X-Ray Paintings

X-ray Paintings is a project that brings to light artworks discovered beneath existing paintings through radiographic imaging. It interrogates notions of authorship and originality and opens a dialogue between what is concealed within underlying layers and what remains visible on the surface—between what was presumed forgotten and what endures.

Multiple versions of the same painting are produced, each matching the original’s dimensions, alongside commissioned reproductions of its ‘current’ frame.

Four figures at a Table (after The Le Nain Brothers) - Version 1
Oil paint on wood and commissioned frame
44.8 x 55 cm
2013
© Raul Ortega Ayala, All Rights Reserved
Private collection

Four figures at a Table (after The Le Nain Brothers) - Version 2
UV transfer and oil paint on canvas and commissioned frame
44.8 x 55 cm
2013
© Raul Ortega Ayala, All Rights Reserved

Four figures at a Table (after The Le Nain Brothers) - Version 3
UV transfer and oil paint on canvas and commissioned frame
44.8 x 55 cm
2013
© Raul Ortega Ayala, All Rights Reserved
Private collection

Exhibition view at Frans Hals Museum
Photo: GJ.vanROOIJ