Scientific investigation of an important corpus of Picasso paintings in Antibes: new insights into technique, condition, and chronological sequence

The Musée Picasso in Antibes (France) houses a unique collection of 23 paintings and 44 works on paper by Pablo Picasso, completed during the fall of 1946 by the artist, working on the same premises occupied today by the Museum. Picasso painted with readily available materials including oleoresinous enamel paints, fibrocement, wood panels, paper sheets, and re-used canvases. In this paper the results of an extensive campaign of scientific analysis of 17 of these works with both non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques are described. The project elucidated the full palette of the paintings, dispelling myths about their execution solely with the renowned brand of enamel paint Ripolin. The effective combination of elemental and spectroscopic methods of analysis enabled fine discriminations among various types of white enamel paint used by Picasso in Antibes. Because the artist appeared to have used such paints in chronological sequence, the precise identification of the type of white paint present on each of the works allowed the assignment of revised dates to some of the undated paintings. Important new information on surface coatings of wax and modern polymeric varnishes, as well as the widespread presence of metal soaps including zinc oxalates, was also uncovered.