Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Project Blue Boy: Conservation
Between Sept. 2018 and March, 2020, one of the most iconic artworks in British and American history, The Blue Boy, made around 1770 by English painter Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), underwent its first major technical examination and conservation treatment in public view.
Select a topic to explore the conservation science of The Blue Boy
Visible Light | Cross-Section | Ultraviolet | Infrared | X-ray
The Blue Boy shown in normal light photography, digital x-radiography, and infrared reflectography.
Visible Light and Cross-Section wavelength ~400-700 nm
Infrared Reflectography (IRR) wavelength ~900-1700 nm
Ultraviolet Light Wavelength ~320-400 nm
X-radiography (X-ray) wavelength Less than 10 nm
Visible light
Wavelength ~400-700 nm
Visible light reveals details about the artist’s techniques and the materials that were used to create the painting. By carefully studying the surface, a conservator may discover such condition issues as abraded or cracked paint or discolored overpaint that no longer matches the surrounding original paint.
