Consortium for the Research of Artists‘ Materials Archives (CAMA). The scientific knowledge potential of archives of European artists' paint manufacturers

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Wibke Neugebauer
• Subject Area: Art History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 537724692

The network will explore the scientific knowledge potential of archives of European artists' paint manufacturers for future, multi-perspective research into the history of European artists' paint production. The starting point of the network will be research desiderata in art technology and conservation science with regard to the study of painting from the 19th to the 21st century, which, due to its specific materiality, poses new challenges with regard to its conservation, presentation and mediation. The decisive gap in previous research is the hitherto limited access to the archives of the artists' paint manufacturers. This access is now made possible for the first time through trusting cooperation with the three German, British, French, Dutch, Italian and Belgian companies, which are integrated through the network partners. Since their foundation in the 19th century, these companies have been among the European market leaders, and some of them still are today. The evaluation of their archives thus opens up an extremely valuable resource for research, which cannot be overestimated in terms of its knowledge potential for the materiality of painting from the 19th to the 21st century. In the past two decades, the network partners have already considerably expanded the state of knowledge on the materiality of painting from the 19th to the 21st century. For the first time, the network bundles these individual initiatives and aims, firstly, to conceptualise a cross-archival research infrastructure in cooperation with the archives as well as representatives of archival and information sciences and digital humanities. The second goal of the network is to develop a comprehensive research strategy that will make it possible to illuminate the history of European artist paint production from different disciplinary perspectives. To this end, interdisciplinary research impulses from the disciplines of art history, economic, corporate and social history, the history of science and materials, the history of technology and industry, and the digital humanities will flow into the development of a joint, multidisciplinary research strategy. The project not only brings together different research disciplines and methodological approaches at the interface of the humanities and natural sciences, but also pursues both a knowledge-generating and an application-oriented approach, for example with regard to forgery research and the development of new conservation methods. The results of the network will be communicated on the partners' websites during the project and presented at a public final symposium.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Gunnar Heydenreich