Red Rocks in New York City

Portrait of a Man, Hans Memling, c. 1470

Here’s an interesting article on a happy marriage of science and art:  X-rays reveal Van Gogh’s Hidden Portrait

  I wonder how the paintings of Van Gogh that are really double paintings - apparently about a third of his earlier work - will hold up over time.  One attribute I’ve looked for in many of the paintings that I’ve had the chance to see over the past weeks in NYC is the crazing or cracking of the paint layers.  A painting may show only minute traces of aging even though its from the 15th century (as is true of much of the Frick Collection) or it may show a a wild set of cracks and crazing, as is the case with many Waterhouse paintings and newer artwork like Pollack’s.  I’m told that a lot of it depends on the thickness of the paint layers or on the pigment/turpentine to oil ratio as the paint is laid down on the canvas.  The common rule, if an artist cares about the longevity of his work, is to paint ‘fat over lean’.    This is one of many precautions an artist can take to ensure that the artwork itself will have a much longer viewing lifespan.

   It also occured to me that someone could probably make a tidy business of offering to perform a scientific analysis of a painting that is up for auction or for sale.  The x-ray used on the Van Gogh above or some variant could be very useful for assessing a painting’s fitness and longevity.  With contemporary artwork selling for millions and millions of dollars - the most recent impressive sale is a triptych by Francis Bacon at 86M - it seems like this would definitely be of interest to a collector or curator (unless of course all you are interested in is acquiring the name).  A quick googling shows that this is already being done by museums hoping to assess the condition of their paintings as they travel from one exhibition to another, as with Picasso’s Guernica.  This seems to be a great technique for paintings that are fully matured, but would probably be less predictive for contemporary artwork.  Good thing we like sharks and the artist is willing to work with us. ;)

   Just in case you ARE seriously considering an art purchase, here’s a great little essay, that is both informative and funny, before approaching your local gallery director. :)

UPDATE:  I was thinking about this post and remembered a couple of scenes out of a funny little movie, ‘Le Divorce’.  One of the side plots involves a bunch of museum curators trying to verify the identity of a work of art and I believe they did something of this sort and then tried to say that it was not authentic even though it was.  Maybe this is a routine thing to do when acquiring a piece that is not entirely verified. *shrug* (ummm… I meant the x-ray, not the lying :) )

Second Update:  Funny article in today’s NY Times about how a painting that was literally falling apart became an experiment to salvage the artist’s other paintings.

The Upper East Side has a very different feel to it than places like… say Chelsea or Soho or the Village.  Its tree-lined streets, beautiful brownstones, garden-top balconies and chic designer boutiques speak volumes about the wealth of the local community.  I have no idea what a brownstone would cost in this kind of place but I’m sure it has many zeros attached.  And of course the streets are famous themselves, Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue and Lexington have seeped into our collective unconscious as places of influence and wealth.  I wonder what it would be like to say, “Yeah, come on up - I just live above the Prada store on such and such street.”  He he.  Of course if I could afford to live above the Prada store I could probably afford to shop at the Prada store too.

But I digress…

  Across the street from Central Park in the Upper East Side, nestled within its own private gates, lies the Frick Collection.  It is a gorgeous white brick building and the gardens, complete with lilies, lotus and koi, combined to create a bubble of quiet in an otherwise busy and noisy section of town.  The building was the actual private home of Mr. Henry Clay Frick, a coke and steel industrialist who lived from 1849 - 1919, and houses the collection of art he was able to acquire over his lifetime.  The museum attempts to maintain this ambience of a private home instead of a museum and walking through it is like walking through a series of fully furnished rooms with books, antique furniture, sculpture and just stunning paintings.  They are so close and so accessible that there are no children allowed, which is why it is so nice that my mom was willing to babysit.  Unfortunately, the Frick also doesn’t allow cameras, but they do have an amazing virtual tour online and you can see each room 360 degrees and then click on the paintings to get a better look and a description.  My favorites are the three (yes, THREE!!) Vermeers side by side in the South Hall, the above portrait by Ingres, which has some interesting backstory about the artist being in love with the Comtesse (an outspoken woman of her time apparently), and two massive seascapes by J.M.W. Turner, the same fellow featured at the Met this season.  The Turners in particular are enormous and their sheer size makes them absolutely stunning to behold in person.

Thanks Genevieve for recommending this particular place.  We really enjoyed the visit.

I wish I could go to this while we are here.  In any case, it’s nice to hear that the art market is only nominally slowing despite the recent downturn in the economy.  I wonder if this will last or if it is just a long lag.  Maybe the kind of person who buys a Matisse or a Wyeth is relatively immune to such bumps and wiggles in the market??