The Science of Art

Abstract

The beauty of art is the result of complex intuitive and cognitive choices made by the artist. Understanding the genesis of these choices can be as illusive as the resulting imagery, but great art seems to initiate in us a curiosity about the ideas, methods, and materials used by the creators. Connoisseurship in this century has been enriched by the application of scientific-analysis methods. The results of these investigations into the physical properties of art have shed new light on their authenticity and individual histories as well as on the craft in general. Developments in the fields of physics and chemistry have allowed us to understand more about how we perceive and interact with works of art. The articles in this issue of MRS Bulletin describe the choices made by the artist and the techniques used to analyze works of art ranging from cave paintings to pastels on paper.
This issue of the Bulletin had its genesis in an interdisciplinary course at Cornell University, “Art, Isotopes, and Analysis.” Stan Taft and James Mayer taught the course with guest lectures by Maryan Ainsworth, Richard Newman, and Dusan Stulik. Michel Menu, Debora Mayer, Dusan Stulik, Richard Newman, and Arleyn Simon have carried on the guest-lecture tradition at Arizona State University (ASU). They also participated in a symposium, “Revelations Beneath the Surface: The Science of Art,” held June 14, 1996 at ASU. The photograph (Figure 1) shows the symposium speakers.