Margret E Short Fine Arts Blog

The Vizier's Paints

Paint Box of Vizier Amenemope

  
  
Paint Box of Vizier Amenemope. Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (1540-1296 BC), reign of Amenhotep II, c. 1427-1401 BC. Boxwood with inscription inlaid in Egyptian blue, 3.6 x 2.2 x 21.0 cm. © The Cleveland Museum of Art. Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1914.680

Image Courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art.

This amazing 3400 year old paint box once belonged to Vizier Amenemope who lived during the reign of Amenhotep ll, c.1427-1401BCE.

This particular vizier, Amenemope, liked to paint for fun when he wasn't advising the Pharaoh. The paint box, carved from a single piece of boxwood, shows inlay of Egyptian blue in incised hieroglyphics at each end. The rounded squares were carved into the surface to create the paint wells. From the far left the dry pigment cakes are:

finely ground carbon black,

course ground carbon black,

green (mixture of Egyptian blue frit, yellow ochre and orpiment),

Egyptian blue frit,

red (red ochre (red iron oxide) mixed with orpiment).

All of the colors shown here are still in use today by historical pigment enthusiasts like me when our mad scientist selves are lurking.

The box is in surprisingly good condition and shows only minor cracking along the edges. Surfaces of the paint cakes look slightly dirty which would indicate the smearing of one pigment over another. Not bad for a three thousand four hundred year old artist's paint box.

Catalogue of Egyptian Art, Cleveland Museum of Art

Coming in March 2011

Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb, Part ll, Galerie Gabrie, Pasadena

 

 

 

Don't Shoot the Deputy

A vizier in ancient Egypt is similar to a consigliere in the modern day Mafia, a deputy, a right hand man to the big boss, specifically the Pharaoh. Remember Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, Don Corleone's voice of reason in the Godfather? How about FDR's Harry Hopkins. Well that would be the role of the vizier. He advised his boss in everyday matters such as who to leave offerings to in his tomb or how many layers to add to his pyramid.

Coming in March 2011

Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb, Part ll, Galerie Gabrie, Pasadena

When I Grow Up, I Want to Be an Art Forger

Now I do not aspire to go underground or "non-legit" with my painting techniques, but art forgery is quite a fascinating topic. One of the best ploys Eric Hebborn suggests is to purchase an artistically worthless old painting, say, from an antique shop or art auction. Wood panel or canvas, each would be naturally aged and seasoned, ready to scrape, sand and paint a fresh layer atop. The most finicky technique to apply at this point is to use era appropriate pigments. If you are setting out to hoodwink collectors with a Van Gogh then some of the more modern pigments such as viridian, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, are acceptable.

However if you are shrewdly forging a 17th Century Dutch, Rembrandt, Titian, Caravaggio or any artist of that era or before, choice of colors is a critical component. Stick with the earths, vermilion, lapis, flake white, ivory black, malachite, and azurite, and you might get away with your ruse.

Another intriguing ploy Hebborn describes is his use of a yellow called chrome. Chrome was developed in modern times to replace orpiment which became obsolete because of poisonous and fugitive (non-permanent) properties.

I have read recent studies that show chrome yellow was less than desirable also because of tendencies to darken. Today, Winsor & Newton makes a chrome yellow that has a light fastness rating of Permanence A.

Orpiment was popular because of its bright golden nature and was widely used. However, the slow drying orpiment mixed badly with other colors and altered the hue over time. Hebborn's trick was to "damage the area where orpiment should be then skillfully retouch with chrome yellow mixed with white." Experts would then surmise the particular passage would naturally have been repaired with a modern pigment because of orpiment's notorious reputation.

So, for those of you who do have desires for dupery, plunge right in and try some of Hebborn's surreptitious ideas. Just remember, unless you want to sit for a very very long period in a 7 foot cubicle with bars on the window dreaming of painting, sign your work with your own name and "copy after Titian" or whomever. I think I will stick to that policy too.

Coming in March, 2011

Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb, Part ll, Galerie Gabrie, Pasadena

Chicanery

Who could have guessed one of the most helpful and instructional guides for this project would be a cunning art forger? While examining one of my favorite art book's bibliography (the best feature of any book!), the title, The Art Forger's Handbook jumped off the page. Eric Hebborn wrote about his artistic skills describing ingenious deceptions, and now art experts are using his book as reference material. How clever!

