Varnishing a Mural – Antigraffiti Measures- Protecting Public Art Testimonial

This educational article is of value to artists planning to paint a mural in a public location. It is also invaluable for public offices and departments planning to place public art. Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL, Inc.) has a 3 year contract with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs to consult, advise and offer art/painting/mural conservation services. See other background materials in the navigation bar of this webpage. We are available to discuss with you your projects. See contact info at the end of this article.

Protecting murals from graffiti is an essential part of the pre-planning of a new mural in a public place. Even if the mural seems out of the way or out of reach, vandals find ways of shooting the paint. The graffiti on this mural goes up about 20 feet.

Before we can discuss the types of protective varnish to use, you need to understand the premise for choice. In the professional mural conservation field, when asked how long should art last, we think in terms of “generations.” Murals are part of a community’s heritage, part of the architecture, part of a community’s vibe and culture. They are not just a decoration.

As professionals, we are bound by Standards of Practice and a Code of Ethics. These prevailing standards would theoretically imply:

  1. We do no harm to the original artwork… the materials we use should not cause harm to the original mural as they age or if they have to be removed
  2. This means, also, that anything we do to the mural should be reversible or safely removable in the future… even distant future.

Here lies the conundrum: Murals painted in acrylic paint remain very soluble-dissolvable (Keim and oil to a lesser degree but still…) forever. So, cleaning with anything except water is a problem. Of course, very little of the stuff sprayed, spilled or deposited on murals is cleanable-removable in water. Solvents and citrus based strippers used to remove graffiti also attack-remove the original paint.

Kent Twitchell’s Jim Morphemes monument on the 101 freeway in Los Angeles

In other words, ANYTHING that is used to varnish the mural, will become part of the mural because it cannot be removed safely (for the artwork). So, let that idea percolate for a moment… if the varnish yellows, that will be the look of the mural in the future and there will be no way possible to remove the yellow. If the varnish cracks and peels (obviously unevenly) then you can’t remove it to redo it later. This photo shows the discoloration of a poor quality protective layers (poor choice).

The brownish see-through haze that is being cleaned away is the unstable varnish and wax once used to protect the mural. This discoloration is an unacceptable condition and the very hard resin very hard to remove.

Despite this warning or inevitable negative situation, some entities have chosen a hard polyurethane “permanent” protective varnish over a sacrificial layering of removable or “thinnable” varnish. I think their choice is based on ignorance based on the opinions of non-conservation-preservation services within their bureaucratic channels, not because there has been a logical choice .

The two schools of thought for the choice of protective layer or varnish are:

  1. The City of Los Angeles has adopted a policy, with the excuse of future minimal maintenance, to use a “permanent” hard coating. The name is “GCP 1000”

Its an aliphatic polyurethane topcoat. Here is the link for application instructions. I suppose that because this is a commercial product, that this appeals to bureaucrats. I’ve also been told that some graffiti can be removed from this protective layer with a commercial cleaner called Goo Gone (another long term preservation problem). Here’s a link about this material.

Blue Moon Trilogy by Russell Carlton (1987) was varnished with this mandated protection.

The Department of Cultural Affairs chose this material at the recommendation of their graffiti abatement contractor.

2. A “sacrificial” varnish layer is one that is applied so thickly that when tagged, the graffiti can be removed along with a layer of varnish without having to remove all the varnish. This means that the cleaning-removal solutions don’t come into contact with the original paint. After the graffiti removal, the surface needs to be re-protected or in other words, the sacrificial varnish layers need to be reapplied.

The resin used for the sacrificial layers is not a commercially available product, but can be purchased from conservation suppliers. The resin used is Rohm and Haas’ Paraloid B72. We usually spray apply 4 heavy coats of 15% solids (in xylene solvent). Then we follow up with 4-5 coats of 30% in xylene applied with rollers as thickly as can be possible applied without creating drips. On the mural in the video below, the artist originally thought to apply the thicker sacrificial layer only up on the wall about 8’. But yielded to reason when I showed him the nefarious techniques some vandals use to spray way up high on walls. So, we applied all the layers over the entire mural.

