infocus #1 March 2006 Forensics and Microscopy in Authenticating Works of Art

in Authenticating Works of Art

DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.3

Fingerprints have been used around the world for identifying individuals since 1908. The availability of such evidence on works of art has been overlooked until the authentication of a Turner canvas in 1985. Since that case, a new methodology has been developed and the new discipline of forensic authentication was born. More recently, the concept of fingerprinting encompasses not only the marks left behind by our fingers but also the materials and working methods, widening the available ways to identify an artist. This innovative forensic approach has helped resolve equivocation and identify numerous important works of art as well as opening up a new field of research in art.

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Author

Peter Paul Biro

Forensic Studies in Art

In 1984, art conservator Peter Paul Biro was first to take advantage of human contact marks on a painting for identification, when he was successful in authenticating a J.M.W. Turner canvas having matched fingerprints left on it by the artist. The case, the first of its kind, brought him worldwide acclaim. Since then, Paul has specialised in solving some of the most challenging authentication cases, while building the first ever database of artist’s fingerprints. His methods have been requested by the FBI and various universities. He has performed forensic examinations of paintings in museums and collections around the world. Paul has published in journals including Mankind Quarterly and Antiquity. Under preparation is a first ever manual on forensic examination of works art. He is presently completing his cataloging of J.M.W. Turner’s fingerprints in the Turner Bequest, Tate Britain, London. Paul has given talks at Harvard University, the University of Toronto, and more recently for The American Appraisers Association in New York, and the Royal Microscopical Society. He has given interviews for major newspapers; including The Guardian, The Observer, L.A. Times, The Age (Australia), Globe and Mail, (Canada). He has appeared on prime time television, discussing his work on the BBC, CNN, CBC, and NBC. Paul’s discoveries are the focus of a soon to be released feature length documentary produced by New Line Cinema and Harry Moses (long time Producer of CBS 60 Minutes) entitled 'Finding Jackson Pollock'. Most recently, Paul has joined forces with the Pigmentum Project, Oxford University, bringing about the convergence of scientific and forensic methodologies in authentication, while unifying currently disjointed disciplines.