Identification of pictorial materials as an approach to Antonio Berni 's palette

A. BLANCO GUERRERO; G. SIRACUSANO; E. TOMASINI; M. S. MAIER; M.M. CÓRDOVA

Brujas

Congreso; Technart; 2019

The University of Antwerp

As part of our research on the artworks of the renowned argentinian painterAntonio Berni (1905-1981), we have characterized the pictorial materials in one of the paintings belonging to the series depicting the life of Juanito Laguna, an imaginary child created by Berni.Our study based on FTIR-ATR, micro-Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX andFRX was an important step in understanding the materials used by Antonio Berni in his artwork ?Pesadilla de los injustos (La conspiración del mundo de Juanito Laguna trastorna el sueño de los injustos), housed at the National Museum of Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires.Preliminar analysis of the painting by non-invasive and portable X-rayfluorescence (p-XRF) gave us information on inorganic pigments and on thepresence of zinc. Then, five samples of fibers with red and black pigment residues extracted from the borders of the two panels forming part of the painting were analyzed by FTIR-ATR. The spectra revealed characteristic bands of cotton from the support as well as barite, calcium carbonate, and zinc soaps of fatty acids. One of the fibers with red pigment showed bands of toluidine red (PR3) at 1619, 1561, 1447, 1401, 848, and 603 cm -1.Analysis of the cross-sections of two of the samples embedded in acrylicresin by micro-Raman spectroscopy showed characteristic broad bands of carbonblack in the black sample while the pigments toluidine red and chrome red (PR103) were identified in the red sample together with BaSO 4 , commonly used as filler in commercial paints. This study contributes to the understanding of Berni?s artistic technique andthe evolution of his painting style.