Aging and Conservation of Red Lake Pigments in 19th-Century Oil Paintings

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Color ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (11) : 52-55.

Ouyang Jingyi

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Abstract

This paper systematically sorts out the evolution, chemical compositions, preparation processes, and aging mechanisms of common red lake pigments in 19th-century oil paintings. By enumerating multiple oil paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, it confirms the inevitability of the aging of red lake pigments in the 19th century and its rewriting of the authenticity of the works' colors. Studying the degradation of red lake pigments can not only correct the misinterpretations of some Impressionist works by later scholars but also uphold the original appearance of artworks and historical truth.

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19th-Century Oil Paintings / Red Lake Pigments / Aging and Protection

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Ouyang Jingyi. Aging and Conservation of Red Lake Pigments in 19th-Century Oil Paintings[J]. Color. 2025, 43(11): 52-55

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