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The Matthaes-Kurau in the garden of the school in Dresden (1914) |
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FOUNDATION G. MATTHAES
AT THE SERVICE OF THE ART THE HISTORY |
The Matthaes are an old family of the art city of Dresden, which around 1900 became a hub of modern European painting.
In 1906
the Gertrude Matthaes - Walter Kurau couple founded a school of painting.
The school was attended by well-known painters in search, above all, of new inspiration, but also attracted by the city’s African Art Museum, one of the first and foremost ethnological museums in Europe. The School also accumulated a substantial African teaching collection, which has survived and today constitutes the nucleus of the homonymous exhibition at the Museum of Art and Science in Milan.
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A part of the African collection before the Museum’s opening in Milan |
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In 1927,
following the trend set by the painters themselves, the school moved to
Berlin where the Matthaes established close contacts with the city’s
archaeological circles.
In 1930 M./K. were
commissioned to decorate the great walls of the famous Pergamon Museum in
Berlin.
It was
during this period that the school put together a didactic collection on Graeco-Roman
and Etruscan art, part of which on exhibit in the Milan Museum and declared by
decree of 5.5.1997 of the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Environment a
“Collection of exceptional historical and cultural interest”.
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A part of the collection of excavated pottery before the Museum’s opening |
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After the death of the founders, the collections were assigned to their sole heir: Gottfried Matthaes.
In 1949, G. M. , a physicist, whilst collaborating with Siemens Germany, discovered a technique for printing conductive mixtures onto ceramic substrates to create electrical resistors, conductors and condensers, better known as printed circuits (the first chip). Together with an Italian partner, he set up a factory near Milan to produce in series the world’s first chips, which were mounted in great quantities in the radios of the leading Italian brands. Italy – not America or Japan – was thus the first country to use the new technology until 1958, the year semiconductors were invented.
The factories of the family group (LARES, COZZI and RESCO) were also the first in Europe to develop and produce a new type of “printed circuit” to be found today in every kind of electronic apparatus.
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The first chips assembled in a Telefunken radio (Italy 1956) |
A printed circuit board celebrating the 50 years of Lares production in 1999 |
The manufacturing of an entirely new product required new machinery which had to
be designed, built and delivered worldwide by the above group of Companies.
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The first
horizontal etching and cleaning machine made of steel, wood and PVC |
Two large production lines for etching printed-circuit-boards delivered to
a German factory |
G.M.’s interest in art was unceasing, however, and grew contemporaneously with his industrial commitment. This marriage of physics, science and art led Gottfried Matthaes to leave his industrial activities in 1990 to concentrate on a theme he felt to be of prime importance: Scientific detection of authenticity in art.
The boom
in demand for authentic antiques and their waning supply has forced the market
to admit a growing quantity of copies and fakes.
 G.M.'s Family in 1977 |
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The research for a new age-dating method was begun in 1980 because existing methods, the C14 method and Dendrochronology, owing to their well-known intrinsic limitations, could not provide certain results for the scientific dating of the approximately 1,000 wood antiques belonging to the present Art and Science Museum. This situation was common to almost everyone who has anything to do with antiques. |
In
1990 G. M. acquired a 18 rooms exhibition space in the Bonacossa
Palace in Piazza Castello in Milano to open up a museum called “Didactic
Museum for the Ascertainment of Authenticity in Antiques”, which, in the
course of time, changed its name to “The Art Collectors’ Museum” and finally to
“Museum of Art and Science” remaining, up to now, the only museum
in the world dedicating itself to this important subject, i.e. authenticity in
art.
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The
affinity of views and intentions shared with Leonardo da Vinci, famed
both as an artist and scientist, led to the decision in 2003 to devote three of
the Museum’s rooms to the presentation and illustration of Leonardo’s most
significant work: the “Treatise on Painting”. Leonardo jotted down his
ideas on hundreds of pieces of paper which were gathered, after his death, in
the “Treatise”, considered the most important book ever written on art, but
little known because of its scant readability. The exhibition sets out to make
the original Treatise more accessible, limiting itself to rearranging the
subjects, shortening the text, avoiding the numerous repetitions and
illustrating the salient concepts on painting and sculpture.
In 2004 three other rooms were dedicated to the 20 years of intense activity
carried out by the great Master in Milan: "Leonardo Da Vinci Citizen of Milan"
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Gottfried Matthaes’ current activity is focused on perfecting of the already existent Scientific Laboratory of the Museum, dedicated to new methods and techniques for the study of antique art works.
A scientific laboratory at the service of
art
The Museum laboratory’s mission is to improve existing scientific methods and
elaborate new methods for the ascertainment of the authenticity of art objects.
The laboratory’s instruments and knowhow for the determining of authenticity are
at the disposal of collectors, art experts, restorers, art galleries and
museums.
(The staff of the laboratory, who speaks
the main European languages, is at your disposal for any explanations).
A collection of art objects is generally an assortment of authentic items,
copies and fakes. Today, more than ever before,
buying art is considered also an investment for the future.
Therefore a determination of
authenticity by state-of-the-art scientific methods can offer every
collection a guarantee for the future and contribute to bringing transparency to
the market.
But there is an understandable tendency for
dealers, including auctioneers and institutes at the service of the market, to
be sceptical about the recent conquests of science in most cases.
The laboratory of the Museum of Art and
Science is a no profit facility and is independent from every point of view.
