Sleuthing through the art world at university exhibit


An exhibit about the investigations of art detectives will provide hands-on experiences for Cal Lutheran University chemistry students and the public.

Presented in partnership with Cal Lutheran’s chemistry department, “Traces: Revealing Secrets in Art and History” will run through Feb. 21 in the William Rolland Gallery of Art in William Rolland Stadium on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Katherine Hoffmann, the John Stauffer Professor of Analytical Chemistry, worked with university curator Rachel T. Schmid to put together the exhibit.

Scientific techniques can uncover forgeries, predict aging, attribute work to a specific artist, preserve ailing pieces and restore works closer to their original states.

“Traces” offers an inside look at the methods used by art detectives to reveal the secrets of artwork, including X-rays, infrared light and solvents that remove varnish.

Visitors can compare before and after images, try to identify what has been altered in a work and use ultraviolet light to detect changes.

The display will be a focal point for a new class on chemical investigations of art that Hoffmann and Robert Dion, an adjunct professor of chemistry, will teach starting in January.

The class will cover conservation, restoration, detecting fraud and the instruments that enable people to explore the layers of chemical information in paintings, mosaics, sculptures and other works.

“This type of work is the foundation of, for example, the Getty Research Institute and the Fine Art Conservation Laboratories in Santa Barbara and is a wonderful career option for chemists with a love for art,” Hoffmann said.

The class will meet several times in the Rolland Gallery for active-learning projects to immerse the students in the application of this kind of chemistry.

After the exhibit closes, students will take part in hands-on activities to learn how scientists clean artwork and choose instruments for investigations, research case studies such as the “Blue Boy” restoration at the Huntington Art Gallery and take a field trip to the Getty Research Institute.

Admission to the exhibit is free. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

For information, call Schmid at ( 805) 493- 3697, email rollandgallery@callutheran.edu or visit rollandgallery.callutheran.edu.