Building a Decision Tree for Watermark Identification in Rembrandt's Etchings - The WIRE Project

FAIN: HAA-256123-17

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY 14850-2820)
Andrew Weislogel (Project Director: January 2017 to February 2021)
C. Richard Johnson (Co Project Director: May 2017 to February 2021)

Development of a prototype tool to enhance museum and art historical research into the printmaking practices of Rembrandt and other artists.

This project seeks to creatively merge digital, computational, and art historical methodologies to significantly broaden access to crucial watermark information elucidating Rembrandt’s printing practice and chronology. Its central innovation is the use of the decision tree model, which allows rapid, confident visual identification of Rembrandt watermarks by non-specialists. The project will build interrogatory decision tree branches for each of the 54 types of watermarks on Rembrandt’s papers, resulting in a complete tree that will be coded into purpose-developed software. The project will also develop procedure to add new watermarks to the tree as they arise, and will lay the foundation for a watermarks database for Rembrandt’s etchings in U.S. collections. The decision tree will provide proof of concept for application to other research questions requiring visual differentiation in datasets too large for the unaided researcher but too small to recommend a machine-learning approach.

Media Coverage

Rembrandt project at Cornell on view, received grant (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Daniel Aloi
Publication: Cornell Chronicle
Date: 10/19/2017
URL: http://http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2017/10/exhibition-research-project-highlight-learning-rembrandts-art

Rembrandt catalogue wins Henry Allen Moe Prize (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Publication: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Date: 8/2/2018
Abstract: Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt’s Etchings has been awarded the 2018 Henry Allen Moe Prize for Catalogs of Distinction in the Arts from the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York. The annual award recognizes excellence in publications on exhibitions and collections located or exhibited in New York State.
URL: https://museum.cornell.edu/news/rembrandt-catalogue-wins-henry-allen-moe-prizehttp://

Paper Trails: How Watermarks Illuminate Rembrandt's Creative Process (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Nancy Kenney
Publication: The Art Newspaper
Date: 2/26/2019
Abstract: By analyzing and categorizing watermarks, an online tool will allow researchers to connect prints to specific batches of paper.
URL: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/paper-trail-how-watermarks-reveal-history

"Lines of Inquiry" chosen for College Art Association award (Review)
Author(s): Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Publication: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Date: 3/1/2019
Abstract: The curators of Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt’s Etchings, Andrew C. Weislogel and Andaleeb Badiee Banta, were presented with the College Art Association’s 2019 Alfred H. Barr Jr. Book Award for Smaller Museums, Libraries, Collections, and Exhibitions for the exhibition’s catalogue at the CAA’s 107th Annual Conference convocation, held on February 13 in New York City.
URL: https://museum.cornell.edu/news/lines-inquiry-chosen-college-art-association-award

Ars longa: Rembrandt catalog receives three honors (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Daniel Aloi
Publication: Cornell Chronicle
Date: 1/31/2019
Abstract: Museum exhibitions have lives lasting well past their public display – in artistic inspiration, viewers’ memories, online portals and print catalogs. One such catalog, produced by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in 2017, is now a multiple award winner.
URL: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/01/ars-longa-rembrandt-catalog-receives-three-honors

Review––Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt's Etchings (Review)
Author(s): Jamye Jamison
Publication: Hand Papermaking Magazine
Date: 12/1/2018
Abstract: Jamye Jamison reviews an important exhibition of Rembrandt’s etchings that focuses on paper and a watermark identification project.
URL: https://handpapermaking.org/?p=2682

Magic Eye (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Beth Saulnier
Publication: Cornell Alumni Magazine
Date: 5/1/2019
Abstract: Professor Rick Johnson taps his engineering acumen—and a longtime passion for Dutch art—to explore the materials used by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and more.
URL: http://cornellalumnimagazine.com/magic-eye/

