Technical Art examination of Picasso has been more numerous than other 20th century painters. There are reliable resources on the internet from renowned institutions, such as the Art Institute Chicago [1], MoMA [2] and V&A [3]. Other information on the painting materials Picasso used throughout his life are found in scientific journals [4-7] and conservation publications [8, 9].
Online References
[1] Art Institute Chicago “Revealing Picasso Conservation Project”. A nice introductory-level technical examination of the “Old guitarist”.
[2] MoMA “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon Conserving a modern masterpiece”. Imaging and pigments analysis.
[3] Fotini Koussiaki “My Picture Is A Sum Of Destructions, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)” Victoria and Albert Museum, Conservation Journal, Spring 2000 Issue 34. Stylistic and palette information.
References
[4] F. Casadio, A. Bezúr, I. Fiedler, K. Muir, T. Trad, S. Maccagnola “Pablo Picasso to Jasper Johns: a Raman study of cobalt-based synthetic inorganic pigments” J. Raman Spectrosc. 2012, 43, 1761 – 1771.
[5] F. Cappitelli, F. Koussiaki “THM-GCMS and FTIR for the investigation of paints in Picasso’s Still Life, Weeping Woman and Nude Woman in a Red Armchair from the Tate Collection, London” J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 75 (2006) 200–204.
[6] J. Delaney, J. G. Zeibel, M. Thoury, R. Littleton, M. Palmer, K. M. Morales, E. Rene De La Rie, A. Hoenigswald “Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy of Picasso’s Harlequin Musician: Mapping and Identification of Artist Materials in Situ” Applied Spectroscopy, V.64, 6, pp 584-594, 2010.
[7] F. Casadio, V. Rose “High-resolution fluorescence mapping of impurities in historical zinc oxide pigments: hard X-ray nanoprobe applications to the paints of Pablo Picasso” Applied Physics A, published online: 24 January 2013.
[8] Delbourgo, S. “Etude de la Matière Picturale de Pablo Picasso”. Ottawa: Comité pour la conservation de l’ICOM 6éme Réunion triennale, 1981.
[9] A. Hoenigswald “Works in Progress: Pablo Picasso’s hidden images” in Picasso, the Early Years: 1892-1906 , ed. Marilyn McCully, Washington, D. C.: National Gallery of Art; 1997.
