From a winning project in the frame of IPERION HS

Color changes in Munch paintings and studies of the artist’s painting materials, one of the winning projects of the 1st Call for Access to the mobile laboratories of IPERION HS, proposes the use of several spectroscopic/molecular, chromatographic and imaging tools, which represent an upgrade of the analytical methods from the past investigation carried out.

The multi-analytical study will follow two lines of investigation, the first one on a selection of six paintings by Edvard Munch (1863 -1944) from the  MunchMuseum collection, and the second one on historic paint materials from the artist’s studio.

The analysis aims to investigate what one of the museum’s curators discovered a few years ago: several types of blue and red paint had darkened considerably in paintings created in Warnemünde, Germany, in 1907–08.

The investigation will mark a step forward in how Munch’s collection is investigated and will create a model of complementary and outreach-driven research to be followed in future projects of MUNCH.

The Italian MOLAB team is currently examining five paintings from the museum’s collection with the facilities of CNR ISPC Florence, CNR INO, CNR SCITEC and SMAArt-UNIPG.

The team will be joined in October 2021 by the Center for Research on Preservation (CNRS) of the French MOLAB, and in November by the XRayLAb of CNR ISPC Catania.

The MOLAB and FIXLAB contribution to this inter-and multidisciplinary study will mark a step forward in how  Munch’s collection is investigated and will create a model of complementary and outreach-driven research to be followed in future projects of the Munch Museum.

You can read more about the conservation work on Edvard Munch’s inheritance HERE