SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

An exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago brings together all three versions of Vincent van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles [wikipedia.org] for only the second time since they were painted. One version of the painting is part of the museum's permanent collection, and the other two are on loan from the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Researchers at the Art Institute have also created a digital visualization of what the painting may have looked like [bbc.com] before over 127 years of hue degradation:

The artist painted three versions of this famous scene, using broadly the same colour scheme. But time and light degradation have taken their toll on the pigments. Using a variety of techniques, the researchers have digitally restored the light blue walls and door to their original lilac and purple.

The computer visualisation is part of a major new exhibition at the The Art Institute of Chicago, which brings together all three versions for only the second time since van Gogh produced them. It is hoped visitors to the exhibition will get a deeper sense of the emotions the 19th Century artist was trying to convey in the works.

"Science is vital in identifying the pigments that have faded, but then there is a lot of interpretation that we rely on from conservators and art historians who really know the hand of the artist, and know how to dial that virtual knob more or less," explained Dr Francesca Casadio, Mellon Senior Conservation Scientist at the Chicago institute. "This is just a visualisation of what we think the faded colours looked like, but barring the invention of a time machine it will always still be an approximation." Dr Casadio was speaking here in Washington at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science [aaas.org].

The exhibition is open through May 10, 2016.

Original Submission