Fungi in Fox Spots of a Drawing by Leon Wyczółkowski
AbstractMany authors dealing with the phenomenon of foxing on paper point out its microbiological origin, but in fact, foxing-causing fungi can rarely be cultured. Leon Wyczółkowski’s drawing “The Market in Gniew” is an exception in this respect: its paper carrier shows foxing as well as numerous hyphae and cleistothecia, visible to the naked eye either as a white and fluffy coating or as a light yellow powder. Our aim was to investigate their role in the formation of foxing. Microscopic observations revealed uncountable amounts of lenticular spores and spherical asci. Incubation of the yellowish powder on microbiological media enabled the isolation of five strains: