Protecting the World's Rarest Colors

Many pigments are relatively common, especially since synthetic variants were developed. However, some pigments are so rare that they need to be preserved under much more advanced conditions and used responsibly. That is the case at the Harvard Art Museums, which houses a pigment collection derived from materials as strange as mummy resin, Brazilian wood sawdust, dead beetles, and cow urine.

If there are two extremely complex processes in the art world, they are restoration and the detection of forgeries. Those responsible must extract as much information as possible from a painting, and the proper identification of colors is a critical aspect. What kind of materials did the original author have at their disposal when creating the painting? Could there be an anachronism, or an unexpected distortion in a color? Of course, any serious study needs at least a basis for comparison, and that is where pigment collections like the one at the Harvard Art Museums come in.

The Forbes Pigment Collection

From a piece of lead in vinegar to dead insects extracted from an oak tree, almost anything can serve as a pigment. The so-called "Forbes Pigment Collection" began thanks to the interest of Edward Forbes, director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University between 1909 and 1944. Today, the collection has more than 2,500 samples, and one of its most striking points is that it is on public display. Anyone passing through the facilities can enjoy a wide series of bottles, boxes, and containers with all kinds of powders, crystals, and liquids from the most exotic and unexpected corners of the globe.

A Forensic Detective's Job

According to Narayan Khandekar, current director of the Strauss Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums and the collection's current curator, his work is on par with that of a forensic detective: both he and his team use Raman spectroscopy, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and electron microscopy to accurately determine what a pigment is made of.

The Rarest Color of All

The rarest color in the collection, according to Khandekar himself, is "Indian yellow", created from the dried urine of cows that feed on mango leaves. Well, maybe that is too rare, but the value of the collection is enormous, as is its usefulness. For example, the collection was decisive in identifying a fake painting attributed to Jackson Pollock that "appeared" in 2007. The key? One of the reds used in the painting had been created twenty years after his death.

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