“Golden-hued foliage has darkened to an earthy tan. A sunny yellow field has faded to off-white. In spots, the paint is powdery and has started to flake off.
Vivid colors are deteriorating in Henri Matisse’s iconic The Joy of Life, owned by the Barnes Foundation, and scientists are stepping in to help before the giant canvas is moved to its new home in Philadelphia.
Conservators presented the results Tuesday from a sophisticated chemical analysis of the painting, which will guide the effort to retard further damage and perhaps, someday, to reverse it. The research, presented at a conference of the American Chemical Society in California, was led by Jennifer Mass, a senior scientist at the Winterthur museum in Delaware who was enlisted by the Barnes.”
Francesca Casadio, senior conservation scientist at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Barnes Foundation conservators, Barbara Buckley and Margaret Little, completed the research team.
Read the full article in the Philadelphia Inquirer online edition.
