ArtDiscovery works with museums around the world to investigate artists’ techniques and materials to answer questions related to methods, condition, conservation, dating, attribution, and many other issues.
Our team worked on a ground-breaking project with the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, generously funded by a grant from the Russian Avant-Garde Research Project (RARP). The Museum Ludwig has extraordinary holdings of Russian avant-garde art; the museum’s fourteen paintings by Natalia Goncharova and Mikhail Larionov, dating from 1905-1916, served as the basis for the study. They were examined with a spectrum of advanced technologies and proven analytical methods in order to compile a robust technical catalogue raisonné for the paintings of the two artists, employing science and technology in the service of art history. This particular combination of imaging, materials analysis, data analytics and technical art history is the protocol used by ArtDiscovery for everyone. We have extensive experience in undertaking investigations in the service of museums and artists’ foundations, working independently or together with curators and conservators.
Our team works closely with artists’ foundations. One example is the The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation. Our findings provided new and deeper insights into the development of Albers’ working practice and, conversely, into the methods and materials used by forgers attempting to create copies of his paintings. This fruitful collaboration was a pleasure for us; it was an honour to be able to help the foundation to better understand and protect the artist’s legacy. The evidence provided will also create a greater sense of confidence in the commercial art market and allow the Foundation to defend the integrity of Albers’ work more effectively.
