"The material-technical examination of the work on paper depicting a chrysanthemum and signed “P. MONDRiAAN" from a private collection (UK) was conducted collaboratively by heritage experts specialized in investigating paintings and master drawings, ensuring a thorough and interdisciplinary analysis. The research was performed within the context of the BBC program Fake or Fortune. A possible addition to the oeuvre of Piet Mondrian will be considered by the RKD based on stylistic, archival and technical information collected by a team of researchers of the BBC, RKD, Courtauld Institute and Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).
The aim of the study performed by the RCE was to gather information on the materials and techniques of the Chrysanthemum under investigation and compare this with the results of the technical study of five reference works in the collection of Kunstmuseum Den Haag (RCE reports 2024-007). The following issues were addressed: paper support, applied media, drawing sequence/stratigraphy, signature, and pigments in the watercolours and coloured crayons/pencils.
The work on paper depicting a Chrysanthemum was investigated with technical imaging (VIS, IR, UV, transmission, raking light) to determine the media and techniques used to create the object. In addition, the signature was subjected to a detailed examination.
Raman spectroscopy was applied to gather more information on the composition of the pigments, integrating the results of the XRF spectroscopy and MA-XRF scanning carried out at the Courtauld Institute of Art.
The work was executed on artist paper from a bound sketchbook. The initial sketch was carried out in black natural or fabricated chalk and charcoal. In the second phase, it was reworked in colour and signed. Reconstructing the first sketch is almost impossible due to the displacement of charcoal particles by subsequent application of watercolour and the prominent presence of black and brown pencils/crayons and black watercolour on top of the initial sketch.
While all chosen materials – paper, charcoal, natural or fabricated black chalk, coloured pencils/crayons and watercolour – fit into the general range of materials available to artists in the late 19th and first half of the 20th century, the present pigments allow for more accurate dating. Anatase, present in all white paints, was used from the early 1920s, as was pigment green B (PG8), found in both the watercolour and blue crayon/pencil in the leaves. The pigment that provides the latest terminus post quem is copper phthalocyanine green (PG7). It came into use in 1939 and was found in the watercolours of the green leaves. The signature in brown coloured pencil or crayon seems to be applied in the second phase.
It can thus be concluded that the coloured version and the signature were most likely applied after 1939, while the paper and the first sketch might date from an earlier period. Art historical investigation and provenance research can shed further light on the origins of this work of art on paper and should complement this technical examination of the materials."
Institute: Private collection, UK
Artist: Unknown – signed “P. Mondriaan”
Given title: Chrysanthemum
Date: unknown, late 19th or 20th century
Location: Private collection, UK
Measures: 34,7 x 25,8 cm
Object type / Materials: paper, coloured pencils or crayons, watercolour
Provenance: unknown
