SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF AN IMPORTANT CORPUS OF
PICASSO PAINTINGS IN ANTIBES: NEW INSIGHTS INTO
TECHNIQUE, CONDITION, AND CHRONOLOGICAL
SEQUENCE
FRANCESCA CASADIO
, COSTANZA MILIANI
, FRANCESCA ROSI
, ALDO
ROMANI
, CHIARA ANSELMI
, BRUNO BRUNETTI
, ANTONIO SGAMELLOTTI
,
JEAN-LOUIS ANDRAL
, AND GWÉNAËLLE GAUTIER
Conservation Department, The Art Institute of Chicago
Dipartimento di Chimica, Istituto CNR di Scienze e Tecnologie Molecolari (ISTM-CNR)
Dipartimento di Chimica, Centro SMAArt
Musée Picasso, Antibes
Independent conservation scientist
The Musée Picasso in Antibes (France) houses a unique collection of paintings and works on paper by Pablo
Picasso, completed during the fall of by the artist, working on the same premises occupied today by the
Museum. Picasso painted with readily available materials including oleoresinous enamel paints, fibrocement,
wood panels, paper sheets, and re-used canvases. In this paper the results of an extensive campaign of scientific
analysis of of these works with both non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques are described. The project elu-
cidated the full palette of the paintings, dispelling myths about their execution solely with the renowned brand of
enamel paint Ripolin. The effective combination of elemental and spectroscopic methods of analysis enabled fine
discriminations among various types of white enamel paint used by Picasso in Antibes. Because the artist appeared
to have used such paints in chronological sequence, the precise identification of the type of white paint present on
each of the works allowed the assignment of revised dates to some of the undated paintings. Important new infor-
mation on surface coatings of wax and modern polymeric varnishes, as well as the widespread presence of metal
soaps including zinc oxalates, was also uncovered.
KEYWORDS: Picasso, oleoresinous paint, enamel paint, Ripolin, spectroscopic analysis, Antibes
.INTRODUCTION
The Musée Picasso in Antibes (MPA) has among its
important holdings a unique collection of paintings
and works on paper, executed by Picasso between
September and November , and enhanced in
with an additional monumental painting
(Ulysses and the Sirens, MPA inventory number
..). All the works were painted on-site by the
artist while he was residing in the south of France.
Picasso painted in the top floor of the building where
the collection is now displayed, perched on a cliff over-
looking the Mediterranean Sea. This remarkable unity
of time and place endows the collection with historical
importance. It also makes it an unparalleled location
for the investigation of Picasso’s technique at a
pivotal moment of renovation in the artist’s career:
right at the close of World War II and with a young
new companion by his side. A detailed photographic
campaign carried out by Michel Sima, a sculptor,
photographer, and friend of Picasso recently returned
to France from concentration camps, documents the
artist at work (Sima et al. ). Of notable interest
in the photographs is the widespread presence of
numerous cans of paints and, conversely, the apparent
lack of rolled-up tubes of artist’s paints. These photo-
graphs as well as documentary evidence (Gilot and
Lake ) seem to support the notion that Picasso
availed himself of readily available materials for his
studio by the sea: fibrocement panels (a construction
material available in thin sheets made of cement
reinforced with asbestos fibers), plywood supports,
cans of paints acquired at the local drugstore, and a
few painted canvases reclaimed from the storage
© American Institute for Conservation
of Historic and Artistic Works
DOI: ./Y. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation , Vol. No. , –