Oil Paint Straight from the Tube: Paint-Specific Deterioration in Works by Alexis Mérodack-Jeaneau, 1910-1913

Abstract

A collection of eight paintings by painter Alexis Mérodack-Jeaneau (1873-1919) was studied for the retrospective exhibition scheduled for 2019 at the Angers musée des Beaux-Arts. Between 1910 and 1913 Mérodack-Jeaneau adopted a novel technique whereby he squeezed paint directly from the tube onto the pre-primed canvas, leaving the surface unvarnished. The paintings were examined and compared to better understand the painter’s palette, tools and work habits. The impastos are deteriorated in a particular manner: loss of adhesion, underbinding, water-sensitivity, deposits and efflorescence, protrusions. Results of scientific analysis (ESEM-EDS, XRF, GC-MS, FTIR) provided evidence to support hypotheses about the processes involved in the alteration phenomena. Crystallization of highly soluble sodium sulfate in ultramarine paint may be one factor contributing to its water-sensitivity. A conservation methodology and strategy was designed to treat the paintings.