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 X-ray
Early October 2004 three X-rays of "Cottage with sticks" are made.
Two of them of the painted picture, (with different X-ray intensity) and
one of the entire painting including the frame.
Because I can't scan X-rays myself I left one of them with mr. Van 't Riet,
who sent me the digitized picture afterwards. This is the only X-ray I can
show here. (The other two are practically identical hence of less use).
From a first analysis of the X-rays three items seem to be of interest:
1. The thickness
2. The canvas structure
3. An underlying composition?
1. The thickness
Before making the first X-ray the radiation intensity, needed
for a proper picture, was measured. It appeared to be a huge amount, comparable
with that needed for the penetration of 0.2 mm of lead.
In other words: the painting could hardly be penetrated by the X-ray radiation.
This aspect can be seen clearly on the X-ray of the painting which also shows
the wooden frame. The frame, with a thickness of approx. 5 cm of wood, is
entirely black (overexposure) while the painted part is clearly visible with
a fair amount of contrast.
The total thickness of the painting is approx. 5.5 mm, the main part taken by
the supporting carrier. This supporting carrier, approx. 5 mm thick, is made of
some sort of cardboard and this material can be penetrated easily by X-ray radiation.
Therefore the weakening can only be caused by the layer of paint.
The most plausible explanation is the use of leadwhite, an often used type
of paint which contains lead.
As leadwhite still isn't pure lead the layer of leadwhite must have a thickness
of at least 0.2 mm.
The (probable) presence of leadwhite is not a reason to not attribute the
painting to Van Gogh. In known works from as well before as after his Drenthe
period leadwhite is found.
Also the presence of leadwhite is not a pro argument either, as leadwhite
was an often used material those days.
2. The canvas structure
The, for me, most surprising outcome was the presence of a canvas
structure. With the painting still in its frame it was impossible
to identify the material of the carrier (not the supporting carrier).
In the picture below, a cut-out of the X-ray, the canvas structure
can be clearly seen.
The presence of a canvas structure doesn't mean that the carrier material
is canvas. At the end of the nineteenth century there was also paper with
a canvas structure available.
There was only one possibility to find out, the painting had to be removed
from its frame. This action provided so much information that I'm going
to create a separate section "Carrier".
3. An underlying composition?
In broad terms the X-ray matches the visible composition of "Cottage
with sticks".
There's a clear contrast between the sky on the one hand and the hut and
the soil on the other. This contrast is not caused by the color of
the paint but by the type of paint. Also the thickness of the painted
layer is of influence.
With the naked eye it can be clearly seen that the paint of the sky is applied
very thick, this matches Van Gogh's style. ( See ....)
What draws the attention is that it looks like a previous composition is present.
A composition of the same hut but viewed at its back and a bit sideways, not from
the front. This is caused by the dark triangle shaped spot which appears to
be the back of the hut. The curved line which forms the right side of the triangle
can't be found anywhere in the painting itself, its presence being a contradiction.
To obtain certainty about this previous composition a CT-scan would be needed which
makes the separate layers of paint visible layer by layer.
Suppose a previous composition is present, would this composition still fit what we
know about the composition of "The first study"?
As described in the section "Composition" Van Gogh referred to the painting "Evening" by
J. Dupré. Let us put this painting next to the X-ray.
Further comments about this seem superfluous to me.
Also the possibly presence of a previous composition is not a reason to
not attribute the work to Van Gogh. From X-rays we know that changing first
compositions is something he did more often.
There's probably more information to be found from the X-rays. This
will take a fair amount of study though. The results will follow.
Cottage with sticks & Vincent van Gogh - by Carl & Ans 2003-2005.
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X-ray setup
(click for enlargement)
Whether there existed other types of paint which
contained heavy metals is something I don't know.
I haven't investigated this (yet).
X-ray
(click for enlargement)
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