Thermoluminescence Testing (TL) is an advanced scientific method used to help date ceramics, clay, lava and some bronzes. It measures the accumulation of natural radiation in the item since it was last fired at high temperature, such as when ceramics were originally made or during a volcano eruption. Depending on the conditions, it has a … Continue reading Thermoluminescence Testing in Ancient Artifacts Authentication and Fake Detection
Author: David Cycleback
Spectroscopy in Art and Artifacts Authentication
Atomic physics has identified many famous forgeries
Harold Edgerton, Stroboscopic Photography and the Question of What is Art
(This is a reprint of an art history paper written for London Art College) The item for my last paper is the above original 1959 stroboscopic photograph of Harold Edgerton holding a balloon with a bullet being fired at it. The back has the original information sheet from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I pick the … Continue reading Harold Edgerton, Stroboscopic Photography and the Question of What is Art
Responses versus Answers
To a question, there are two types of responses: An answer and a response. An answer is the correct answer to the question. A response is not the correct answer, but a response or reaction to the question. While perhaps relevant to the question and offering useful information, a response does not answer the question. It … Continue reading Responses versus Answers
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: THE HUMAN MIND IS PRIMARILY ABOUT PRACTICAL FUNCTION NOT IDENTIFYING TRUTHS
While identifying facts and making accurate perceptions are important parts of the human function and survival, the human mind is not entirely about this or perhaps even mostly about this. To survive and function, the human must do other things such as act and guess in ambiguous and mysterious situations. Many of these functions are … Continue reading COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: THE HUMAN MIND IS PRIMARILY ABOUT PRACTICAL FUNCTION NOT IDENTIFYING TRUTHS
Wassily Kandinsky’s Composition VI
Wassily Kandinsky was one of the first artists to make completely abstract paintings. His 1913 oil painting on canvas Composition VI is an example of his non-representational works. Kandinsky is another step in the progression from the previous artists Constable, Renoir and Boccioni. Constable, Renoir and Boccioni used recognizable figures and scenes, but used … Continue reading Wassily Kandinsky’s Composition VI
Umberto Boccioni’s ‘Unique Forms of Continuity in Space’
. Unique Forms of Continuity in Space is a famous large bronze sculpture by Italian futurist artist Umberto Boccioni. Boccioni made the plaster sculpture in 1913, with the bronze examples seen in museums being cast from the plaster sculpture or from other bronze castings. The work is a part of the short lived … Continue reading Umberto Boccioni’s ‘Unique Forms of Continuity in Space’
Renoir’s ‘Le Moulin de la Galette,’ and Impressionism Theory and Techniques
The 1876 4’4” by 5’9” oil on canvas ‘Le Moulin de la Galette’ is one of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s most popular and impressive paintings, and a fine example of his early impressionist era. It demonstrates many of the aims, qualities and techniques of impressionist painting. Though regularly portraying beautiful and happy scenes (Renoir famously said “Why … Continue reading Renoir’s ‘Le Moulin de la Galette,’ and Impressionism Theory and Techniques
John Constable’s The Hay Wain (1821)
The 1812 over four by six foot oil painting on canvas ‘The Hay Wain’ is one of the English artist John Constable’s works that greatly influenced the French Romantic and later impressionist movements, and helped, with J. W. M. Turner’s works, usher in landscapes as a worthy subject matter. Constable and his art are dichotomous … Continue reading John Constable’s The Hay Wain (1821)
Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes
Caravaggio’s circa 1598-9 145 cm × 195 centimeters oil painting on canvas ‘Judith and Holofernes’ is one of the early examples of his dramatic and visceral religious paintings that helped usher in the Baroque period. The painting is Caravaggio’s interpretation of the Biblical story about how the widow Judith saved her people, the Israelites, by … Continue reading Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes
Looking at Artifacts and Ideas 