Lasers Detect Aging Art | Check This Out!

A bright yellow pigment favored a century ago by Impressionists such as Matisse and Van Gogh is losing its luster. One day, art conservators could be able to detect the first tiny signs of the pigment’s decay before they’re visible to the eye and take earlier steps to make the color last, thanks to imaging techniques developed by Duke researchers.
"Non-destructive three-dimensional imaging of artificially degraded CdS paints by pump-probe microscopy", Yue Zhou et al 2024 J. Phys. Photonics 6 025013
Art credit:
Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Hot Rhythm, 1961. Oil on canvas, 39 7/8 × 48 1/4 × 7/8 inches (101.3 × 122.6 × 2.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Mara Motley, M.D., and Valerie Gerrard Browne in honor of Professor Richard J. Powell and C.T. Woods-Powell and in memory of Archie Motley; 2016.24.1. © Nasher Museum.
Bob Thompson, Untitled (Aurora Leaving Cephalus), 1964. Oil on canvas, 13.5 x 17.75 inches (30.5 x 40.6 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Paula Cooper, in memory of Raymond D. Nasher; 2001.7.2.
Renzo Ortega, El Nacimiento del Maiz (The Birth of Corn), 2019. Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 30 inches (121.96 x 76.2 cm) each panel. Collection of Carmen Castanet Betts and Michael A. Betts, II.
Special thanks to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 Established in 1924 in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University is one of the world’s leading institutions for education, research, and patient care.
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