FORENSIC ANALYSIS AND CONSERVATION OF FINE ART
Longevity Art Preservation specializes in fine art research and preservation of artworks from all time periods, antiquity to contemporary.
A leader in forensic analysis of paintings and architectural finishes, Longevity offers research services with an in-house and mobile analytical laboratory. Comprehensive technical analysis and historic finish investigation reports can be used toward authentication research, to reveal the appearance of original historic finishes, and to inform conservation treatments.
Watch Longevity Art Preservation at work in
A Peale In Paris: Recovering A National Treasure
Preservation services:
Conservation condition examination, photodocumentation, and reporting
Conservation treatment of paintings, frames, murals, and architectural surfaces
On-site surveys of collections for condition and conservation priorities
Collections consulting and art advisory services
Art Preservation Index® stability assessments and reports
Elemental Fingerprinting for documentation and security
Material and technical analysis of paintings:
Longevity aims to characterize the materials present on a work of art, using scientific analysis techniques, with a focus on their relationship to the artwork and its timeframe of creation.
High-resolution multi-band multi-modal imaging to document the current condition of the painting, identify the location and character of varnish layers, characterize autofluorescent materials, distinguish areas of restoration, and image layers beneath the design layer such as underdrawings, inscriptions, and compositional alterations
Analysis of painting stratigraphy and original techniques of the artist, pigment and binding media identification, and wood and fiber identification
Architectural finishes analysis:
Historic architectural finishes analysis through in situ excavations, sampling, microscopy, material documentation, color matching, and color measurement
Analysis of outdoor sculpture and collection objects:
Paint and finish characterization, metal identification, and analysis of other original and restoration materials
Analytical techniques:
Technical photography using visible, ultraviolet, and infrared radiation, including multispectral imaging
Portable and macro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
Polarized light microscopy
Cross-sectional optical microscopy
Fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy
Color matching and measurement using the
Munsell system and colorimetry
Climate studies and monitoring
Longevity Art Preservation has carried out analysis, treatment, and consulting on works by:
Charles Willson Peale
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Andy Warhol
Gilbert Stuart
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Robert Rauschenberg
Pablo Picasso
Rembrandt van Rijn
Barnett Newman
Victor Vasarely
Willem de Kooning
Wassily Kandinsky
Yayoi Kusama
Damien Hirst
Sam Francis
Salvador Dalí
Frida Kahlo
Diego Rivera
David Alfaro Siqueiros
Claude Monet
Albert Bierstadt
Frank Lloyd Wright
Richard Neutra
and many more
Elemental Fingerprinting
Longevity Art Preservation has developed a product called an Elemental Fingerprint using XRF technology. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) uses X-rays to detect elements that make pigments within paint, metal alloys in sculpture and jewelry, and many more objects. The process creates a unique fingerprint of each collection item that can be used to identify it in the future. This information contributes to provenance, decreases fraud, and impedes the forgery market. The process is non-invasive and can be carried out in situ. The technology is well-established, stable, and widely accepted. The process is also fast and affordable.