Alfred Pellan (1906-1988) was a dominant figure in Canadian painting. His
substantial and varied work is not confined to one genre or medium. To describe
it, one might cite Germain Lefebvre: "The extravagance and fantasy that
suddenly erupt without warning, the need to dream, to elude norms and rules:
that too is Pellan, precisely!"1 [trans.] For Pellan, however,
creativity and experimentation did not necessary mean rejecting technique. To
quote Germain Lefebvre once again: "Pellan professed a deep respect for
the requirements of the artist's craft, for the necessity of techniques and
practices of art"2 [trans.] After all, Pellan himself said,
"I think it would be beneficial if art schools offered chemistry courses.
To some extent, it is the basis of painting to know what one is working with;
it is essential to know the materials."3 [trans.] Hence it was
with great curiosity and enthusiasm that we embarked upon a project with the
purpose of documenting the materials and techniques used to create the
exuberant universe of Pellan.
First, we went to Quebec City in September 1992 to attend a meeting designed
to lay the project's groundwork to set its objectives, and to obtain samples
from the Pellan paintings that belong to the Musée du Québec.
Some of the paintings were at the Centre de conservation du Québec for
treatment; the others awaited us at the museum.
On the whole, sampling proved to be a delicate operation, partly because the
paintings were in excellent condition, and partly because the paint layer was
thin and sometimes hard. In deciding on a sampling strategy, we attempted as
much as possible to take samples of all the colours present, and to take them
from areas that were not easily visible, such as the tacking margins or the
edges of the painting that are ordinarily hidden by the frame's rabbet. If we
had to take samples, even tiny ones, from the visible portion of the image, we
were careful not to disfigure the work. Samples were often obtained from areas
that had already been damaged, for example, where there were losses or cracks.
There were very few damaged areas in Pellan's works. When the work was highly
textured, it was easy to take samples, even in the most visible places. In many
cases, however, the paint layer was very smooth and thin, and we preferred to
limit the number of samples, even when the picture presented a wide range of
colours.
During the trip to Quebec City, we obtained samples from 13 works. We later
took samples from the painting entitled Et le soleil continue, which was
being treated at CCI. Two works on paper were also sampled while they were
being treated at the Centre de conservation du Québec, but we preferred
to restrict our study to paintings, even though Pellan used a wide variety of
media.
In January and April 1993, we visited the Musée d'art contemporain de
Montréal to examine and sample paintings in the collection (see Figure
1), bringing the number of works sampled to 26. Over 250 samples have been
obtained. Most are paint samples, but a few crosssections and samples of
ground, varnish, and canvas fragments are also included.
The study is primarily concerned with the materials used by the artist, such
as the pigments, paint media, and varnishes. From the results obtained thus
far, we can conclude that Pellan's palette was extremely rich and that his need
to experiment was reflected not only in the themes and execution of his works
but also in his choice of pigments. All types of pigments were found:
traditional pigments such as vermilion, yellow ochre, red ochre, ultramarine,
and bone black; 19th-century pigments such as cadmium yellow, cadmium orange,
emerald green, and cobalt violet; and finally a wide variety of organic
pigments developed in the 20th century such as toluidine red, hansa yellows,
and para red.
We also examined certain technical details, such as the preparation of the
canvases, the types of supports used, and the signatures. It is indeed
interesting to know whether the artist preferred one particular type of
support, whether he prepared his own canvases or used commercially prepared
canvases, and whether he mixed his colours. For this type of information, mere
observation does not suffice. We therefore asked Mrs. Pellan to collaborate
with us by sharing her knowledge of Pellan's technique.
The data obtained from the analyses were entered onto a database, which will
serve several purposes: to plan treatments, to respond to possible questions
about attribution, to predict a work's behaviour, and so on. These results have
already made it possible to explain the unusual behaviour of certain paintings,
behaviour which has dictated specific recommendations to the conservator in
charge of treatment with regard to display and storage of works. Such was the
case with the painting entitled Et le soleil continue, which was treated
at CCI: a circle of very thick red paint had cracked, releasing a long trickle
of still-liquid red paint. Infrared spectroscopic analysis revealed that the
red pigment was toluidine red, while analysis by gas chromatography/mass
spectrometry indicated that the paint medium either was a mixture of linseed
oil and poppyseed oil or was safflower oil. The use of a slow-drying oil, such
as poppyseed oil or safflower oil, with a pigment that is also a poor dryer may
explain the poor drying properties of this paint. Consequently, this is a
problem inherent to the work that cannot be corrected by practical means. The
conservator in charge of treatment, Helen McKay, believing that the paint would
continue to drip, made a number of recommendations. These included storing the
picture horizontally to slow any dripping, and, if the painting must be
displayed, placing it in a horizontal or quasi-horizontal position. As a
result, this work was shown on a slight incline in a display case at the
exhibition that was held last year in Montreal.
While the primary purpose of analyzing the samples taken from Pellan's
paintings was to collect data on the artist's materials and techniques, the
analysis also enabled us to discover some very interesting details about the
composition of a few pigments, such as, for example, the presence of
byproducts. Furthermore, the challenge posed by this project afforded us an
opportunity to test and refine our work methods. This project, which should be
completed by the end of 1996, has yielded much more than we had hoped.
The exhibition entitled Alfred Pellan: A Retrospective was presented in
London, Ontario, from May 7 to July 3,1994, and will move to Winnipeg,
Manitoba, from February 25 to April 30, 1995.
Notes
- Lefebvre, Germain, "L'art est une fête," in Alfred
Pellan (Quebec City: Musée du Québec, 1993), p. 17.
- Ibid.
- Comments quoted by Germain Lefebvre in Pellan : sa vie, son art, son
temps (LaPrairie: Éditions Marcel Broquet, 1986), p. 203.
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