Éva Galambos

Short biography of Éva Galambos Éva Galambos is an associate professor and the head of the Microscopy Laboratory at the Conservation Department of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest, where she teaches analytical techniques applied in art conservation for more than 20 years. Along with her extensive teaching activity, she has intense research activity in the identification of painted layers and painting techniques using different types of analytical methods including various microscopic techniques (PLM, SEM-EDX). She also works for the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. She has specialised in the conservation of painted Egyptian wooden objects and polychrome gothic sculptures.

ABSTRACT

Hidden Information in the Ground Layers of Paintings Recovered by Optical and Electron Microscopy: Analysis of the Famous Eccentric Hungarian Painter Csontváry’s Masterpieces

Eva Galambos^1,2 Máté Karlik ^2,3; Manga Pattantyús², Zoltán May^2,4; Mátyás Horváth²;
¹ Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
²Museum Conservation and Storage Centre,  Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
³ Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, HUN-REN. Budapest, Hungary
⁴ Research Centre for Natural Sciences, HUN-REN, Budapest, Hungary

Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka is one of the most famous Hungarian painters of the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. He has a unique painting style that uses special characteristics of vivid colours. The study of the painting materials in his works began a few years ago. As part of this research, the current presentation provides an overview of the materials used in ground layers applying optical (PLM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX).

The study revealed that the painter himself prepared the priming and used various types of fillers of mainly natural mineral origin. The selection of appropriate mineral material and techniques was not a challenge for Csontváry, since he was a pharmacist till the age of 40, and he began to paint after that. He has used very thin ground layers with a thickness of 100–150 micro-metres. The prevailing ground layers are light-coloured or white, but if they were not light enough, he used an additional lead white layer. This lead white layer was mainly applied when the ground layer contained yellowish and reddish mineral compounds. The main open question was the composition of the materials used in ground layers. Knowing that he was a great traveller, he most probably used the available local materials. When he was in Dalmatia, he likely used the minerals of that region.

Within the frame of this research, the original paintings found in Hungarian National collections attributed to Csontváry, are studied. In the first phase of this study, the small- and medium-sized paintings were examined. It was possible to group these masterpieces according to their ground layers. This novel database helps in the identification of originals and forgeries or newly discovered masterpieces based on the painters’ artistic periods and the material use of distinct localities.