Paint applied directly from the tube

Agata Graczyk <agata.graczyk.fr<-at->gmail<.>com> writes

>This artwork has been painted with paint applied directly from the
>tube onto the canvas and the impastos resulting from this specific
>implementation are damaged in a specific manner: loss of adhesion,
>underboundness, water sensitivity of some of the colours).
>
>I am trying to complete a not yet exhaustive list of painters who
>have worked the same way ...

I have examined and treated several Alfred Jensen
(American/Guatemalan, 1903-1981) oil paintings on canvas
(c.1950-1970), most with similar issues despite later dates: loss of
adhesion, underboundness, brittleness, and solvent/water sensitivity
of many colors.  Also common were irregular surface characteristics
associated with application/technique and drying processes (e.g.
pitted surfaces, reticulated surfaces, patchy gloss/matte
areas--primarily in the blacks, intralayer paint lifting that
occurred during drying--primarily in the yellows).  Jensen primarily
used palette knives, brushes, and paint tubes for application and
usually applied the paint unmixed, sans extenders or thinners,
directly from tubes.  Many of these issues are likely a result of
the irregular, prolonged absorption of the oil binder into the
canvas from the thickly applied, slow drying paint.

Laura Reid Nix
Conservator of Paintings
ARTEX Fine Art Services
Landover, Maryland, USA


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:40
                   Distributed: Sunday, March 6, 2016
                       Message Id: cdl-29-40-005
                                  ***