Tutor: Joyce Townsend ACR
Price: £25.00
Platform: Zoom
More information: https://academicprojects.co.uk/courses/colour-change-in-traditional-watercolours/
It is well known that watercolours on paper supports have a tendency to fade, but how often are examples critically assessed by conservators, and noted explicitly in condition reports? And how often are known colour losses discussed in detail in exhibition labels? This seminar will present clear evidence for colour loss in watercolours by looking (in the main) at examples of works by artists active in Britain from the later 18th century to the earlier 20th century. The presenter will also discuss the materials most likely to be responsible, examine trends in the use of fugitive artists’ pigments, and suggest how best to find evidence for colour loss or change.
This will be a 55-min presentation with a 15min discussion.
Joyce Townsend ACR was a Conservation Scientist at Glasgow Museums, working in preventive conservation, accelerated ageing and paint studies before she moved to Tate, London to carry out doctoral research. She has been Senior Conservation Scientist at Tate since 1991, working closely with numerous conservator colleagues and carrying out research on the identification and deterioration of artists’ materials, and the interpretation of artists’ techniques, in both oil and watercolour. She also applies microfading and colour measurement to the Tate collection, and in 2022 began a programme of microfading for works by J. M. W. Turner, William Blake, Gabriel Dante Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddall. She is author of How Turner Painted (2019) and co-author of the Tate Watercolour Manual (2014) as well as numerous papers on British artists.
