Rosalba Carriera Thea Burns 4. Materials, Methods, and Meanings in Edgar Degas’s Late Pastels Richard Kendall 5. An Investigation of the Pastels of Giuseppe De Nittis and the Pastel Revival of the Later Nineteenth Century Anne F. Maheux 6. James McNeill Whistler: The Color of Line Margaret F. MacDonald 7. Blues and Browns and Drabs: The Evolution of Colored Papers Peter Bower 8. Housing a Pastel Collection at the National Archives of Canada Part I: Pick It Up and Move It Out Gilbert L. Gignac and Gregory J. Hill 9. Housing a Pastel Collection at the National Archives of Canada Part II: God Is in the Details: The Conservation Treatment of Early Canadian Pastels Maria Bedynski and Gregory J. Hill CHAPTER 2: Watercolor and Ink 1. Cause and Effect in the Historical Development of Watercolor Marjorie B. Cohn 2. Observations on the Functions of Watercolors and Pastels in Italian Renaissance Drawings Thomas McGrath 3. The History and Technology of Renaissance and Baroque Hand-Colored Prints Susan Dackerman and Thomas Primeau 4. The Analysis of Watercolor Materials, in Particular Turner’s Watercolors at the Tate Gallery (1790s to 1840s) Joyce H. Townsend 5. Paul Cézanne’s Watercolors: His Choice of Pigments and Papers Faith Zieske 6. Winslow Homer’s Watercolor Pigments Barbara Berrie, Yoonjoo Strumfels, and Carol Tolocka 7. The History and Use of Colored Inks Carlo James 8. Aging of Paper and Pigments Containing Iron and Copper: A Review Vincent Daniels 9. Effects of Aqueous Treatment on Iron-Gall Ink – Monitoring Iron Migration with the Iron(II) Indicator Test Elmer Eusman 10. All the Colors of White: The Changing Nature of White Papers Peter Bower CHAPTER 3: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Materials 1. In the Kitchen with Paul Gauguin: Devising Recipes for a Symbolist Graphic Aesthetic Peter Kort Zegers 2. The Use and Misuse of Distemper in the Works of Édouard Vuillard: A Curator’s View Gloria Groom 3. The Use and Misuse of Distemper in the Works of Édouard Vuillard: A Conservator’s View Faye T. Wrubel 4. The Treatment of Two Karel Appel Gouaches Piet van Dalen and Gabriëlle Beentjes 5. Daylight Fluorescent Colors as Artistic Media Margaret Holben Ellis, Christopher W. McGlinchey, and Esther Chao 6. Assessing the Impact of Storage Environments on the Color Transfer of Felt-Tipped Pen on Paper Barbara Rosenberg 7. The Preservation and Conservation of Ink Jet and Electrophotographic Printed Materials Debbie Glynn 8. On Material(ism) or Why Painting Conservators Have All the Fun Daria Keynan CHAPTER 4: The Materials of Asian Art 1. Color as Language in Traditional Japanese Prints Roger S. Keyes and Elizabeth I. Coombs 2. Aqueous Treatment of Ukiyo-e Prints of the Edo Period: Three Case Studies Pamela de Tristan 3. Painted Japanese Paper Screens: The Consolidation of Paint Layers on a Paper Substrate Sandra Grantham and Alan Cummings 4. The Conservation of a Set of Japanese Fusama Mitsuhiro Abe and Sydney Thomson 5. Chinese Color Printing Technology and History in the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy M. Brigitte Yeh 6. Indian Paintings on Paper, Textile, and Mica: Conservation, Storage, and Display Mike Wheeler, Pauline Webber, Anna Hillcoat-Imanashi, and Clair Battisson CHAPTER 5: The Assessment of Fading 1. Statistics without Anesthesia: Interpreting Color Data Roy Perkinson 2. The Use of the X-Rite Colortron Measurement of Water Colors Barbara Mangum and Arlen Heginbotham 3. Pursuing the Fugitive: Direct Measurement of Light Sensitivity with Micro-Fading Tests Paul M. Whitmore 4. The User s Point of View: Micro-Fading Test Results and the Shaping of Exhibition Policy Craigen Bowen, Barbara J. Mangum, and Meredith Montague The Broad Spectrum is a handsome volume – rarely have conference papers read so well or looked so good. It is also an important book. It documents an incipient change in the field of paper conservation and distinguishes us all by the scholarship it contains. Buy one for yourself, and one for an art historian you want to impress. Judith Walsh, JAIC 43 (2004)