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Restaurabits

Secrets and other curiosities

La partida de naipes. Balthus (Balthazar Klossowski de Rola)

The hidden hat

Comparative detail of the visible image and the X-ray of Balthus' painting “The Game of Cards”
Detalle comparativo de la imagen visible y la radiografía de la obra de Balthus "La partida de naipes"

Can you imagine finding objects concealed beneath the layers of paint? That’s what happened to us in Balthus’s picture, a canvas full of mysteries. Here we show you the hat hidden beneath the paint film, which the artist initially depicted lying on the rounded sofa and decided not to include in the final composition. 

X-radiography enabled us to learn about the changes the painter made during the execution process. 

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More restaurabits

Comparative detail of the silkscreen technique used in Robert Rauschenberg’s work “Express”
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"Express". Technical processes

Rauschenberg plays with the technique. The artist takes a typically commercial process, screen printing, and turns it into a pictorial device, incorporating it into his artistic language in a completely natural way.

Detail of the frame of Robert Rauschenberg’s work “Express”
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Beyond the canvas

Rauschenberg’s work Express conceals a particularly curious detail that goes unnoticed unless you stop and look closely. Instead of confining himself to the traditional space of the canvas, the artist goes one step further and incorporates the frame into the composition.

Detail in macrophotography of the painting “Christ with the Cross” c.1587‐1596, by El Greco
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El Greco the expressionist

En Cristo abrazando la cruz, El Greco, construye la figura de manera magistral. El tratamiento pictórico de las carnaciones forma un juego de colores y matices realizados con veladuras sueltas, en las que el dibujo se pierde paulatinamente.

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The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza would like to thanks for the collaboration of:

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