|
Michele:
Yes, I have heard Virgil talk about that.
However, it is my opinion that far too broad a brush is being applied here. There were certainly many paintings done from about the 1700s on where many different types of resins were used. There is a good deal of speculation and disagreement about if these resins are detectable in the paint layers or not.
Further, IMO, there are simply so many factors that come into play that it is a vast oversimplification to say that "all resins are bad."
For instance: What resin was used in a particular painting that is showing problems? What quality level were the ingredients and what was it mixed with? Was it used in the paint medium itself or just as a varnish layer over the top? Was it prepared properly? How was it used - too much? What happened to the painting after it was painted - did it spend the last 300 years in a temperate room or in a cold humid basement or a drafty castle? What kind of oil was used and what quality was it?
Reynolds appearently used anything and everything in his works in sloshy quantities and he is held up as the poster child of "what not to do." However, outside of Eastlake, where some documentation exists, what he used, in what quantity and how it was prepared and the quality of the ingredients are largely speculation. It is the same for all of the painters up to the late 1800s.
I have had several people try to tell me that Maroger's paintings have turned black or darkened and yet there is no one who can give me ANY evidence or documentation that this is actual fact. It is always "I heard that.."
There are a host of Maroger's original students out there using his mediums today who have done so for many decades. A number of noted painters use the medium with great success.
So anyway, it is kind of a personal bugaboo for me to debunk all this junk about Marogers in the face of phantom evidence and broad brush inuendo with no shread of real fact given to back it up.
I use it, I very much like it, I have read and will continue to read everything I can get my hands on about it.
I am probably being too serious about this, and I've mucked up my topic, so I will sign off now. Thanks for listening to my rant.
|