My wife’s uncle, Brian Singer, who has died aged 74, was a university lecturer and one of the world’s foremost experts in the science of art conservation.
His most prestigious work was undertaken for the estate of Francis Bacon, a seven-year-long technical assessment from 2006 of more than 100 works, which, said his former colleague Justin Perry, “made the job of forgers more difficult and the job of art historians and conservators easier”.
Conservation treatment on paintings by Edvard Munch, including two versions of The Scream (1893 and 1910) and Madonna (1894), were based on Brian’s research. One notable finding he delighted in was showing that Munch had left one of his paintings outside to dry, as one section of grey/white pigment proved to be bird droppings.
He was born in West Ham, east London, to Ernest Singer, a welder, and Hannelore (nee Ebbing), who came to England from West Germany after meeting Ernest when he was part of the peacekeeping forces there. The family moved to the new town of Basildon in Essex, and then to nearby Billericay. Brian passed the 11-plus and went to Sweyne grammar school in Rayleigh, then Leeds University, receiving a first-class honours degree (1971) and a doctorate (1976), both in chemistry.
He taught chemistry at Nelson and Colne College, Lancashire (1975-84), then moved to the north-east to take up a job teaching art conservation chemistry at Gateshead college. In 1990 he joined Newcastle Polytechnic, soon renamed Northumbria University, where he developed a research interest in the analysis of artists’ materials, and taught students in the art conservation and applied sciences departments. His mentorship was delivered with warmth and attentiveness, said Perry.
While at Northumbria, and after his retirement in 2012, Brian ran his own art conservation consultancy for more than 20 years, working with museums, auction houses and collectors across the world.
Brian was a union man, acting as departmental rep for many years, and a Labour voter and member until 2023, when he left the party, writing to the Guardian about the treatment of the North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll.
He was a keen fisherman, and loved playing the fiddle over pints of ale at the Fox and Hounds pub. But he said he was most proud of his daughters, Erica and Elsa, from his relationship with Veronica Killen.
He met his wife, Dot (nee Harris), in 1999 and they married in 2002. In later years he became deputy chair of Riding Mill parish council, campaigning to get a football pitch reinstated and for updated play equipment.
He is survived by Dot, Erica and Elsa, two brothers, Ken and Robert, and a sister, Ann.
