Pollock Positive?
March 2007
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.—The results are in concerning the analyses of paintings discovered inFor more Information www.artmuseums.harvard.edu |
During the study (from September 2006 to December 2006), it was determined that while two of the boards used were consistent with pre-1955 materials, several pigments, as well as materials used in each painting were not available prior to 1950 (the paintings are thought to have been created from 1946 to 1949 using Robi paints, possibly referring to Herbert’s brother-in-law, Robi Rebetez from Switzerland). Some of the pigments tested were not available until after Pollock’s death in 1956, while yet others were not available until after Herbert Matter’s death in 1984. “In ‘No. 9,’ the black pigment was not available until 1962,” Khandekar explains. “So, you would have to also subtract everything placed on top of that pigment.” Test results on the brown pigment used in “No. 29,” which was severely damaged prior to testing, showed the paint is a Ciba-Geigy pigment that wasn’t used as an artist’s paint until 1996.
Alex Matter, in a release on www.pollockexhibit.com, says that the paintings were so heavily restored that the test results of some pigments should not be included. He cites independent experts that question the project, explaining “varnish could have contaminated test results.” Khandekar says his research team considered all this. “We interviewed the restorer and took into account what he used,” he says. “We are absolutely sure that what we were looking at was part of the original painting. The varnish has no effect on pigment analysis.”
Pollock and Lee Krasner expert Ellen Landau, a professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland who labeled the works as authentic in 2005, claims there are several problems with Harvard’s tests. “Connoisseurship is still very important. Science can be helpful, but—in this case—anachronistic pigment doesn’t make sense, with everything else that is known,” she says, adding that “all research avenues should be explored.” She also explains on the Web site out that an expert has verified that Herbert Matter’s handwriting was on the wrapper containing the paintings when found, saying that analyses that dates the pigments used to a timeframe after he died are problematic. She also postulates that some materials used could have been from Basel and not patented in the United States at the time of the paintings’ creation. “We used a very well-categorized database,” Khandekar says. “It seems Landau wants to dismiss the physical evidence in favor of scholarship and art history.” Echoing Landau’s sentiment, he says “all the evidence should be included and considered.”
Eugene Thaw, a former art dealer and president emeritus of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, said in 2005 it was his opinion the works were not from Pollock’s hand. Landau, herself a former member of the now-disbanded Pollock-Krasner Authentication Board, will curate the upcoming “Pollock Matters” exhibition of these works at the Everson Museum Art (June 16–Sept. 2) in Syracuse, New York, and the McMullen Museum at Boston College (Sept. 1–Dec. 9).
American art historian and critic Barbara Rose says that while she doesn’t think there was any intent to deceive, from the discovery of these works she had not attributed them to Pollock. “For one thing, they did not have Pollock’s rhythms,” Rose says. “The most logical explanation is that these works are by Mr. Matter’s mother, the talented painter Mercedes Carles, who worked in the style of other artists beginning with [Arshile] Gorky.”
When asked if it was paramount that these works be substantiated as Pollock’s, Matter responds “Of course I would love for them to be Pollock’s. They have already been the catalyst for important research that explores the extraordinary relationship between Jackson Pollock and my father. The research has also revealed how they influenced each other, and my parents’ role in American art history.”
On January 31, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston announced it will conduct research on four of the paintings in Matter’s possession. As for Khandekar, he says the Strauss Center is finished with this endeavor. “This project is over for us,” he says.