Conference on paint deterioration

Joint meeting of ICOM Committee for Conservation, Working Groups
Paintings 1 and Paintings 2 and Paintings Section, United Kingdom
Institute for Conservation

Deterioration of Artists' Paints: effects and analysis
Venue: BP Lecture Theatre, British Museum, London
September 10-11, 2001

We are pleased to announce the dates and venue for the meeting
'Deterioration of Artists' Paints: effects and analysis'.   Due to
the number of good proposals for contributions that have been
received the meeting will now run over two days, rather than one as
previously envisaged.  The meeting will now be held in the BP
Lecture Theatre of the British Museum on Monday and Tuesday 10th and
11th September 2001. [Please note: the meeting will not be at the
Victoria & Albert Museum as may have been announced elsewhere].

'Deterioration of Artists' Paints: effects and analysis' is timed to
coincide with the British Museum Conservation Department conference
'Past Practices - Future Prospects' which will be held, also at the
British Museum, from 12th- 14th September 2001.

Concept of the meeting: Paint is the preferred medium of expression
of some of the most creative minds of humanity.  A thorough
understanding of the optical, physical chemical and nature of
artists' paint is an essential foundation for the technical study of
paintings and for their conservation.  In recent decades much
attention has been given to the identification of pigments and of
organic paint binder constituents.  However, within the field of the
technical study of paintings, only recently has paint come to be
properly regarded as a complex, interactive, mixture of these
components.  The condition of paint is strongly influenced by the
nature of pigment/binder interactions.  This is the subject which
the meeting would seek to address: to present current perspectives
on the deterioration of artists' paints, and to examine the
implications for the identification of artists' materials, for the
condition of works of art, for their interpretation and for their
care and conservation.  The meeting will provide a forum for the
presentation and interpretation of recent advances in the analysis
of paint components, both organic and inorganic.   The subject
matter should be relevant to conservation scientists, conservators
and technical art historians.

The conference will comprise in the region of 20 lectures.  The
final programme of the meeting will be announced shortly, but the
subject matter of the conference will cover:

    *   studies of mechanisms of paint ageing/deterioration,
        especially oil, oleo-resinous and other binders,

    *   studies of the discolouration and physical deterioration of
        19th century paint media.

    *   the influence of metal ions, pigments and other components
        on paint properties and deterioration; studies of
        pigment/binder interactions,

    *   the influence of external factors on paint condition and on
        binding medium identification,

    *   investigations of pigment-specific or unusual forms of paint
        deterioration,

    *   investigations of the significance of chemical
        alteration/deterioration on the visual and physical
        properties of paint,

    *   recent advances in the identification of paint binders.

    *   considerations of the impact of paint deterioration on the
        interpretation and aesthetics of paintings.

Registration for the meeting will be available from mid-March 2001
onwards. For information contact any of the following:

    Alan Phenix
    Co-ordinator: WG Paintings 1
    4 Colehills Close
    Clavering
    Saffron Walden
    Essex   CB11 4QY
    United Kingdom
    +44 1799 550 375
    a.phenix [at] vam__ac__uk  or  alnphenix [at] aol__com

    Anne Rinuy
    Co-ordinator: WG Paintings 2
    18 rue Frangois Grast
    CH-1208 Genhve
    Switzerland
    Fax: +41 22 736 42 61
    anne.rinuy [at] mah__ville-ge__ch

    Kate Lowry
    Chair: Paintings Section, UKIC
    Chief Conservation Officer
    National Museum of Wales
    Cathays Park
    Cardiff CF1 3NP
    UK
    +44 122 573 225
    Fax: +44 122 573 351
    kate [at] lowri__demon__co__uk

    Mary Bustin
    UKIC Paintings Section Committee Member
    Painting Conservation
    Tate
    Millbank
    London SW1P 4RG
    UK
    +44 207 887 8061
    Mary.Bustin [at] tate__org__uk


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:48
                 Distributed: Thursday, March 22, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-48-007
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