Cancelled - Arsenic is the New White

Please note: as part of our ongoing committment to the health and safety of our guests and staff, we have made the decision to cancel this event. Newfields is continually monitoring the status of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and will provide further operational updates here on our website and on our social media channels. Thank you for your understanding. 

In 2016, the IMA brought two Himalayan thangkas into its collection. Join Dr. Gregory Dale Smith, senior scientist, and Claire Hoevel, senior conservator of paper, to learn about these fascinating and colorful devotional artworks, the materials used in their construction and conservation, and the iconography of Himalayan thangkas. The team’s technical study of the thangkas, in collaboration with IUPUI geologists, led to an interesting discovery of a white mineral pigment based on toxic arsenic. The lecture, presented by the Asian Art Society, will be preceded by a tour of the IMA science laboratories.