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Picasso: The Artist's Studio

Understanding Picasso Through Conservation (UPTC)

Methods of Scientific Examination


Infrared reflectography

Infrared reflectography, or IR, was first used in the 1960s as a method of studying aspects of a painting underneath the visible surface. Conservators discovered that when paintings are exposed to electromagnetic waves in the infrared band of the spectrum-which are slightly longer than those of visible light-some waves pass through the upper surface, while others are absorbed and reflected off the underlying layers. Special infrared-sensitive cameras allow us to see differences in the absorption of infrared light upon the underlying layers, thereby revealing the initial stages of a composition. Infrared reflectography is especially valuable for studying underdrawing, or the initial laying out of a composition with charcoal or graphite. For a more detailed infrared image, conservators can digitally capture small portions of a painting at a time. Several methods can then be used to assemble infrared images into a composite view called an infrared reflectogram.
Pablo Picasso’s La Vie seen through infrared-reflectography
Pablo Picasso’s La Vie seen through infrared-reflectography
<I>La Vie (Life)</I>, 1903<BR>Oil on canvas <BR>The Cleveland Museum of Art. Gift of the Hanna Fund 1945.24 <BR>[Cat. no. 5] <BR>©2001 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
La Vie (Life), 1903
Oil on canvas
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Gift of the Hanna Fund 1945.24
[Cat. no. 5]
©2001 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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