Comments on: Faded Sunflowers: Why Van Gogh's Yellows Are Turning Brown http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/ Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Crow http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/#comment-25205 Crow Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:47:13 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26262#comment-25205 Find the right media is always a challenge: http://www.nicky510.com/comic/its-a-polar-bear-in-a-snowstorm/ Find the right media is always a challenge: http://www.nicky510.com/comic/its-a-polar-bear-in-a-snowstorm/

]]> By: Charles http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/#comment-25204 Charles Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:42:11 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26262#comment-25204 Back on the OTHER other hand, I'm really glad Titian, Rembrandt, Cezanne and a lot of others I could name were not sand painters but oil painters. Back on the OTHER other hand, I’m really glad Titian, Rembrandt, Cezanne and a lot of others I could name were not sand painters but oil painters.

]]> By: John Lerch http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/#comment-25203 John Lerch Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:50:20 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26262#comment-25203 OTOH we've had many critics oohing and aahhing over Tibetan sand paintings; the oohs and aahs are in fact much because they're here today and gone today. OTOH we’ve had many critics oohing and aahhing over Tibetan sand paintings; the oohs and aahs are in fact much because they’re here today and gone today.

]]> By: Charles http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/#comment-25202 Charles Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:06:40 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26262#comment-25202 The Old Masters, from the 15th century through the middle of the 19th, ground and mixed their own oil paints and understood the properties of the pigments and mediums they employed, or that they directed their studio assistants in employing. They knew how to keep their paintings from darkening or fading over hundreds of years. On the other hand, the Impressionists were the first generation of artists that bought manufactured oil paints rather than make their own. In particular, whites and yellows in oil paint must be formulated and worked with very carefully to keep from darkening, and the old masters understood the rules for this, while the moderns just laid on the paint. Older paintings were also covered with removable varnish to protect the painting. The varnish can be removed easily with turpentine when it gets dirty from the air, leaving the original painting below unchanged. A new coat of removable varnish can then be applied which will last for another 50 or 100 years before needing to be removed and replaced again, and so on. I will never forget the stunning experience of seeing Titian's "Sacred and Profane Love", painted in 1514, at the Borghese Gallery in Rome several years ago. It looked as fresh, and the color as vivid, as if it had been painted the same day. It even looked wet, yet it was almost 500 years old. No doubt the protective varnish has been removed and replaced many times. Some Impressionist and modern paintings look far older. Artists today like myself who may use acrylic paint don't have to worry about this, as acrylic does not have the same changing and darkening properties as oil. It is however not as rich in texture and feel as oil. Artists who use oil today do so at the risk of their paintings changing over time, like Van Gogh's, unless they learn and follow the necessary techniques, especially with whites and yellows. The Old Masters, from the 15th century through the middle of the 19th, ground and mixed their own oil paints and understood the properties of the pigments and mediums they employed, or that they directed their studio assistants in employing. They knew how to keep their paintings from darkening or fading over hundreds of years. On the other hand, the Impressionists were the first generation of artists that bought manufactured oil paints rather than make their own. In particular, whites and yellows in oil paint must be formulated and worked with very carefully to keep from darkening, and the old masters understood the rules for this, while the moderns just laid on the paint. Older paintings were also covered with removable varnish to protect the painting. The varnish can be removed easily with turpentine when it gets dirty from the air, leaving the original painting below unchanged. A new coat of removable varnish can then be applied which will last for another 50 or 100 years before needing to be removed and replaced again, and so on.

I will never forget the stunning experience of seeing Titian’s “Sacred and Profane Love”, painted in 1514, at the Borghese Gallery in Rome several years ago. It looked as fresh, and the color as vivid, as if it had been painted the same day. It even looked wet, yet it was almost 500 years old. No doubt the protective varnish has been removed and replaced many times. Some Impressionist and modern paintings look far older.

Artists today like myself who may use acrylic paint don’t have to worry about this, as acrylic does not have the same changing and darkening properties as oil. It is however not as rich in texture and feel as oil. Artists who use oil today do so at the risk of their paintings changing over time, like Van Gogh’s, unless they learn and follow the necessary techniques, especially with whites and yellows.

]]> By: StankyLeg http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/#comment-25201 StankyLeg Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:08:44 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26262#comment-25201 Wow, what nick said made a lot of sense. Wow, what nick said made a lot of sense.

]]> By: nick http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/#comment-25200 nick Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:26:35 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26262#comment-25200 Quick, someone get out the time machine and go warn Van Gogh! (this comment quickly explains why the artist went insane) Quick, someone get out the time machine and go warn Van Gogh!

(this comment quickly explains why the artist went insane)

]]> By: Idlewilde http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/15/faded-sunflowers-why-van-goghs-yellows-are-turning-brown/#comment-25199 Idlewilde Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:53:42 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/?p=26262#comment-25199 The lesson here? Don't use paint extender :) The lesson here? Don’t use paint extender :)

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