Changes in Binding Media and the Search for the “Lost Secrets” of the Master

Dramatic changes in the techniques and materials used by artists began to occur in the latter half of the eighteenth century as the binding media was given much more attention than in previous centuries. This is related to the rising professional status of artists and the formation of academies for training artists, especially in Britain.

Rather than using well-tested and reliable methods and materials, which were based on studio practice and apprenticeship, artists began trying out new processes. This, in turn, is related to the vain search for the “secrets of the old masters” that led to even more experimentation and scandals, such as that experienced by the Royal Academy of Arts and its president, Benjamin West, at the turn of the nineteenth century.

This course, taught by George O’Hanlon, technical director and co-founder of Natural Pigments, traces the beginning of the vain search for lost secrets and ends with the modern reincarnation of the search for old master secrets.