New doubts raised about authenticity of Pollock paintings

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Scientists have raised fresh doubts about the authenticity of three paintings attributed to Jackson Pollock, saying some pigments in the paint were unavailable when the US abstract artist was alive.

The three paintings are part of a lot of 32 Pollocks whose authenticity already sparked a heated debate among experts last year.

The trio in question were wrapped in brown paper indicating they dated between 1946 and 1949.

But a study by experts of Harvard University Art Museums found that pigments in the three emerged long after the "drip" painting master's death in a car crash in 1956.

An analysis found that a pigment in orange paint in one canvas was not available until 1971, while the brown paint in another was only developed in the...