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Question asked 2023-01-19 17:33:46 ...
Most recent comment 2023-01-26 15:58:18
Oil Paint
In cleaning my studio I found several oil paintings have developed a powdery white substance on the surface. The paintings range in age from two years to three months. I am unsure if it could be mold or an efflorescence due to the location on darker areas made with quinacridone, pthalo and umber. Can efflorescence develop very quickly?Powderypainting.jpeg
Medium is either linseed oil or galkyd and gamsol depending on the piece. The substance easily wipes off, though on the older paintings, it seems to have degraded the surface a bit (surface looks matte and dull). Some of the paintings were stored in a darker space on the floor, some hanging on the wall. None were wrapped. It has been more humid due to lots of rain lately. Other work nearby made with similar materials at similar times shows none of this substance. I have never seen this in more than ten years of painting in this space. I'm wondering if there's a way to narrow down the cause.
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Moderator Answer
(koo schadler)
In egg tempera there is a phenomena known as fatty acid migration in which excess and/or not yet polymerized lipids in the paint film migrate to the surface and create a white fuzz, similar to what's on your painting. It can happen nearly immediately or take years to appear. I have heard a similar efforescence can happen, tho' less commonly, in oil painting - but I'm not an oil expert, I've seen it myself only in egg tempera (my area of expertise). Interestingly, Dr. Joyce Stone (an egg tempera conservator) has commented that fatty acid migration in egg tempera seems to be exacerbated by high humidity, as your paintings experienced. She also thinks it may be supressed by varnishing, which has been my experience. So perhaps if you clean the painting and then varnish it, it would supress the bloom (but if not, then the bloom is under a varnish - more problematic!). I agree with the other commenter: the best course of action would be to take it to a conservator for a diagnosis; if not to repair the painting, at least to understand what happened so it doesn't occur in the future. A consultation with a conservator can be fairly reasonably priced; one option is to search the data base at https://www.culturalheritage.org/about-conservation/find-a-conservator
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Moderator Answer
(gwatson@goldenpaints.com)
We have seen efflorecence develop on a variety of brand's oil colors over a relatively short period of several months to a couple years. It seems to happen, in our experience, most readily when samples are stored tightly together or are stacked without exposure to light. It wipes off very easily. As Koo mentioned, it is thought that a varnish layer will retard or mitigate the issue.
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