Paintings conservator Rebecca Hellen and conservation scientist Joyce Townsend will examine and interpret published, unpublished and documentary sources on the artist’s choice of materials, methods of painting, and other relevant information on the practice of his art, with assistance and sharing of information from the authors of the Sargent catalogue raisonné. A range of paintings from Tate’s collection will undergo technical examination and scientific analysis and comparisons made with key works from the collections of international institutional partners. In addition, paints and palettes recently loaned to the project team, which once belonged to and were used by the artist, will form part of the study focusing on his materials.
By reviewing existing documented observations and analyses together with the new information from the technical studies, the project team will publish the first comprehensive study of Sargent’s methods and techniques in oil throughout his career. The findings will lead to a range of publications, including a paper of 10,000 words, with accompanying illustrations and tabulated information for the final volume of the Sargent catalogue raisonné, to be published by Yale University Press in 2017.