heritage Article Exploring Liu Kang’s Paris Practice (1929–1932): Insight into Painting Materials and Technique Damian Lizun 1, * , Teresa Kurkiewicz 2 and Boguslaw Szczupak 3   Citation: Lizun, D.; Kurkiewicz, T.; Szczupak, B. Exploring Liu Kang’s Paris Practice (1929–1932): Insight into Painting Materials and Technique. Heritage 2021, 4, 828–863. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage 4020046 Academic Editor: Diego Tamburini Received: 26 April 2021 Accepted: 16 May 2021 Published: 19 May 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Heritage Conservation Centre, National Heritage Board, 32 Jurong Port Rd, Singapore 619104, Singapore 2 Department of Painting Technology and Techniques, Institute for Conservation, Restoration and Study of Cultural Heritage, Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Sienkiewicza 30/32, 87-100 Toru´ n, Poland; teresak@umk.pl or teresa.kurkiewicz@googlemail.com 3 Department of Telecommunications and Teleinformatics, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrze ˙ ze Stanislawa Wyspia ´ nskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland; boguslaw.szczupak@pwr.edu.pl * Correspondence: damian_lizun@nhb.gov.sg or d.lizun@fineartconservation.ie Abstract: This paper presents the results of an extensive study of 14 paintings by the pioneering Singapore artist Liu Kang (1911–2004). The paintings are from the National Gallery Singapore and Liu family collections. The aim of the study is to elucidate the painting technique and materials from the artist’s early oeuvre, Paris, spanning the period from 1929 to 1932. The artworks were studied with a wide array of non- and micro-invasive analytical techniques, supplemented with the historical information derived from the Liu family archives and contemporary colourmen catalogues. The results showed that the artist was able to create compositions with a limited colour palette and had a preferential use of commercially available ultramarine, viridian, chrome yellow, iron oxides, organic reds, lead white, and bone black bound in oil that was highlighted. This study identified other minor pigments that appeared as hue modifications or were used sporadically, such as cobalt blue, Prussian blue, emerald green, cadmium yellow, cobalt yellow, and zinc white. With regard to the painting technique, the artist explored different styles and demonstrated a continuous development of his brushwork and was undoubtedly influenced by Modernists’ artworks. This comprehensive technical study of Liu Kang’s paintings from the Paris phase may assist art historians and conservators in the evaluation of the artist’s early career and aid conservation diagnostics and treatment of his artworks. Furthermore, the identified painting materials can be compared with those used by other artists active in Paris during the same period. Keywords: Liu Kang; SEM-EDS; MA-XRF; FTIR; IRFC; X-RAY; RTI; hidden paintings; pigments 1. Introduction Liu Kang (1911–2004) was one of the most influential figures in the early development of modern art in Singapore. He was born in Yongchun, Fujian province, China. After graduating from Xinhua Arts Academy in Shanghai in 1928, he moved to Paris, where he stayed from February 1929 to April 1932. In the early decades of the 20th century, there was a growing enthusiasm in China towards the study of Western culture. Western art appealed to Chinese educational modernisers because of its realism and supposed association with science and progress [1]. Hence, the Chinese government encouraged graduates as well as established artists to further their art education in France and to promote modernisation ideas in a rapidly transforming China upon their return [2]. Liu Kang’s stay in Paris had a significant influence on his career. He attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Montparnasse and studied Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Fauvist styles [3]. In an essay from 1970, Liu Kang made a reference to his Paris phase: “We visited fine art museums and studied the masterpieces of past generations of artists, toured famous art galleries to admire recent works by contemporary artists, and gained much from this initiation” [4]. Heritage 2021, 4, 828–863. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4020046 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/heritage