Associated Products

WImBo - Water Imaging Box Project: A Digital Art History Data Acquisition Tool (Article)
Title: WImBo - Water Imaging Box Project: A Digital Art History Data Acquisition Tool
Author: C. Richard Johnson, Jr.
Abstract: The goal of theWatermark Imaging Box (WImBo) Project is to develop a low-cost, readily portable system for imaging artworks on paper, specifically etchings and drawings by the innovative and prolific Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669) and drawings by his pupils, in order to produce images of the watermark and chain lines in the paper support. The background of the WImBo project is described here as an extension of two still-active, pioneering projects in the emerging field of computational art history using digital image processing to address issues in art history scholarship. These two foundation projects are devoted to Chain Line Pattern Marking and Matching (CLiP) – founded in 2012 – and Watermark Identification in Rembrandt’s Etchings (WIRE) – founded in 2015.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/wimbo-x2014-watermark-imaging-box-project-a-digital-art-history-data-acquisition-tool/oclc/7686923792&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Information on the article through worldcat.org
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: 2018 52nd Annual Conference on Information Sciences and Systems (CISS)
Publisher: IEEE - Advancing Technology for Humanity

The WIRE project at Cornell: An interactive decision tree approach for the rapid identification of watermarks in Rembrandt's Etchings (Article)
Title: The WIRE project at Cornell: An interactive decision tree approach for the rapid identification of watermarks in Rembrandt's Etchings
Author: Andrew C. Weislogel
Author: C. Richard Johnson, Jr.
Author: Amanda House
Author: Katarina Martucci
Author: Samantha Siegler
Author: So Jeong Lim
Author: Katrina Ferreira
Author: Margaret Canfield
Abstract: The Watermark Identification in Rembrandt's Etchings project (WIRE), a multidisciplinary collaboration among museums, university faculty, and students, aims to promote digital access to Rembrandt paper scholarship. Its chief innovation is the use of the decision tree model for the visual differentiation of watermarks, incorporated into an interactive and expandable online identification aid illustrated with images of all known examples. New image data provided by the Watermark Imaging Box Project (WImBo) will significantly enhance the decision tree through images of greater clarity and completeness. WIRE has also begun to discover new watermarks on Rembrandt's papers; increased availability of full-sheet images of prints and drawings from Rembrandt and his circle from as yet untapped collections will drive construction of a watermarks database, and also assist efforts to date papers without watermarks.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/the-wire-project-at-cornell-an-interactive-decision-tree-approach-for-the-rapid-identification-of-watermarks-in-rembrandts-etchings/oclc/7686930541&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat description of article
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Publisher: IEEE - Advancing Technology for Humanity

The computational analysis of watermarks: Setting the stage for the development of a Watermark Imaging Box (WImBo) (Article)
Title: The computational analysis of watermarks: Setting the stage for the development of a Watermark Imaging Box (WImBo)
Author: Emily B. Frank
Author: Margaret Holben Ellis
Author: Lydia Aikenhead
Author: Paul Messier
Abstract: The Watermark Imaging Box (WImBo) Project is an inter-institutional collaboration to develop a low-cost, portable system for imaging watermarks and chain lines in papers, with a special focus on the prints of Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) and his pupils. Representative of paper available in seventeenth-century Europe, Rembrandt's papers show a range of physical features that are typically documented using a variety of imaging techniques. Building on this base, computational analysis of Rembrandt's papers has demonstrated great potential for enhancing existing scholarship by discovering affinities among prints across collections. However, a widely distributed imaging campaign poses challenges, some of which derive directly from the nature of Rembrandt's prints and papers, including passages of heavy ink application. To develop and refine new approaches for large-scale distributed imaging, WImBo teams were supplied with carefully selected and prepared test papers.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/the-computational-analysis-of-watermarks-setting-the-stage-for-the-development-of-a-watermark-imaging-box-wimbo/oclc/7686922542&referer=brief_results
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Publisher: IEEE - Advancing Technology for Humanity

Use of infrared hyperspectral imaging (960–1680 nm) and low energy x-radiography to visualize watermarks (Article)
Title: Use of infrared hyperspectral imaging (960–1680 nm) and low energy x-radiography to visualize watermarks
Author: John K. Delaney
Author: Murray Loew
Abstract: This paper proposes the use of near infrared (900 to 1700 nm) transmitted light imaging with a hyperspectral camera to obtain watermarks from prints. Specifically, we show that principal component analysis applied to the hyperspectral image cube collected in the near infrared was able to separate the watermark from text printed in carbon black ink on both sides of a page from the Blaue Atlas Maior of 1662. The resulting principal component image of the watermark was compared with an image obtained using a low-energy x-ray source and a phosphor plate. Low-energy x-radiography is becoming the gold standard for imaging watermarks, replacing beta radiography. The watermark obtained by transmitted near infrared hyperspectral imaging was found to possess many of the key features of the watermark revealed by the phosphor plate radiography. The method proposed here offers an additional way to extract watermarks from works of art on paper.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/use-of-infrared-hyperspectral-imaging-960x20131680-nm-and-low-energy-x-radiography-to-visualize-watermarks/oclc/7686933947&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat entry
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Publisher: IEEE - Advancing Technology for Humanity

