This volume presents the life work of the late Ruth Johnston-Feller, one of the nation's leading color scientists. It combines an overview of basic theoretical concepts with detailed, hands-on guidance for the professional conservator and conservation scientist. The author focuses on the application of color science to the solution of practical problems, providing a comprehensive discussion of the nondestructive spectrophotometric tools and techniques used to understand the color and appearance of materials during the technical examination of works of art. The book, which features numerous examples of reference reflectance spectra, can help prevent misinterpretation of color measurements and the erroneous conclusions that might result. Topics include spectrophotometry, colorimetry, colorant mixtures, analytical techniques, reflection, fluorescence, and the effects of extenders, fillers, and inerts.

“A curator, a paintings conservator, a photographer, and a conservation scientist walk into a bar.” What happens next? In lively and accessible prose, color science expert Roy S. Berns helps the reader understand complex color-technology concepts and offers solutions to problems that occur when art is displayed, conserved, imaged, or reproduced. Berns writes for two types of audiences: museum professionals seeking explanations for common color-related issues and students in conservation, museum studies, and art history programs. The seven chapters in the book fall naturally into two sections: fundamentals, covering topics such as spectral measurements, metamerism, and color inconstancy; and applications, where artwork display, painting materials, and color reproduction are discussed. A unique feature of this book is the use of more than 200 images as its main medium of communication, employing color physics, color vision, and imaging science to produce visualizations throughout the pages. An annotated bibliography complements the main text with suggestions for further reading and more in-depth study of particular topics. Engaging, incisive, and absolutely critical for any scholar or student interested in color science, Color Science and the Visual Arts is sure to become a key reference for the entire field.

This book offers detailed coverage of color, colorants, the coloring of materials, and reproducing the color of materials through imaging. It combines the clarity and ease of earlier editions with significant updates about the advancement in color theory and technology. Provides guidance for how to use color measurement instrumentation, make a visual assessment, set a visual tolerance, and select a formulation Supplements material with numerical examples, graphs, and illustrations that clarify and explain complex subjects Expands coverage of topics including spatial vision, solid-state lighting, cameras and spectrophotometers, and translucent materials

The next title in the respected Artist’s Materials series offers groundbreaking analysis of Sam Francis’s working methods and materials American artist Sam Francis (1923–1994) brought vivid color and emotional intensity to Abstract Expressionism. He was described as the “most sensuous and sensitive painter of his generation” by former Guggenheim Museum director James Johnson Sweeney, and curator Howard Fox called him “one of the acknowledged masters of late-modern art.” Francis’s works, whether intimate or monumental in scale, make indelible impressions; the intention of the artist was to make them felt as much as seen. At the age of twenty, Francis was hospitalized for spinal tuberculosis and spent three years virtually immobilized in a body cast. For physical therapy he was given a set of watercolors, and, as he described it, he painted his way back to life. The exuberant color and expression in his paintings celebrated his survival; his five-decade career was an energetic visual and theoretical exploration that took him around the world. Francis’s idiosyncratic painting practices have long been the subject of speculation and debate among conservators and art historians. Presented here for the first time in this volume are the results of an in-depth scientific study of more than forty paintings from the late 1940s to early 1990s, which reveal new discoveries about his creative process, inventive techniques, and specially formulated paints and binders. The data provides a key to the complicated evolution of the artist’s work and informs original art historical interpretations.

Colour, Colour Measurement and Colour Change, the first new book in the expanded Science for Conservators series, explains the science of colour, colour measurement and colour change for conservators in a clear and comprehensible way, elucidating the topic for those with no scientific background. The book explains how and why we see colours and how colour and colour change can be measured, as well as clarifying why these would be done in a conservation context. It then examines the ways in which colour can change – such as darkening, yellowing, fading, blanching and patination – illustrating these in different types of cultural heritage materials, including metals, varnishes, plastics, textiles and paints. The final chapter explores how colour change can be reduced in different types of storage and display settings, and, in particular, what can be done to protect against damage by light, damp and pollutants. This book is an invaluable introduction to all aspects of the science of colour in conservation. It is suitable for students in undergraduate and postgraduate conservation programmes, as well as being a useful reference guide for practising conservators.