Tests carried out by the
laboratory:
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Spectroscopic dating and characterization of wooden objects |
Microscopic tests on paintings, antique bronzes, excavated pottery etc. |
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Examination of underlying layers using infrared reflectography |
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Analyses of paint layers with a duroflexometer |
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Analyses with Wood’s light, UV and IR |
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FURTHER ANALYSES PERFORMED IN THE LABORATORY:
Spectroscopic chemical analyses
on pigments, glues, encrustations, patinas,
products of corrosion.
Scientific, practical and instrumental tests of authenticity on:
ivory, amber, archaeological glass,
pigments, metals, stones, carpets, tapestry, prints, books, clocks and
watches, china.
ADDITIONALLY, in the Museum rooms there are 9 interactive test stations at the disposal of vistors for simple tests for ascertaining the authenticity of antiques.
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test
station room 8: |
test
station room 9: |
identification of glues and other synthetic materials with Wood’s light |
test station room 9: examination with a magnifying glass of signs of wear and decorations on china |
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optical examination of signs of wear to identify an authentic piece of silverware |
shadow reveals industrial or handcrafted manufacture of glass |
the microscope distinguishes authentic patinas and encrustations from faked ones |
the dull sound of a porcelain item reveals hidden restoration work |
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For more information contact: |
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PRICES: the average cost of analyses is 75 Euro for each test; some tests are conclusive in telling fake and authentic items apart, such as wood dating and tests on the encrustations on pottery and bronzes. |
NOW OPERATIVE !
Branch of the Milan scientific laboratory
for determining the authenticity
of valuable antique art objects
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The house, which has belonged to the Matthaes Foundation (Museo d’Arte e Scienza) for 45 years, is situated on the shores of Lake Constance, near Lindau. |
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Other requests may be sent, as always, directly to the Milan laboratory at the following address: Museo d’Arte e Scienza |
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For further info: |
www.Museoartescienza.com
www.AntiqueFurnitureAuthenticity.com |
The Founders and the permanent staff
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Gottfried
Matthaes |
Giovanna
Cozzi Matthaes |
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Dott. Chim.
Peter
Matthaes |
Patrizia
Matthaes Administration |
Silvia Mayer Language and Communication |
Dott. Avv.
Martin Matthaes Lawyer - International Law |
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Chiara
Civardi First lab assistant |
Roberta
Delmoro Art Historian (Freelance) |
Marta
Cugnasca Data processing |
Sonia
Checchini Conservation |
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Books written by G. Matthaes during the past 30 years |
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1972 Die Philosophie des Interregnums |
1973 Die Philosophie der Verantwortung |
1978 Pre-Roman Pottery |
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Published in English, 180 pages with 800 photos and brief scientific descriptions of around 1000 excaveted objects of the Kurau-Matthaes collection. |
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1979 |
1994 - 2001 |
2003 |
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A guide in English and German with many
detailed photos. |
Three volumes published in English,
German and Italian with 2000 photos and 530 pages. |
An abridged edition of the famous “Treatise on Painting” of Leonardo da Vinci. 157 pages and numerous colour photos. In Italian and English. |
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In addition, numerous articles in many magazines around the world publishing detailed reviews regarding scientific methods and the Museum. |
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OTHER SITES OF THE MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE: |
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www.MuseoArteScienza.com - Sections of the "Museo d'Arte e Scienza": 6 rooms dedicated to the ascertainment of authenticity in art and antiques, 5 rooms about The "Treatise on Painting" of Leonardo da Vinci and Leonardo's activities in Milan, 5 rooms dedicated to African Art and Buddhist Art, 2 Scientific Laboratories. www.LeonardoDaVinciMilano.com - two permanent exhibitions: "Leonardo Citizen of Milan" and "Appreciating Art through the Eyes of Leonardo" from his "Treatise on Painting". www.AuthenticAfricanBronzesandCeramics.com - dedicated to the authenticity of African artworks in bronze, stone and pottery. The scientific laboratory of the Museo d’Arte e Scienza has developed valid methods for telling authentic African objects from copies and fakes. www.ArtAndScienceHandbook.com - The most complete and scientifically valid guide to ascertaining the authenticity of European and non-European antiques on an objective basis (540 pages and more than 2000 colour illustrations in 3 volumes and 3 languages) www.Paintingsauthenticity.com - Information about the authenticity of modern paintings and antique paintings.
www.AntiqueFurnitureAuthenticity.com - A list of possible
methods for determining the authenticity of furniture based on objective
factors. www.Excavatedartauthenticity.com - "A list of all the possible ways of determining, on the basis of objective factors, the authenticity of excavated pottery, glass or bronze items from Southern Italy, the Mediterranean Basin, China and South America.". www.AfricanArtAuthenticity.com - "Art and Life in Black Africa", The African Art didactic section of the Museum (5 rooms and over 350 objects). www.SpectroscopyforArt.com - Scientific method for the dating of the wood and identification of the wood type used for art objects. Determination of their authenticity through analysis of colours, binders, pigments and other organic substances.
www.C14spectrodating.com -
Spectroscopic
measurements complementing dating obtained with the C14 method that appears
uncertain or impossible. www.DendroSpectroChronology.com - Spectroscopic measurements complementing the uncertain results of dendrochronological dating. www.CopiesAndFakesInArt.com - Ample further descriptions for ascertaining the authenticity in art for the individual fields of antiques. www.IvoryAuthenticityAndAge.com - Ivory, bones and horns can now be spectroscopically dated and recognized with precision. www.LeonardoTeacherofPaintinginMilan.com - An abridged and illustrated edition of the “Treatise on Painting”.
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