A pioneer of acrylic painting: new insights into Carmen Herrera's studio practice

Abstract

Carmen Herrera, born on May 30th, 1915, is a Cuban American abstract minimalist artist, whose first solo show was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 2016-2017. On this occasion, a scientific study of five paintings from the artist's time in Paris (1948-1953) revealed her pioneering use of solvent-based acrylic paints in post-war Europe. This article presents a second phase of research into Herrera's work aiming to shed light on her studio practice and ascertain the possible presence of other early acrylic paints in her pre-1963 artistic production. A selection of four paintings, namely Iberia #25 (1948), Iberic (1949), Flights of Colors #16 (1949), and Early Dynasty (1953), was subjected to an analytical campaign that relied on both non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques. Results confirmed the use of both oil and solvent-based acrylic paints, supporting our primary research and uncovering the first-known occurrence of acrylic binders in Herrera's Iberia #25. In all cases, the ground layer consists of a mixture of titanium white in its tetragonal form of rutile, anhydrite, and talc, while the color palette was found to be based on both traditional and modern pigments. In most areas, several paint layers appeared to be overlaid on top of one another, revealing a creative process that developed through subsequent compositions. Remnants of earlier paint layers, which appeared to have been scraped off before new ones were applied, were observed directly above the ground in some of the samples examined. In addition, Iberia #25 and Iberic, with analogous geometric and chromatic schemes, underwent technical imaging, which exposed pencil lines and notes underneath the paint layers likely indicative of the intended design and polychromy. Besides corroborating a major alteration in the current scholarship on the availability and use of acrylic-based artists' paints in post-war Europe, this research provides new insights into Herrera's materials, techniques, and studio practice. In addition, the results of this scientific study assisted the development of a suitable treatment plan for Iberic in preparation for its display in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's galleries as part of the museum's 150th anniversary exhibition Making The Met, 1870-2020.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40494-021-00603-3.

Keywords: Abstract art; Acrylics; Binding media; Carmen Herrera; Contemporary art; Latin American art; Painting; Studio practice.

Fig. 1

From left to right: Iberia #25 (1948), catalogued as acrylic on burlap (46 × 54.5 cm; 18 1/8 × 21 ½ inches), private collection, New York; Iberic (1949), catalogued as acrylic and oil on canvas glued to pebble board (diameter 101.6 cm; 40 inches), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Flights of Colors #16 (1949), catalogued as acrylic on canvas (73 × 106.5 cm; 28 5/8 × 41 7/8 inches), private collection, New York; and Early Dynasty (1953), catalogued as acrylic on canvas (121.9 × 121.9 cm; 48 × 48 inches), private collection, New York

Fig. 2

From left to right: IR reflectogram, UV photograph, and X-radiograph of Iberia #25 (1948). Arrows indicate compositional changes and varying paint opacities discussed in the text

Fig. 3

Elemental distribution maps of Iberia #25 (1948) obtained by MA-XRF: Cd Kα, Se Kα, Fe Kα, Pb Lα, Zn Kα, Ca Kα, Ba Lα, and composite Ba Lα (blue) and Ti Kα (red). The painting is also shown at bottom right for comparison. Arrows indicate compositional changes discussed in the text

Fig. 4

Data collected from the ground layer of cross section S6 from Iberia #25 (1948). Top left, Raman spectrum, displaying the distinctive bands of rutile at 143, 447, 608 cm⁻¹ and of anhydrite at 416, 498, 608, 626, 675, 1018, 1130 cm⁻¹. Broad features at ca. 1227, 1312, 1395, 1608, 1691 cm⁻¹ are attributed to the luminescence emission of Nd³⁺ of composite titanium dioxide pigments produced by co-precipitation with BaSO₄ or CaSO₄. Top right, EDS spectrum collected from an area in the left portion of S6, along with the corresponding BSE image showing the typical sheet structure of talc. Bottom, EDS elemental maps of Ti Kα, Ca Kα, S Kα, Mg Kα, and Si Kα, acquired from the central portion of S6

Fig. 5

Left, polarized light and UV light microphotographs of cross section S3 from Iberia #25 (1948), with BSE image of a portion of the sample indicated by a yellow rectangle. Right, EDS elemental maps of Cd Lα, K Kα, Fe Kα, Ca Kα, Al Kα, P Kα, Sn Lα, Mg Kα, and Co Kα

Fig. 6

Left, polarized light and UV light microphotographs of cross section S6 from Iberia #25 (1948), with BSE image of a portion of the sample indicated by a yellow rectangle. Right, EDS elemental maps of Cd Lα, Se Kα, S Kα, K Kα, Al Kα, P Kα, Ba Lα, Mg Kα, and Fe Kα

Fig. 7

Left, SERS spectra of a a purpurin lake synthesized in the laboratory, b sample S6 from Iberia #25 (1948), and c sample S2 from Flights of Colors #16 (1949), all acquired upon HF hydrolysis, displaying characteristic bands at ca. 652, 966, 1061, 1162, 1286, 1325, 1416, 1440, 1583, and 1624 cm⁻¹. Right, EDS spectrum of the purpurin lake in sample S6 from Iberia #25 (1948), exhibiting intense Al, P, and S peaks

Fig. 8

Left, polarized light and UV light microphotographs of cross section S8 from Iberia #25 (1948), with BSE image of a portion of the sample indicated by a yellow rectangle. Right, EDS elemental maps of Cd Lα, Se Kα, S Kα, Ca Kα, Al Kα, P Kα, Ba Lα, Si Kα, and Ti Kα

Fig. 9

Left, Herrera’s Iberia #25 (1948), with indication of the sampling location for binding media analysis of the black paint. Right, Py-GC/MS chromatograms obtained upon derivatization with TMAH, showing that while S2 is based on oil and Pinaceae resin, S1 also contains n-BMA

Fig. 10

From top left to bottom right: IR reflectogram with detail, UV photograph, and X-radiograph of Iberic (1949)

Fig. 11

Elemental distribution maps of Iberic (1949) obtained by MA-XRF in an area of the painting indicated by a yellow rectangle: Cd Kα, Se Kα, Fe Kα, Ba Kα, Pb Lα, Zn Kα, and Ca Kα. The painting is also shown at left for comparison