Category: Conservation
Webinar with Rijksmuseum Scientist
May 6 2020
Picture: Rijksmuseum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Institute of Conservation (ICON) is running a free webinar today on 'Metal Soaps in Art'.
It's far more interesting than it might first sound, as the webinar's overview points out;
Old master paintings as well as modern and contemporary art are subjected to changes from the moment they have been made. Discoloration, increased transparency and darkening, crumbling of the paint, paint delamination and loss: these are just some of the degradation phenomena encountered on oil paintings. This presentation focusses on the wide-spread degradation phenomena that is related to pigment-oil binder interactions, which are metal soaps. Metal soap related defects are observed in paintings by amongst others Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer and Piet Mondrian. Approximately 70% of paintings in museum collections are affected by metal soap-related degradation
This online lecture will by Dr Katrien Keune, Head of Science at the Rijksmuseum. It starts at 4.00pm UK time (6th May 2020), and you don't have to be a member of ICON to join (although registration is required).
Before and After
May 4 2020
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
There was an interesting image posted onto Twitter last week (via Maaike Dirkx @RembrandtsRoom) of a portrait that was recently sold at Sotheby's.
A portrait of a gentleman standing beside a framed portrait of a lady (right), which appeared in the recent Rafael Valls sale at Sotheby's, actually appeared in auction at Sotheby's NY in 2013. The image on the left shows how the painting appeared in the 2013 sale before the picture was conserved.
Curiously, you'll notice that someone had chosen to paint out the gentleman's arm at a later date. We may only speculate as to why this may have been done. Perhaps the composition wasn't considered appealing enough in a previous age. Many paintings 'restorers' of past centuries often carried out such alterations to pictures that didn't meet the aesthetic standards of certain owners or dealers. It's wonderful to see that in this case this alteration was entirely reversable.
Technical Analysis of Girl with the Pearl Earing
April 28 2020
Video: The Mauritshuis
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Mauritshuis in the Hague have published some recent technical analysis undertaken on Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earing. This in-depth research has lead to some interesting findings, including that this enigmatic figure was originally painted in front of a green curtain. The video above, made by Mauritshuis conservator Abbie Vandivere, explains some of the technical aspects of the painting's condition.
Notre Dame de Paris
April 17 2019
Video: Guardian
You'll all have despaired at the terrible fire in Paris. While the restoration project ahead will be long and difficult, it seems we can be relieved that the damage was not worse. Thanks to an extraordinary feat of firefighting by the Paris Sapeurs-Pompiers, the structure of the building has survived. And pretty much the bulk of the interior and stained glass has survived too; the cathedral's stone vaulting prevented most of the burning roof from collapsing into the lower part of the building, and causing any further destruction.
Botticelli discovery in Greenwich
April 8 2019
Video: BBC
A painting belonging to English Heritage at Rangers House in Greenwich has been found to come from Botticelli's workshop, rather than the later copy it was long thought to be. More here.
Restoring Van Dyck's equestrian portrait of Charles I
March 18 2019
Video: Tefaf
The National Gallery in London are restoring Van Dyck's large equestrian portrait of Charles I. The conservation has been funded in part by Tefaf, who have made the above video. I saw the picture in the conservation studio when work was just beginning, and although the condition is generally excellent, it was clear that there are many gains to be made, especially in the rear legs of the horse, which had become difficult to see, largely because of surface and varnish issues.
New Paintings in Pompei
February 17 2019
Picture: via BBC
Archaeologists in Pompei have announced the discovery of a mural showing Narcissus admiring his reflection in the water. What an impressive picture, with its pose like a Titian. The announcement follows the discovery in November of a Leda and the Swan painting which, with its contorted pose and exquisitely painted head, rivals many things painted between 1200 and about 1650. Those Romans! And to think that these were fairly ordinary house paintings in Pompei.
Ironing Artemisia
October 8 2018
Video: National Gallery
The National Gallery has nearly finished conservation of their newly acquired Artemisia Gentileschi Self-Portrait. And very fine it looks too. I went to see it in the conservation studio recently. The overall condition is very good, and the lighting in the picture works well, which you'd only get with the majority of the glazes and layers intact. In the above video you can see the final stages of the re-lining process. Don't be alarmed to see the conservators taking an iron to Artemisia's face - this is part of the process of making the new lining canvas bond to the original canvas. Of course, in the old days this was often done badly, and sometimes you'll see a paint surface with all the impasto squashed flat - like roadkill - from the application of an iron that was on a cotton setting, when it should have been on silk.
More 'botched restoration' in Spain?
September 10 2018
Picture: BBC
It's not quite as bad as 'Monkey Jesus Lady', but in Spain, another over-enthusiastic church restoration job has attracted attention. In the village of El Ranadoiro (popn. 28), parishioner Maria Luisa Menendez decided to brighten up a wooden icon, but not everyone approved.
I think it looks great. If Jeff Koons had done it, they'd be selling replicas for millions.
More here.
Artemesia heads for the National Gallery (ctd.)
September 3 2018
Video: National Gallery
The National Gallery conservation team has finished cleaning the Gallery's newly acquired Artemisia Gentileschi self-portrait. Despite the odd ding, it's in very good underlying condition. It's been trimmed a bit at the top.
Fire destroys Rio's National Museum
September 3 2018
Video: AFP
Fire has destroyed Brazil's 200 year old National Museum. Some 200 million items are feared to have been lost. More here from The Guardian, including this sad observation:
At the scene, several indigenous people gathered and criticised the fact that the museum containing their most precious artefacts has burned down seemingly because there was no money for maintenance of hydrants, yet the city had recently managed to find a huge budget to build a brand new museum of tomorrow.