Art into data | engineering WImBo (Article)
Title: Art into data | engineering WImBo
Author: Paul Messier
Author: Emily B. Frank
Abstract: The Watermark Imaging Box (WImBo) Project is an inter-institutional collaboration to develop a low-cost, portable system for imaging watermarks and chain lines in papers, with a special focus on the prints of Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) and his pupils. Watermarks, and associated chain lines, can provide scholars with important information about the origins of prints and their interrelationships. Significant effort has been devoted to the characterization of these attributes, yielding valuable insights for art historians, museum curators, and private collectors. However, existing methods have limitations that inhibit widespread application. WImBo aims to address these challenges through the development of a low-cost, easily used, portable system for imaging watermarks and chain lines in paper — an imaging “box” delivered to collections of any scale, enabling them to rapidly produce repeatable image data from their print collections. These data, shared and networked, not only would provide a more comprehensive catalog of existing watermarks but also a dataset for the development of automatic classification schemes. This strategy is built on the success of related challenges in the emergent field of computational art history. These key antecedent projects provide a context for the WImBo engineering design process.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/art-into-data-x007c-engineering-wimbo/oclc/7686924846&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat entry
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Publisher: IEEE - Advancing Technology for Humanity

Prizes

The Henry Allen Moe Prize for Catalogs of Distinction in the Arts
Date: 8/2/2018
Organization: Fenimore Art Museum

Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt’s Etchings (Catalog)
Title: Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt’s Etchings
Author: Andrew C. Weislogel
Author: Andaleeb Badiee Banta
Abstract: Jointly organized by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, the exhibition catalogue was published in 2017 to accompany the exhibition of the same name, cocurated by Andrew C. Weislogel, Seymour R. Askin, Jr. ’47 Curator of Earlier European and American Art at the Johnson, and Andaleeb Badiee Banta, then curator of European and American art at the Allen.
Year: 2017
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/lines-of-inquiry-learning-from-rembrandts-etchings/oclc/1043867711&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat entry
Publisher: Ithaca, New York : Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

Prizes

The Henry Allen Moe Prize for Catalogs of Distinction in the Arts
Date: 8/2/2018
Organization: Fenimore Art Museum
Abstract: The Henry Allen Moe Prize, awarded annually by Fenimore Art Museum, recognizes excellence in exhibitions and collections-based publishing.

Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award for Smaller Museums, Libraries, Collections, and Exhibitions
Date: 3/1/2019
Organization: College Art Association
Abstract: In 2009, CAA established a second Barr award, the Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award for Smaller Museums, Libraries, Collections, and Exhibitions, for the author(s) of catalogues produced by smaller museums, libraries, and collections with an annual operating budget of less than $10 million dollars. If nominating a catalogue for this award; please identify if the institution producing the catalogue has an annual operating budget of more than $10 million (eligible for the “Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award”) or if the institution producing the catalogue has an annual operating budget of less than $10 million (eligible for the “Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award for Smaller Museums, Libraries, Collections, and Exhibitions”).

Studying Vermeer's Canvases and Rembrandt's Papers: Two Examples of Computational Art History (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Studying Vermeer's Canvases and Rembrandt's Papers: Two Examples of Computational Art History
Abstract: Professor C. Richard Johnson discussed the techniques he innovated using X-rays and algorithms to analyze works of art in his Nov. 9 talk at the A.D. White House, “Studying Vermeer’s Canvases and Rembrandt’s Papers: Two Examples of Computational Art History.”
Author: C. Richard Johnson, Jr.
Date: 11/9/2018
Location: A.D. White House, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Primary URL: http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/11/johnson-details-computational-art-history-techniques
Primary URL Description: Article in Cornell Chronicle discussing the talk.

