Hot See-thru action! Radiography and Art

July 10, 2003 12:09 AM

Hot See-thru action! Radiography and Art: The obliging X-ray can detect forgeries, reveal the hidden process of genius (Picasso 1 [6 pages], 2, 3), and even serve as a glorious medium itself (Innervisions; Beyond Light; Mefi thread The Secret Garden).

Intrigued? Perhaps you'll want to check out How to make radiographs on Polaroid film from noah.org's X-ray page.
posted by taz (8 comments total)

Also, of general forgery-detection-related interest (and because I couldn't resist throwing it in), this fascinating story of a Nazi art forger.
posted by taz at 1:58 AM on July 10, 2003

[this is good] - thanks taz.
posted by plep at 2:09 AM on July 10, 2003

Hey! More radiographic art via the trackback by "Cup of Chicha", in a reference to an earlier Chicha entry. I like the different approach of Hugh Turvey.
posted by taz at 4:19 AM on July 10, 2003

This comment

The neat discovery is not that you can buy x-ray machines off eBay. The neat discovery is that you can use Polaroid film to image x-rays!

and this photo caption

My left foot. It was hard to sit still. Dangerous? Perhaps. Stupid? Perhaps. But it had to be done! This will be the end of my self-experiments; at least until I receive my lead apron and x-ray dosimeter

are somewhat unsettling
posted by magullo at 4:34 AM on July 10, 2003

The FDA will have a cow if it sees Noah's site.
posted by TedW at 9:18 AM on July 10, 2003

On the somewhat tangenital topic of the hidden process of the genius of Picasso, there's a doc called The Mystery of Picasso that shows him making paintings in (sometimes) real time. Hard to find but fun.
posted by Hildago at 1:33 PM on July 10, 2003

Great post taz, don't know how I missed this earlier today! In a similar vein, here is an examination of Picasso's Old Guitarist from the Art Institute of Chicago. They have a good page on historical research and a flash comparison of the image via x-ray and infrared that is interesting.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:36 PM on July 10, 2003

CAT scan, not X-ray, used in discovering how Brian Setzer's favorite guitar was made almost 50 years ago.
posted by whatzit at 11:58 AM on July 12, 2003