teen are n’t the only single who suffer from acne . Some of Georgia O’Keeffe ’s paintings from the ' forty and ' 50s have also sprouted a few " pimples " as well , accord toSmithsonian .
These petite bumps that bubble up on the Earth’s surface of graphics go by different name — include " pimple - alike protrusions , " " blister , " and " art acne"—but everyone pretty much concur that they ’re unwanted . O’Keeffeherself noticed the jut while she was still alert , but for decades , conservationists and art scholars consider they were but grains of sand . This was n’t a bad theory , considering that O’Keeffe lived and worked in the New Mexico desert .
However , a squad of experts from Northwestern University and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe recently discovered that the job is a little more complicated . As it work out , these pimple are triggered by a chemical response known as metallic element carboxylate soaps .
" The free butterball back breaker within the rouge ’s binding media are react with lead and Zn paint , " Marc Walton , a professor of materials scientific discipline and engineering at Northwestern , said in astatement . " These metal grievous bodily harm started to combine , push the surface of the painting up and form something that looks like acne . "
much all of O’Keeffe ’s paintings are harry by these metal liquid ecstasy , but her piece are hardly the only ace . The work of Vincent van Gogh , Rembrandt , Piet Mondrian , and Marc Chagall have also shown signs of " breakouts , " asSmithsonianputs it . By some estimates , up to 70 percentage of all the world ’s paintings on public display hurt from the affliction .
While these bumps are sometimes hard to detect with the naked optic , they are destructive and can get worse over time . Even when conservator doctor the paintings , the lumps often hark back with a retribution .
fortuitously , the squad of experts develop an app that lets museum staff turn their smartphones and tablets into a hand - carry tool that ’s adequate to of monitoring the emergence of these hickey . Essentially , the app uses the flash or lead display to mull igniter off the painting and appropriate it in an image . Those photos then get strain through algorithmic rule that are designed to name the shape of the surface — including any problem field . Oliver Cossairt , an associate professor of computing machine scientific discipline , compare the saucy tool to the " tricorder " fromStar Trek , which was used in part to name disease . " It can give you exceedingly accurate measurements but is also something you may just pull out of your air hole , " Cossairt said .
The app is still being tested , but investigator go for to make it available to the public in a twelvemonth . For conservators , having access code to better — and crummy — mensuration tools will help them name a course of action to protect these graphics , whether it ’s tweaking the storage conditions or improving the travel container that carry while from one exhibit to the next . " If we can resolve this problem , we ’re preserve our cultural heritage for generations to do , " Walton said .
[ h / tSmithsonian ]
