Recent acquisition – Theo Schoon

Do you know anyone who saw Theo Schoon dancing at Auckland's Town Hall? I would really like to speak to someone who witnessed his dance performance there. I have never associated Theo with being a performer in public but these images show he was. The public are not present, they have either come and gone, or they are soon to arrive.

I recently purchased these two small photographs of Theo for the Gallery's collection.  The images have been taken specially for the artist - he is performing for the photograph's occasion. They show more of the location than his other dance self-portraits. Those examples are studio-based self-portraits where the lighting was controlled.

These previously unknown portraits show that technical issues of working in a hall not made for photo-sessions influenced the resultant pictures. Theo preferred studio light in interiors - he'd spent much time with Wellington society photographer Spencer Digby (as had Brian Brake). Spence was a lighting expert and his wonderful portraits attest to his skill. Theo had exacting standards so the haphazard lighting may well not have pleased him.

It is not generally known that Theo Schoon was an accomplished practitioner of traditional Javanese dance. He collected the appropriate costumes and appropriate head wear. He possessed numerous recordings of Javanese music. When I visited him in Australia he danced for me while seated cross-legged on his bed. For me it was a personal experience of Asian dance the like of which I was then unfamiliar with.

During the 1940s and 1950s Theo Schoon demonstrated Javanese dance to appreciative audiences in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland. There was affirmative and interested newspaper coverage of  his performances. Theo also gave personal tuition of traditional Javanese dance and he was the first person to do this in New Zealand.

I have met some people who witnessed Theo dancing privately at Auckland. These performances occurred at parties, mostly during the 1950s. Colin McCahon told me that he was charmed and surprised by Theo's skill at dancing. Ross Fraser said Theo's dancing was mesmerising. I saw for myself how he used hand gestures to tell stories.

Hello from the Getty Conservation Institute – What paint is this?

When we talk about modern paints, we are referring to those based on synthetic media that were developed during the 20th century. For example, the binder in oil paints is made from natural vegetable oils, often linseed oil derived from flaxseed, whereas an acrylic paint is made from synthetic polymers manufactured from petrochemicals.

We generally rely on the artist’s description and close examination to get some idea of what paint it is. But the artist may not remember what paint they used, visual appearance can be inconclusive, and even if we did know what product they had used, the manufacturer is unlikely to reveal everything about it because of commercial sensitivities. So for an accurate assessment, it is necessary to do chemical or spectral analysis.

GCI Assistant Scientist, Herant Khanjian, with the FTIR microscope. The results from the analysis are on the computer screens behind 

While I have been at the Getty, we have been completing the analysis of some samples taken from paintings in the Modern Paints Aotearoa exhibition. The first we looked at were some tiny black scrapings that were taken from Stalagmites – Stalactites, 1964 by Theo Schoon. They are so small that you cannot see where they came from on the painting with the naked eye.

Image credit: Theo Schoon, Stalagmites - Stalactites 1964, oil on board, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1989 

GCI Assistant Scientist, Herant Khanjian placed a piece of the sample on a tiny ‘diamond window’ (a hard transparent platform) where it was flattened with a very small metal roller. The sample was then placed under the objective of the FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) microscope.

 The image of the sample on the diamond platform is projected on the front of the microscope 

FTIR uses the infrared radiation to analyse and produce information in the form of a spectrum (or chart) that is characteristic of the sample components. In the spectrum are bands which represent chemical bonding between two particular atoms or group of atoms in a molecule. The information is compared with spectra of other known material for identification. The results were a little confusing so we also did a solvent extraction. This means that a solvent was dropped on the sample to draw out the organic components which were analysed. The results were a lot clearer this time, and it appears that the paint is oil and alkyd.

You can find out more about Herant Khanjian here: http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/newsletters/13_2/gcinews10.html

- Sarah Hillary, Principal Conservator