Artworks

Works of Art Analysis

SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF ART OBJECTS

For a long time, the prerogative of major institutions and museums, the scientific analysis of art objects was mainly used for acquisitions and exhibitions.
Over the last twenty years or so, the main players in the art market have found it to be a real resource. Widely acclaimed by experts, dealers and collectors, materials science provides additional leverage in the authentication of works of art.

The Provenance of Works of Art

The spread of this practice is closely linked to the growing importance of the question of the provenance of artworks. This notion implies the obligation to provide a history, prove authenticity, establish ownership and legality or some other means of confirming that the work is not counterfeit, stolen, looted or illegally exported.

Archaeometry as a Scientific Ressource for Artworks Appraisal

In addition to the need to document works of art, advances in fundamental university research in archaeometry are generating databases that are constantly being enriched. This flow of information makes it possible to refine references linked to the manufacturing techniques, attribution, geographical origin and ageing of these archaeological and artistic objects.
In the same way that the stylistic approach provides an element of response in a context of authentication, the microanalysis of heritage materials provides a genuine body of scientific evidence. The coherence of the whole is the basis for the validation of the expertise.

The Art of Scientific Protocol

CESAAR is particularly rigorous when it comes to complying with the scientific protocols of museum research laboratories and analyses all the elements required to authenticate the works of art entrusted. The clues sought for authentication comply with the approved and systematic specifications covering precise points : the materials used, their alteration, the manufacturing techniques, and their artistic and historical context.
All these elements of information validate a culture, an era or an artistic movement.

Authentication, Age and Dating

To find and reveal these established guarantees of age and authenticity, CESAAR observes five predefined sceintific processes :

• Characterisation of the object’s constituent material(s)
• Study of mannufacturing techniques
• Aging of the material : natural, artificial
• Identification of the conservation environment
• Comparison of these observations with data from the History of Art and Techniques

This exhaustive protocol provides the clues needed for authentication.

Where necessary, additional analyses may be carried out:

• Datation (Radiocarbon, Thermoluminescence, Lead 210)
• Imaging (radiography, UV, Infrared, etc.)

In a nutshell, the scientific system preset depends on the research objective. Aim defines the preciseness of the response obtained.