Mr. Hebborn set the experts on their heels in the 1980s when information surfaced revealing his superb skills of bamboozling. Seems he had faked masterpieces by Breughel, Piranesi, Corot, and many others. After these artworks were distributed into art circles, the experts were in turmoil about authentication and attributions of many masterworks. According to the Art Times  this book is "An insiders look into the murky art world of greed and chicanery." I found it full of splendid information about pigments, techniques, dates, historical materials, and details of when and what the masters used.

In January of 1996, Hebborn died under mysterious circumstances. The BBC's Omnibus produced a television biography documenting his nefarious life and shenanigans, but my in-depth search failed to find a copy. I'm sure it would be a delightfully naughty story. My library research contact told me he would keep searching.

Coming in March 2011

Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb, Part ll, Galerie Gabrie, Pasadena

Arsenic in the Stew

 

Orpiment, shown above in its natural form and also pigment form, was widely used in Egypt during and after the 18th dynasty, about 1500 BC. During this period the very progressive and successful female pharaoh, Hatshepsut, was in power. It is thought that she initiated trade with other countries and the use of orpiment began because of her. Because this canary yellow pigment does not occur naturally in Egypt, it most likely was imported from Asia Minor where it is found.

For many centuries this bright yellow pigment was ground and used in painting and can still be found today. There are many problems to be considered if using this color however. This pigment contains arsenic and is extremely toxic. In addition, it does not combine well with lead or copper based pigments such as azurite and Egyptian blue. It went completely out of favor to artists in the 19th century. Modern day artists have substituted orpiment with the cadmium yellows. I have chosen not to use orpiment in my Egyptian project.

Coming in March 2011

Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb, Part ll, Galerie Gabrie, Pasadena

Malachite in the Raw

 
 
While at the Smithsonian Museum this past March, I found many examples of pigments as they are found in nature. This chunk shows the beautiful greens of malachite with true blue veins of azurite.

Coming in March 2011

Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb, Part ll, Galerie Gabrie, Pasadena

 

Oil Change

As I said in the previous post, the Egyptian artists mixed pigment with egg or acacia sap which is also known a gum arabic.  Both are binders for a water based paint. Another binder for water based paint is acrylic or egg yolk or even sometimes the whole egg. Often egg is used as a binder in oil painting also.

The equivalent to this in oil painting is linseed oil or whatever oil is used such as poppy seed or walnut. The binder holds the pigment particles together. Otherwise, if you just mixed the dry pigment with water and painted on your substrate, the pigment would not adhere to the surface and would fly away in the wind. It must have a glue like substance such as the acacia sap, egg, acrylic, alkyd, or oil to make it stick.

Acacia resin.  Image courtesy Wikipedia

One More Done

 

Painting #2 for the Lessons from the Pharaoh Part ll exhibit is now complete also, a small detail shown here. Because of the expense of malachite, and because there was a large enough pile of paint remaining, I used it again here in the vase of this second painting. It would be a terrible waste to let it dry up on my palette.

Usually, if there is any paint remaining on my palette at the end of the day, I cover it with wax paper, lay a wet cloth over top, and yet another piece of wax paper over the whole thing. This is the most successful method I have found to keep paint fresh, at least for a couple of days.

Coming in March 2011

Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb, Part ll, Galerie Gabrie, Pasadena

 

One Down, Many to Go

 

This detail is from the first completed painting in the new Part ll project which shows both versions of malachite. Impasto paint was floated onto the surface of the jar in the focal areas. Across the table is a golden cloth which is used as a perfect foil for the bluish green of the jar setting it off nicely. 

According to Francois Delamare and Bernard Guineau in their book, Colors, the Story of Dyes and Pigments, the Egyptians used malachite from deposits in the eastern desert and west of the Sinai. It was first crushed then ground into acacia sap or egg and used as decoration in tombs, temples, and even papyrus painting.

To the ancients it had medicinal properties and also was used in makeup which helped protect the eyes against the harsh sunlight of Egypt. Cleopatra painted her eyelids with it.............think Elizabeth Taylor with those heavily black outlined eyes with green eye shadow seducing helpless Richard Burton. 

Rublev and Zecchi Walked into a Bar....

 

Rublev malachite, from Natural Pigments, is shown on the left.  Zecchi malachite scuro (dark), from Zecchi's Art Supply in Florence, Italy is on the right. Both dry pigments are ground in linseed oil. I have been hoarding the Zecchi color since I bought it in Florence in 2003. It is darker and richer than most other products and was invaluable in painting the first 2 pieces for the upcoming Pharaoh Part ll project.

The Rublev pigment is a splendid subtle bluish green and easy to grind. Both have a medium to low color saturation so you really have to pile on the paint to get good results. This pigment was commonly used by artists in ancient Egypt.