title: The Colors of Keith Haring: A Spectroscopic Study on the Materials of the Mural Painting Tuttomondo and on Reference Contemporary Outdoor Paints.
abstract: To date, little attention has been given to the scientific investigation of modern and contemporary mural paintings. This paper reports on: (1) the in situ spectroscopic analyses of the mural Tuttomondo (1989) painted by Keith Haring (1958-1990) in Pisa (Italy); and (2) the laboratory characterization of acrylic paints produced by Caparol Italy GmbH & Co., the original supplier of paint materials to the artist for the mural. Ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis), and near-infrared (NIR) fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) measurements were carried out in situ. The Caparol paint samples were characterized using benchtop instrumentation including both dispersive and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR; with sample pre-treatment to remove filler interference in the fingerprint region), and UV-Vis-NIR FORS. This combined analytical approach confirmed that the materials used by Haring for the mural Tuttomondo have the same composition of the new Caparol acrylic paints, except for the case of the yellow pigment. This information offers valuable documentation for the materials history and for the conservation of a mural painting that is considered the last great public work by Haring.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara" del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy c.cucci@ifac.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Costanza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cucci
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara" del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bartolozzi
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara" del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Vita
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara" del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marchiafava
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara" del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picollo
authors.affiliation: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casadio
keywords: Acrylic paints; FORS; FT-IR spectroscopy; Fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy; Fourier transform infrared; Keith Haring; Raman spectroscopy; Tuttomondo mural painting; UV-Vis-NIR; Ultraviolet--visible near-infrared spectroscopy