Paintings narrate stories, sometimes effusively and at other times one has to read between the lines, or should one say between the layers… Antique Oil Paintings narrate stories of a time gone by in such a lucid manner, that they ‘become’ antiquity…
These paintings entice us with the possibility of being a part of history because these objected arts are just not pretty pictures; they have weathered the relentless erosion of time.
The Process of Identifying Antique Oil Painting
It is easy to identify an Antique Oil Painting by the type of paint used. Chemical analysis can confirm the origins and the age of an Oil Painting. For example, lead tin white was used in Holland in the time of the masters Rembrandt and Vermeer, and not the titanium white which most modern painters use.
The unique color ultramarine blue was made in the 15th century by grounding semi-precious lapis lazuli stones. The Modern equivalent is made with chemicals. Most Old Masters used a color "green earth" but post 19th century artists used “viridian” as a green colorant. Authentication of Antique Oil Paintings Old Master is an exacting science, not just based on gut feeling.
Forgeries of Antique Oil Paintings
Antique Oil Paintings have been plagued with the menace of forgeries for a long time now. This dubious trend started with the dutch forger Han van Meegeren.
A painter of Dutch origins Han van Meegeren , worked in the classic tradition. Disillusioned with the critics’s reaction to his original works, he decided to paint a fake Vermeer, to prove that critics were wrong about his qualities as a painter. Astonished by his own dexterity in this field, he forged more Vermeers and works of other painters, to make money.
Art critics were taken aback by Meegerens works, that they refuse to believe that his works were actually fake. People started believing only after he demonstrated his skills in front of police witnesses. His incredible aptitude at forgery shocked and to some extent , awed, the art world . Subsequently, it was even more difficult to assess the authenticity of works attributed to Vermeer.
However the art world is weary of forgeries nowadays and intricate scientific methods as mentioned above, are used to detect the authenticity of most artworks.
|
