Art, Art History, and Film Faculty
Richard Newman
Visiting Professor, Art History
Richard Newman
Contact
Devlin Hall 423
Telephone: 339-927-8643
Email: rnewman@mfa.org
Education
- B.A., Art History, Western Washington University
- M.A., Geology, Boston University
Courses
The Materials of Art and Their Conservation
Research Interests
Technical studies of works of art
Applications of analytical instrumentation to provide information on materials used in cultural artifacts
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation, 1991 joint award from the College Art Association and National Institute for Conservation (awarded for the book Examining Velazquez, Yale University Press, 1988, authors Gridley McKim-Smith, Greta Anderson-Bergdoll and Richard Newman).
Japan Foundation Visitors’ Program for Specialists on Cultural Properties, 1991 two- month fellowship for research, primarily spent at the Nara Cultural Research Institute.
Indo-American Subcommission on Research, 1984-5 three-month fellowship for research in India.
Comite Conjunto Hispano-Norteamericano para la Cooperacion Cultive y Educative, 1984-1986 grants for research on paintings by Velazquez in the Prado Museum (awarded to Gridley-McKim Smith, Richard Newman and Carmen Garrido).
Principal Investigator for National Science Foundation, Division of Chemistry, grant CHE-1125821, awarded 2011. Project:‘Acquisition of a mass spectrometer for a capillary high performance liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometer (LC/MS)’.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
R. Newman, G. Gates, “The matter of madder in the ancient world,” chapter 3, in M. Svoboda and C. Cartwright (eds.), Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR Project (Getty Publications, 2020), e-publication (in press).
N. Gutman Rieppi, B. Price, K. Sutherland, A. Lins, R. Newman, P. Wang, T. Wang, T. Tague Jr., “Salvador Mundi: an investigation of the painting’s materials and techniques,” Heritage Science 8, 39 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-020-00382-3.
A. Hykin, R. Newman, T. Michie, “A re-evaluation of ‘Palissy’ ceramics at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,” Techne 47 (2019): 126-139.
M. Derrick, J. Wright, R. Newman, “Plant dye identification in Japanese woodblock prints,” Arnoldia 74:3 (2017): 12-28.
M. Derrick, R. Newman, J. Wright, “Characterization of yellow and red natural organic colorants on Japanese woodblock prints by EEM fluorescence spectroscopy,” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 56 (2017): 171-193.
R. Newman, E. Kaplan, M. Derrick, “Mopa mopa: Scientific analysis and history of an unusual South American resin used by the Inka and artisans in Pasto, Colombia,” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 54 (2015): 123-148.
R. Newman, “Technology,” in M. Hartwig (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art (Wiley Blackwell: Oxord, 2015), pp. 504-521.
Gänsicke, R. Newman, “Materials and techniques in Nubian Jewelry,” in Y. Markowitz and D. Doxey, Jewels of Ancient Nubia (Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, MA, 2014), PP. 143-152.
L. Soltzberg, S. Flynn, V. Kirch, R. Newman, “3D Fluorescence Characterization of Synthetic Organic Dyes—Effect of pH,” American Journal of Analytical Chemistry 4 (2013): 531-576.
L. Soltzberg, S. Lor, N. Okey-Igwe, R. Newman, “3D Fluorescence Characterization of Synthetic Organic Dyes,” American Journal of Analytical Chemistry 3 (2012): 622-631.
R. Newman, introductory essays and editor. Conservation Highlights (Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, MA, 2011).
B. Barr-Sharrar, R. Newman, “A Classical Greek Bronze Situla with Figurative Relief in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,” Materials and Manufacturing Processes 24 (2009): 972-974.
R. Newman, “Ferrous and Ferric: A Review of Scientific Research on the Iron in Attic Greek Glazes,” in Kenneth Lapatin, ed., Papers on Special Techniques in Athenian
Vases, Proceedings of a symposium held in connection with the exhibition ‘The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases (J. Paul Getty Museum: Los Angeles, 2008), pp. 105-112.
L. Soltzberg, A. Hagar, S. Kridaratikorn, A. Mattson, R. Newman, “MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometric Identification of Dyes and Pigments,” Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 18 (2007).
R. Newman, M. Derrick, “Scientific Examination of the Paint on Nine Matter Paintings,” in E. Landau and C. Cernuschi (eds.), Pollock Matters (McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston, MA, 2007), pp. 105-130.
A. Hykin, R. Newman, J. Cummins, “Casting Compassion: The Technical Study of a Large Bronze from Tibet,” in J. Douglas, P. Jett and J. Winter (eds.), Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts of Asia (Archetype Publications, London, in association with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2007), pp. 90-102.
R. Newman, “Analysis of Core and Investment Samples from Some Aquamanilia,” in P. Barnet and P. Dandridge (eds.), Lions, Dragons, & Other Beasts: Aquamanilia of the Middle Ages, Vessels for Church and Table (The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, New York, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006), pp. 57-64.
J. Elgar, A. N. Morse, R. Newman, “A Technical Study of the Hokkedo konpon mandara,”in P. Jett, J. Winter and B. McCarthy (eds.), Scientific Research on the Pictorial Arts of Asia (Archetype Publications, London, in association with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2005), pp. 1-9.
L. Ellis and R. Newman, “The Analysis of Glazed Quartzite Sculpture from Kerma, Capital of Ancient Kush (Sudan),” Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology (MRS Symposium Proceedings Vol. 852, 2005), pp. 209-215.
R. Newman, “An Overview of Current Scientific Research on Stone Sculpture,” Sackler Colloquium on Scientific Examination of Works of Art: Modern Techiques in Conservation and Analysis (National Academies of Science Press (NAP), Washington, DC, 2005), pp. 58-71.
E. Fulton, R. Newman, J. Woodward, J. Wright, “The Methods and Materials of Martin Johnson Heade,” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 41 (2002), pp. 155- 184.
R. Newman, M. Derrick, “Painted Qero Cups from Inka and Colonial Periods in Peru: An Analytical Study of Pigments and Media,” Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology (MRS Symposium Proceedings, Boston, MA, December 2001).
R. Newman, “Analysis of Paint Binders,” one of three essays in Milk and Eggs: The American Revival of Tempera Painting, 1930-1950 (Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA, in association with Washington University Press, Seattle and London, 2002).
R. Newman, “Appendix: Analytical Report on the (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) Ivory Snake Goddess,” in K. Lapatin, Mysteries of the Snake Goddess: Art, Desire and the Forgery of History (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA, 2002).
S. Gänsicke, R. Newman, “Ancient Nubian Gilding,” in Gilded Metals: History, Technology and Conservation, ed. T. Drayman-Weisser (Archetype Press, London, 2000).