Richard Newman

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Scientific Research Laboratory
Department of Conservation and Records Management
465 Huntington Avenue,
Boston, MA 02115
(617) 369-3466
rnewman@mfa.org

Profile

Professor Richard Newman has been the Head of Scientific Research at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 1998, and has also been a Research Scientist there since 1986.

Newman other positions include Conservation Scientist/Assistant Conservator of Objects and Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museum, 1983-1986; Conservation Scientist, Harvard University Art Museums, 1980-1983; and lecturer in the annual team-taught course, “Archaeological Science” offered by the Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology (CMRAE) at MIT.

Besides teaching at Boston College, he’s been a visiting instructor in art history at Wellesley College, where he’s taught Materials and Techniques of Painting and Sculpture since 2006. His other teaching experience includes course “Materials and Techniques of Works of Arts” at the Museum of Fine Arts for seniors and graduate students from five local universities; guest lecturer in the ELMO (Embedded Learning Module) Project, providing lab-based science courses to humanities students at the Northeastern University; and co-instructor of “Care and Preservation of Works of Arts”, offered as part of the Museum Studies Certificate Program, Harvard University Extension School.

Professor Newman is a member of the Board of Directors, Infrared and Raman Users Group (IRUG), an international forum for the exchange of infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopic information, reference spectra and materials. IRUG is composed primarily of individuals within the art conservation and historic preservation fields who use IR and Raman spectroscopy to study the world’s cultural heritage.

Selected Publications

R. Newman, M. Derrick, E. Mysak, EEM Fluorescence Spectroscopy of Natural Red and Yellow Organic Colorant in Japanese Woodblock Prints, in A. Romani et al. (eds).

Molecular Luminescence in Cultural Heritage (2022), Springer Series on Fluorescence. Springer, Cham.

K. Sowada, R. Newman, F. Albarede, G. Davis, M. Derrick, T. Murphy, D. Gore, Analyses of Queen Hetepheres bracelets from her celebrated tomb in Giza reveals new information on Silver, metallurgy and trade in Old Kingdom Egypt, c. 2600 BC, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 49 (2023): 103978.

R. Newman, E. Kaplan, M.C. Alvarez-White, The story of Elaeagia Resin (Mopa- Mopa), so Far, Heritage (2023), in press.