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Suzanne Quillen Lomax
Suzanne Quillen Lomax received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1984 from the University of Maryland, working with Patrick Mariano to explore the photochemistry of imonium salts. She then went to Northwestern University, where she performed postdoctoral research with Frederick Lewis, examining intermolecular photoaddition reactions. Dr. Lomax has been in the Scientific Research Department of the National Gallery of Art since 1986, investigating the identification and aging behavior of artists’ materials. She has been a tour speaker for the American Chemical Society Speaker Service since 1991. Her areas of interest include the identification of synthetic organic pigments and modern paint binders. In addition, she has performed extensive analyses on traditional 15th and 16th century artists’ paint binders.
"The Application of Chemistry to the Examination of Works of Art"
Chemists, physicists, and material scientists have been associated with museum conservation laboratories for many years. Scientists can make valuable contributions in the preservation and restoration of art objects. At present, about a dozen museums in the United States have conservation science departments.
Art conservators frequently require specific information about the component materials of a painting or object prior to treatment. Additionally, curators may have art historical questions about a work of art. Due to their complex stratification, most questions that arise concern the nature of the components of paintings. Microscopic cross-sections of a painting are frequently taken and viewed with a polarizing light microscope to understand the different layers that make up the object. These cross-sections can also be examined by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM/EDS). Pigment identification is frequently employed to determine if the pigments are in keeping with the time period of the object, as well as to understand the artist's materials and methods. They are performed using polarized light microscopy and x-ray diffraction (XRD) of powdered samples, or x-ray fluorescence (XRF), which is well suited to this task due to its noninvasive nature.
To study the identity of binding media and other organic components of works of art, the conservation scientist uses gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and infrared spectroscopy. GC-MS is used to identify oil- and protein-containing binders, as well as for the identification of waxes and various low molecular weight resins. HPLC can be used to identify organic dyes. Identification of higher molecular weight binders such as alkyds and acrylics is normally done with pyrolysis gas chromatography.
The talk will focus on the application of these various techniques to the examination of paintings and sculpture. Examples will be presented from the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
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