(1)      New method of detecting forgeries uses minuscule canvas fibers and paint samples to expose purportedly historic works of art as modern creations. The technique, catalogued in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, dates would-be masterpieces by measuring traces of carbon-14 isotopes released into the atmosphere by mid-20th century nuclear bomb testing. Objects made after 1963 hold significantly higher levels of the unstable isotope, allowing researchers to 31 between pre- and post-World War II paintings. 

    This isn’t the first time scientists have turned to radiocarbon dating in an attempt to 32 forgers. The idea of dating art by assessing the organic matter used to bind paint pigments was first floated as early as 1972; previous case studies include a 2015 investigation that 33 the provenance of a supposed Fernand Léger canvas owned by American art collector Peggy Guggenheim.

   Still, the approach has its drawbacks. According to artnet News’ Taylor Dafoe, 34 forgers recycle antique canvases and even paint, making it difficult to determine if a painting is original or simply artfully doctored. At the same time, the Economist notes, radiocarbon testing is so destructive that a sample can rarely be analyzed twice. Typically, the process also requires a “sufficiently” sized sample: Given the possibility that a suspected forgery may actually be a 35 masterpiece, investigators are often reluctant to remove significant amounts of paint. Fragments of a wooden frame or pieces 36 from the edge of a canvas, on the other hand, “might be considered an acceptable loss.”

   The new research, led by Laura Hendriks of Switzerland’s ETH Zurich, draws on the latest technological advances to reduce the size of samples needed for testing. Working with a known forgery dating to the 1980s, the team 37 hairlike strands of canvas fiber measuring just a few millimeters long and a paint particle weighing less than 200 micrograms.

   Although the painting—titled Village Scene with Horse and Honn & Company Factory— mimics the American primitive folk art style and is signed “Sarah Honn May 5, 1866 A.D,” it’s actually the work of convicted forger Robert Trotter. As Treasures on Trial, an online 38 run by Delaware’s Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, notes, Trotter stripped, repainted and artificially aged worthless old paintings, as well as created lengthy 39 reports that seemingly testified to the works’ authenticity. Ultimately, he admitted to selling 52 falsified paintings and served 10 months in prison. Following Trotter’s conviction, Buffalo State College’s Art Conservation Department acquired the “Sarah Honn” canvas, which has been studied to better understand forgery methods.

   Crucially, carbon-14 isotopes, spurred by ocean absorption and 40 by fossil fuel emissions, are on track to return to pre-war levels. This could lead to inconclusive results further down the road, making it essential to use radiocarbon dating in conjunction with other techniques.