Return-path: [log in to unmask] Received: from imo-d04.mx.aol.com (imo-d04.mx.aol.com [205.188.157.36]) by iris.services.ou.edu (Sun Internet Mail Server sims.4.0.1999.06.13.00.20) with ESMTP id <[log in to unmask]> for hurs9936@sims-ms-daemon (ORCPT rfc822;[log in to unmask]); Fri, 25 Feb 2000 12:22:33 -0600 (CST) Received: from [log in to unmask] by imo-d04.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v25.3.) id 2.64.9bff5d (4235) for <[log in to unmask]>; Fri, 25 Feb 2000 13:22:28 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 13:22:27 -0500 (EST) From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Help for the art layperson To: [log in to unmask] Message-id: <[log in to unmask]> MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: AOL 3.0.1 for Mac sub 84 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 Determining the binding medium (acrylic etc.) by just looking at the artwork is very difficult even for an experienced person and often leads to wrong interpretations. I have worked for 26 years as conservation scientist and while I sometimes hazard a guess I would never state my assumptions as a fact without backing it up with an analysis. Appearances can be very deceiving since the final appearance of an artwork depends on factors such as the substrate, the composition of the ground and how the artist has manipulated the paint. For example many modern Japanese oil paintings (western style) look like tempera or glue based paintings because many Japanese painters extract some of the oil from the paint before using it, moving it from fat to lean. If it is really important for you to know the medium then you should seek the funding to have analyses done (there are some simple micro-chemical tests too, that a lay person could learn). I hope this answers your question. Frank D. Preusser Frank Preusser & Associates, Inc. 6434 Pat Avenue West Hills, CA 91307 818-348-0481 Fax: 818-348-1764 [log in to unmask]