3:33 p.m., Aug. 21, 2009----I am spending my summer working at the Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion, Pa., under the supervision of paintings conservator Barbara Buckley. The Barnes has one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings. These paintings are on permanent display in the galleries in accordance with the unique vision of Dr. Albert C. Barnes. A medical doctor, inventor and art collector, he established the Barnes Foundation in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts.”

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My summer project is an investigation into the artist's materials and techniques used by the Jewish Expressionist painter Chaim Soutine. Soutine was primarily active in Paris from 1913-38. He is well known for his graphic depictions of flayed animal carcasses, awkwardly staged portraits and expressive landscapes. Dr. Barnes is credited as having discovered Soutine's work in the window of a Parisian gallery in 1923. Barnes enthusiastically purchased over 50 of the artist's paintings on the spot and became an advocate of his work in America. Barnes' enthusiasm helped establish Soutine's success as an artist, which makes the foundation's collection of Soutine paintings particularly significant.

This is an exciting project for me as well as for the Barnes Foundation. Because the Barnes has one of the largest holdings of works by Soutine in the world (21 total), they get a lot of inquiries about the history of the paintings and the paintings themselves. My research will help establish a better understanding of Soutine's working methods and the types of materials he was using. I am looking at everything from the stretcher and the canvas support, to the ways in which the paint was applied. I have been using a stereobinocular microscope and infrared photography to aid in my examination. So far, my most exciting discoveries have been finding evidence of a painting beneath a painting and several underdrawings.