Vincent Van Gogh Museum Research Paper

Words: 1136
Pages: 5

“A 3D-portrait of President Obama dominated a few headlines last week, as The Smithsonian Institution welcomed the three-dimensional sculpture like no other into its presidential collection.” This popular new technology is being used to save and recreate pieces of art destroyed in wars, make sculptures as well as help thieves easily steal art objects. Three dimensional printing has revolutionized technology in art, medicine, engineering, as well as other fields. However, it is also threatening areas the art field with counterfeit pieces as well as making it easier for thieves and others to steal precious artifacts. Museums and galleries are using it to reproduce sculptures as well as other pieces, allowing patrons a hands on approach rather …show more content…
The museum has “teamed up with Fujifilm in Japan to produce the first fully color-corrected three--dimensional copies o some of van Gogh’s most famous works, including his 1889 “Sunflowers” and 1890 “Almond Blossom”. The reproductions “mimic not just color, but also the thickness of the paint and the brushwork.” According to Alex Ruger, director of the museum “each step was always designed to get closer to the original.” They started with lithographs, then photography and moved onto three dimensional. Unfortunately, the museum is mostly self financed so they are selling the reproductions to finance renovations needed in the museum. Linda Snoek, the media officer, feels “it’s for people who want to have the work” but can’t buy the original. However, Robert van Langh, the head of conservation, doesn’t feel reproducing Van Gogh is useful. He is only interested in “the scientific advances we can make from these things.” This project took Fuji seven years to complete and they spent a large amount of time returning to the original so the color and other features of the painting were exact, including brush strokes. Even though this project took an extensive amount of time and it is helping with degradation as well as allowing designs to be printed whenever, many still feel like van Langh, that the original is the one of any