AIC's 44th Annual Meeting

Historic paint samples were sampled from Château du Bosc, the family home of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The home is located in Aveyron, France, approximately one hour from Albi, Toulouse-Lautrec’s birthplace. Due to his death at a young age, the Château was passed down to Toulouse-Latrec’s cousin, and remains the home of a distant relative. The samples retrieved were collected from tin based tubes housed in wooden shipping boxes. In most cases, the tube labels are legible, and the paint distributors’ names have been linked to contemporary artists of the time, such as Vincent van Gogh and Gustav Caillebotte. A range of scientific analyses, including PLM, XRF, μ-FTIR, py-GC-Ms and Raman Spectroscopy, were employed to fully characterize these pigments to study the paint media, fillers/extenders, pigments, and some degradation products. The samples range in colour from reds, greens, brown, blues and yellows. Some of the interesting results will be featured here, including the discovery and characterization of natural Indian Yellow. The wooden shipping boxes are believed to have been purchased by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s mother to encourage him to explore artistry as a career after he fractured both of his legs, which left him physically unable to participate in many physical activities. Stored in a dark attic, the paint tubes, some used, some not, have been untouched since that time. They offer a glimpse into the Toulouse-Latrec’s early palette, and in a broader sense, the pigments and paints available to artists working in France at that time.