The Watermark Identification in Rembrandt's Etchings (WIRE) Project (Article)
Title: The Watermark Identification in Rembrandt's Etchings (WIRE) Project
Author: Andrew C. Weislogel
Abstract: An article about the project written by Dr. Weislogel for CODART (Curators of Dutch and Flemish Art), and mentioned in the October 2018 interim report, officially appeared in CODART’s fall 2018 eZine.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://ezine.codart.nl/17/issue/65/artikel/the-watermark-identification-in-rembrandt-s-etchings-wire-project/?id=417
Primary URL Description: digital version of article on publisher's website
Access Model: open access
Format: Magazine
Periodical Title: CODART eZine Autumn 2018
Publisher: Curators of Dutch and Flemish Art (CODART) eZine

Rembrandt's European Papers: Computer-Assisted Classification of Watermarks and Chainline Patterns for Moldmate Identification (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Rembrandt's European Papers: Computer-Assisted Classification of Watermarks and Chainline Patterns for Moldmate Identification
Abstract: Public lecture provided as the final event of the seminar, which is described below: The technical concept of a decision tree (similar to the parlor game of 20 Questions) is embedded in an interactive interrogatory relying on human responses to a series of Yes/No questions, as described in: A. C. Weislogel, C. R. Johnson, Jr., et al., “Decision Trees and Fruitful Collaborations: The Watermark Identication in Rembrandt’s Etchings (WIRE) Project at Cornell” in: Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt’s Etchings, Ithaca [NY] 2017, pp. 32-57. The underlying decision tree concept has broad utility in image classification of a variety of maker marks found in the supports of art works, including, for example, panel maker marks and guild brands. This short course will prepare the students to be sophisticated users of this emerging technology and potentially to pioneer its use in other cultural heritage applications. This talk was also given on November 1, 2018, at the National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen.
Author: C. Richard Johnson, Jr.
Date: 10/26/2018
Location: Netherlands Institute for Art History, The Hague
Primary URL: https://hnanews.org/rembrandts-european-papers/
Primary URL Description: This website describes the seminar, but the link they provide to the hosting institution routes to an expired webpage (most likely the registration form).

The Watermark Identification in Rembrandt's Etchings (WIRE) Project at Cornell Examines The Frick Collection's Rembrandt Prints (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The Watermark Identification in Rembrandt's Etchings (WIRE) Project at Cornell Examines The Frick Collection's Rembrandt Prints
Abstract: C. Richard Johnson Jr., Fellow in Computational Arts and Humanities at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute and Geoffrey S. M. Hedrick Senior Professor of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, introduced a groundbreaking project utilizing a computer-assisted decision tree for identifying watermarks in works on paper by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669). Such an analysis helps art historians to date various states of prints as well as offers a more profound understanding of workshop practice. The lecture was followed by a panel discussion with Prof. Johnson’s collaborators Andy Weislogel (Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art) and Margaret Holben Ellis (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University) and The Frick Collection’s Associate Research Curator Margaret Iacono.
Author: C. Richard Johnson, Jr.
Date: 12/6/2018
Location: The Frick Collection, New York, NY
Primary URL: https://www.frick.org/research/digital_art_history_lab_lectures
Primary URL Description: Page for: The Digital Art History Lab Lectures All lectures are held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Music Room of The Frick Collection. They are free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, see the calendar. For any additional questions, please contact dahlprograms@frick.org.

The WIRE Project at Cornell: A Crucible for Student Research in the Emerging Field of Computational Art History (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The WIRE Project at Cornell: A Crucible for Student Research in the Emerging Field of Computational Art History
Abstract: Sparked by prior research into matching manufactured patterns in historic papers, and motivated by a desire to bring together engineering and humanities students to generate novel research useful in the prints and drawings field, the WIRE project has since 2015 worked toward the objective of developing an online identification tool for the watermarks on Rembrandt’s etching papers, based on the concept of the decision tree. WIRE has proceeded with important oversight from colleagues at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, and engaged curators and paper conservators at over a dozen northeast institutions, assessing their Rembrandt watermarks with the aim of uniting them in an expanding database. Johnson and Weislogel will discuss the WIRE project’s motivation, background, and technical concept, describe its development through a succession of research seminars and its role in a recent traveling Rembrandt print exhibition, and share some of the project’s results and offshoots.
Author: C. Richard Johnson, Jr.
Author: Andrew Weislogel
Date: 12/13/2018
Location: Boyce Thompson Institute Auditorium, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Primary URL: https://www.emeritus.cornell.edu/newsletters/
Primary URL Description: Newsletters for Cornell Academics & Professors Emeriti, public lecture noted on schedule in Fall 2018 newsletter pdf

---