Underneath the whitewash
August 10 2018
Here in Scotland, work has begun to reveal a huge 18th Century decorative scheme in an Edinburgh church, which was covered up as 'idolatrous' in the 19th Century. The paintings were made by Alexander Runciman in 1774 in an Episcopalian church just off the Royal Mile. But when the church changed hands, and became a United Presbyterian church, the depiction of the Ascension was painted over, with the new congregation frowning on such things. Now, however, the church is a Catholic church, and when the Scottish art historian Duncan MacMillan figured out that Runciman's paintings might still be there, tests were carried out to see what remained. And these have been deemed so encouraging that the plan is to try and uncover the whole scheme. More here and here.
Meanwhile, in a Glasgow nightclub, some early 2001 works by no less than Banksy are also being uncovered, after they were painted over by accident in 2007. More here.
At times like this, we must give thanks that the whitewash ordered by Clement VII for the Sistine Chapel was lost in a freak road accident on the Appenine Way in 1534.
Update - I made the last bit up.
Artemesia heads for the National Gallery (ctd.)
July 31 2018
Video: National Gallery
Here's another good video from the National Gallery on the conservation of their newly acquired Artemisia Gentileschi self-portrait. Someone needs to put Larry Keith - the National Gallery's head of conservation - on the telly; he does an excellent job here of explaining a complex process in an accessible way.
Artemesia heads for the National Gallery (ctd.)
July 20 2018
Video: National Gallery
Here's a new video from the National Gallery's head of conservation, Larry Keith, about how he and his team will be cleaning the Artemisia Gentileschi self-portrait. It's excellent that the National Gallery is making this much effort to showcase their new acquisition, and especially that they're putting the focus on restoration. This is an area that really connects with new audiences, as it allows you a satisfying revelation as the old varnish comes off. It's why we make such a big deal of it in Britain's Lost Masterpieces, and why The Burlington stressed the importance of discussing paintings' condition in an editorial recently.
Van Eyck's lost lamb
June 19 2018
Picture: via Codart
Restorers working on Jan Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece have removed a layer of 16th Century overpaint which was covering the artist's original lamb (now seen above right). More here on Codart.
Meanwhile, the author of a new book claims that the missing panel, stolen in 1934, is buried somewhere in the city, but he's not saying exactly where. He's based his claim on a letter allegedly written by someone involved in the theft, which contains riddles and mysterious words. According to The Guardian, authorities in Ghent are taking the claim seriously. Although if there was any truth in the claim, why publish the book now? Why not wait until after the panel has been dug it up, and gloriously claim to have solved the mystery?
Does good conservation mask bad pictures?
March 16 2018
Picture: NG
In The Art Newspaper, Ben Luke looks into the complex question of condition, and whether good restoration can ever wrongly mask a picture's bad condition. One picture examined is Holbein's Ambassadors:
In 1890, just as the museum acquired The Ambassadors, The Times acclaimed the “faultless” condition of Holbein’s masterpiece, save for “old and perished varnish”. How wrong it was. The conservator Martin Wyld’s detailed record of its 1998 restoration explains its many troubles: as well as the varnish, that gorgeous green curtain we see today was covered in black overpaint; planks forming the support were warped by water damage; and the gaps between them were “filled with cement”. An image of the work after cleaning and before retouching is an alarming sight, especially with extensive losses around the famous anamorphic skull. But retouching has made the picture look better than at any time probably since Holbein first put down his brush.
Cleaning Rembrandt, in public
January 31 2018
Picture: MFA Boston
Visitors to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston next month will be able to see a pair of Rembrandt portraits being cleaned. Says the MFA:
Throughout the month of February, visitors at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), are able to witness firsthand the restoration of two portraits by Rembrandt van Rijn in the “Conservation in Action” gallery. The treatment of Portrait of a Woman with a Gold Chain (1634) is supported by a grant from The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF), and the MFA has also committed to restoring its companion piece, Portrait of a Man Wearing a Black Hat (1634). The works were the first paintings by the Dutch Golden Age master to enter a Boston museum’s collection when they were donated to the MFA in 1893.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to conserve these seminal paintings by Rembrandt, which normally have an important presence in our galleries,” said Ronni Baer, William and Ann Elfers Senior Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe. “Our hope is to gain a deeper understanding of these works, which were painted during an interesting, transitional and intense time in the artist’s career.”
More here.
How not to pack a drawing
January 15 2018
Picture: Crispian Riley-Smith
The drawings dealer Crispian Riley-Smith has shown on Twitter what happens when an auction house doesn't pack artworks properly. Happily, after a little conservation, the damage is less obvious.
'Morning Walk' attacked (ctd.)
December 19 2017
Picture: National Gallery
The trial of the man accused of attacking Gainsborough's 'Morning Walk' at the National Gallery in London earlier this year has begun. I hesitate to comment on a trial that is currently underway, but it seems to me that the defendant has suffered serious mental health problems, and that a criminal trial is of dubious public interest.
Restoring Dresden's Vermeer
November 23 2017
Video: SKD
The Gemaldegalerie in Dresden is restoring their Vermeer of the Girl Reading a Letter by a Window. Says the gallery:
Considering its age, the painting, created circa 1657–1659, is well preserved and is in a stable conservation condition. However, the surface is compromised due to darkened layers of varnish, old retouching and over-painting. A major reason to restore the painting was the reduced readability of Vermeer’s original painting.
Work will continue until 2019. You can follow progress on the project on the SKD's website here.
