Detecting recent forgeries of Impressionist and Pointillist paintings with high-precision radiocarbon dating

We report on the capacity of AMS radiocarbon dating to play a decisive role in fighting against the illicit trade in art. In the framework of a current police investigation, where previously unseen paintings were discovered in a restorer’s workshop by the French Central Office for the Fight against...

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Published inForensic science international Vol. 333; p. 111214
Main Authors Beck, Lucile, Caffy, Ingrid, Mussard, Solène, Delqué-Količ, Emmanuelle, Moreau, Christophe, Sieudat, Marc, Dumoulin, Jean-Pascal, Perron, Marion, Thellier, Bruno, Hain, Stéphane, Foy, Eddy, Moulherat, Christophe, OCBC
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ireland Elsevier B.V 01.04.2022
Elsevier Limited
Elsevier
Subjects
Analytical chemistry
Art forgeries
Artists
Authenticity
Calendars
Calibration
Carbon dating
Carbon dioxide
Continental interfaces, environment
Criminal investigations
Cultural property
Dating
Fibers
Forensic sciences
Forensics
Ocean, Atmosphere
Police
Radiocarbon (14C) dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiometric dating
Sciences of the Universe
Software
Zinc oxides
France
United States > US
Art forgeries
Forensics
Radiocarbon (14C) dating
Painting
Radiocarbon (C) dating
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Summary:We report on the capacity of AMS radiocarbon dating to play a decisive role in fighting against the illicit trade in art. In the framework of a current police investigation, where previously unseen paintings were discovered in a restorer’s workshop by the French Central Office for the Fight against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC), we demonstrated that two paintings alleged to be by Impressionist and Pointillist artists had in fact been painted recently. Our results were based on the excess of 14C derived from atmospheric nuclear tests detected in the fibers used to make the canvas. By combining AMS 14C absolute dating and the fine precision of the post-bomb atmospheric calibration curve, we established a clear chronological context for the production of these forgeries. 14C content of the fibers revealed that the canvases were manufactured in 1956–1957 or, more likely, after 2000. As a result, absolute dating proves unambiguously that the Impressionist and Pointillist paintings are forgeries since they were not painted at the beginning of the 20th century by the alleged artists, who died in the 1940s
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ISSN:0379-0738
1872-6283
DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111214