Project
Victory Boogie Woogie In Detail
The Hague Museum of Art
A team of international experts extensively examined the painting between 2006 and 2012. Victory Boogie Woogie (1942-1944) by the Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan in the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. The central question in this research was: ‘Is it possible to map the history of the canvas and what does that tell us about Piet Mondriaan’s thinking and working methods?’ To answer this question, various research methods were applied: black-and-white photography in direct light, UV fluorescence, (unduly) infrared light, stereo microscopy, X-ray imaging, X-ray fluorescence, infrared reflectance spectroscopy and examination of cross-sectional sections of paint. Digital reconstructions of the painting have also been created. The results of the multidisciplinary research have been published in the book Victory Boogie Woogie Unpacked (Amsterdam University Press, 2012). However, the large amount of technical research data that the project produced was not sufficiently secured and not accessible.
The scope of the project Victory Boogie Woogie in detail The goal is to map, document, date-stamp and permanently unlock the research data sixteen years after the date of the original publication, through the publicly accessible RKDtechnical database.
This makes the information available sustainably for future researchers and research questions. The project is a collaboration between the RKD-Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Kunstmuseum Den Haag and the Dutch National Heritage Service. The research data from the three institutions have been brought together in the project and classified in preparation for the release in RKDtechnical.
On the one hand, the data selected for inclusion in the database have been selected; on the other hand, RKDtechnical has been redesigned to accommodate the data. RKDtechnical has been revised with simplification and restructuring to make it more manageable, user-friendly, and more sustainable to use. The data generated in the VBW research project will contribute to future restoration and conservation, but also to the understanding and scientific research of other paintings by Mondriaan. By unlocking the source documents, users will have the opportunity to reuse and/or interpret the material.
With the project, a concrete step has been taken towards a modus operandi that can also be applied in the future to all research data originating from museums and research institutions. It contributes to an heritage world where data is better secured and accessible.