Nuclear Fallout and the Avant Garde
I love reading about the intersection of science and art, and especially cases where science can tell us more about the history of a particular work. The Art Newspaper ran this fascinating and somewhat disturbing story last week about authenticating oil paintings based on the presence of isotopes resulting from nuclear explosions.
According to the article, this method was created specifically do authenticate Russian paintings from 1900-1930, for which there is a huge market in forgeries.
Apparently flax plants, whose oil is the binder for most paints, absorb the isotopes, which are then detectable in any works created with that paint. Therefore, works created before 1945 do not contain the isotopes, and those created afterward do. If the isotopes are detected in a work supposedly created before World War II, it is definitely a fake.
“Discussions between Dr Basner and scientists led them to consider the question of what was the single most significant difference between the pre-and post-World War II periods. The answer? The split atom.”
this is a very interesting article, I was searching for subjects related to arts, science and history.
thank you for the suggestion!!!
— Amanda, July 2, 2008, 1:13 p.m.