Forbes Pigment Labs: MFA-Boston

Forbes kept sets of artists' materials at the Fogg Museum lab as well as a private collection at his home. After Forbes death in 1969, a team of conservators, Arthur Beale, Rhoda Burden, and Brigitte Smith, diligently took stock of Forbes private collection of artists materials. Portions of pigments were subdivided to create reference collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Intermuseum Conservation Laboratory, Cleveland OH (formerly Oberlin OH). Samples remaining in the bottles were then sent to Institute of Fine Arts, Conservation Center, New York University, New York NY.

The Scientific Research lab at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston began in 1929 by William J. Young, a British scientist and conservator. Young worked closely with the scientists and conservators at the Fogg Art Museum, Rutherford Gettens and George Stout, often helping with spectroscopic analysis.