Art academics and enthusiasts may get a unique opportunity to see into the mind of French impressionist Claude Monet, after x-rays of a painting held in Dunedin uncovered more than meets the eye.
Dunedin Public Art Gallery director Priscilla Pitts said last night that the x-ray had uncovered sketches ordrawings underneath La Debacle, one of the gallery's most significant works.
Ms Pitts said more work would be done to discover what they were, as the sketches could have been done by Monet or another artist.
University of Otago art history and theory senior lecturer Dr Judith Collard said such finds were potentially "extremely interesting".
If it was Monet's sketch, depending on how different it was from the finished article, it could show the artist's thought processes as he painted.
La Debacle was bequeathed to the gallery by the de Beer family in 1982.
Ms Pitts said the painting had been x-rayed at Dunedin Hospital, after it was taken there in secret, and with high security.
"We're just doing general research on the Monet because it's one of our most significant works," she said.
"We wanted to find out a bit more about it."
The gallery was also using its own techniques to study the work, including using microscopes and lighting the painting from behind.
"In this case, we discovered there are other sketches or drawings of different things underneath." More work would be done to find out what they are.
It could be something Monet started underneath, although it could also be the work of another artist.
The painting, which was well documented, had been exhibited internationally. Finding sketches underneath paintings was not unusual, she said.
She was not sure if Monet was an artist who regularly sketched underneath his paintings, but it was common for artists to do so.
