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Project Researchers: Libby Sheldon (Director) Honorary Senior Research Associate, UCL; Gabriella Macaro (chief researcher) UCL teaching assistant (2011-2013); now at National Gallery London.
Project Funders: Private paintings collector; + Charisma grant archival study 2013
The
aim of this research project has been to investigate the materials and
techniques employed in the making of paintings produced by Aelbert Cuyp.
Although the central focus is on Aelbert Cuyp himself, the project also
encompasses works attributed to his followers and contemporaries in
Dordrecht in the context of extant studies of the painting practices of
other Dutch schools.
The intention is to reach a clear
understanding of the technical practices of Cuyp by looking at issues
such as patterns of pigment use, types of ground and brushwork
characteristics. Studies have been carried out so far on paintings by
Cuyp and his followers, in both public and private collections. A
variety of analytical procedures has been employed, ranging from simple
microscopy and microphotography to non-invasive portable X-Ray
Fluorescence [XRF] examination of painting surfaces; and from optical
microscopy (PLM) to energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis of minute
paint samples. The project aims to help in vexed matters of attribution
which have often haunted Aelbert Cuyp's work, and, by filling a gap, to
make a firm contribution to scholarship in technical art history.
