Notice catalographique « Coveting Coughtry : a technical analysis of constituent binders in three Graham Coughtry paintings »
- Titre
- Coveting Coughtry : a technical analysis of constituent binders in three Graham Coughtry paintings
- Auteur ou éditeur
- Moscato, Valerie Dawn
- Queen's University (Kingston, ON)
- Lieu de publication
- Kingston, ON
- Maison d'édition
- Queen's University
- Date de publication
- 2018
- Collation
- ix, 65 pages : illustrations (chiefly colour), charts, tables
- Série
- Queen's Master in Art Conservation
- Résumé
- The arrival of three paintings by Canadian artist Graham Coughtry (1931-1999) at the Queen’s University Master of Art Conservation program prompted this investigation into the artist’s practice. The paintings, which date from the 1950s and early 60s, were created in a period of Canadian art marked by a rebellion against figurative modes of representation and the integration of new, commercially developed painting materials. Coughtry, who is known for his reconciliation of the human figure with the period’s demand for abstraction, participated in the exploration of new paint media by combining traditional oil paints and Lucite 44, a poly(n-butyl methacrylate) resin. By characterizing the artist’s use of these binding media within the three paintings, this project seeks to better understand Coughtry’s working methods and contribute to the larger narrative of experimental paint use in Canada during the 1950s and 60s. Each painting underwent non-destructive examination documented via photography in visible reflected light, raking light, ultraviolet-induced fluorescence (UVF), and infrared reflectography (IR). Minimally invasive analysis of paint samples from each painting was performed first by plane polarized light microscopy (PLM) and ultraviolet microscopy (UVM) to understand the paintings’ layering structures, while analysis via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was performed to characterize the binding media. A method for determining a relative concentration of the constituent binders in the paint media was designed by comparing the spectra of prepared test films combining linseed oil and Lucite 44 in known concentrations to the spectra of paint samples with perceived Lucite 44 application. This analysis is contextualized by archival research of materials from the artist’s estate, informal interviews with members of the artist’s network, and FTIR analysis of Coughtry’s paintings with known Lucite 44 application from the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in partnership with the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI). While this research helped to inform the paintings’ conservation treatments by characterizing the materials present, the project could be beneficial for the broader understanding and care of Canadian artworks from this period.
- Notes
- Thesis (M.A.) -- Queen's University, 2018
- Langue
- English = Anglais
- Sujet
- Artists' materials - Analysis
- Paint - Testing
- Paint - Analysis
- Pigments - Analysis
- Materiel d'artistes - Analyse
- Peinture (Produit chimique) - Essais
- Peinture (Produit chimique) - Analyse
- Pays
- Canada
- Type de document
- Monograph = Monographie
- Localisation
- TP 936.5 M67 2018
- Clé
- 19905
- Collection
- Catalogue