This photo shows the before and after of removing a decade of graffiti off of a thick protective sacrificial varnish.

Here is a quick video of applying the sacrificial varnish layer to a new mural at street level in Northridge (Los Angeles), CA and a short testimonial for our collaboration.

For more information contact Scott M. Haskins, Oriana Montemurro, Virginia Panizzon, Art Conservators, 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.com

Posted in Consultations, Murals | Tagged | 23 Comments

Valuable Exquisite 150 Year Old Painting Destroyed by Careless Handling and Shipping

Wonderful detail of a jewel-like valuable painting… extensively damaged because of stupidity.

Damage to artwork from careless handling, lousy packing and then shipping is completely avoidable… and you’d think that an exquisitely painted, $75,000.00 valued oil painting would automatically be treasured and cared for!

This extensive damage which resulted from lack of care had to NOT be a surprise to the owner as previous flaking, painting restoration and probably active, continued flaking were undoubtedly evident. But, now, the damage and losses are catastrophic.

The quality valuable frame is a casualty also; its very nicely carved wood, not made of plaster from a mold. It had to have been brutally smashed to have been broken the way it is. Several of its main ornamentations have been busted off (but are easily reattached). Fortunately, the frame can be restored without extensive cost and will be 100% original when completed.

Carved frame was also badly damaged in shipping.

So, now that the horse has left the barn, the main question on the mind of the people reaching out to us for help is, “Can the artwork be restored? How much will the restoration of the oil painting cost? How much will the painting be worth after its restored?” There is no insurance company involved in this dilemma.

Let’s start with the last question, How much will the painting be worth after its restored?… the answer to which may over-ride the other two questions.

The painting in original undamaged condition is worth, retail-gallery-value, about $75,000.00… give or take. Obviously, condition is a factor, however. So, with the extensive damage which impacts most of the painting, is the value impacted 75% even if its restored perfectly? A knowledgeable art collector wouldn’t buy it. Perhaps a designer who could place it in a unknowledgeable person’t house or office could turn it around… but that designer is a hard person to find. The restored damaged painting would probably be offered at a low grade auction house that does not provide condition reports and “buyer beware” is the motto. Restored perfectly, it might even bring less than a 1/10th the undamaged good condition value.

So, if it costs $7,500 to do a good job on the restoration, would you save the painting? Leave a comment below about your opinion! I’ll respond.

On-topic with this cognitive dissidence, the following articles will interest you:

Can Botched, Over-Restored Art (repainted) Be Saved?

https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/research-and-authentication/can-botched-over-restored-art-repainted-be-saved/

Rip in Painting Results in $350K loss in Value A Painful and Expensive Collector Care Lesson

https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/in-lab/rip-in-painting-results-in-350k-loss-in-value-a-painful-and-expensive-collector-care-lesson/

WHAT IS A COLLECTIBLE WORTH? RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES

http://tipsforfineartcollectors.org/collection-care/what-is-a-collectible-worth-risk-management-issues/

Thrown in the trash… pulled out by dumpster-diver and sold for $500… perfectly restored for $5,000. What is it worth?

VALUABLE RIPPED OIL PAINTING IS THROWN IN THE TRASH!

http://tipsforfineartcollectors.org/oil-paintings/valuable-ripped-oil-painting-is-thrown-in-the-trash/

Call to discuss your restoration issue: Scott M. Haskins, Virginia Panizzon, Oriana Montemurro Art Conservators 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.com

Posted in Consultations, In Lab, Painting on canvas | Tagged | 23 Comments

Painting Restoration Testimonial from Salt Lake City of an Historic Portrait of George Washington

Painted about 1800

This is something we see all the time in our painting conservation laboratory; someone accidentally pokes the 19th century painting on canvas with very little effort and causes a hole or rip. Sometimes its amazing how fragile these paintings are.

Oil paintings on canvas from the 1800’s are very brittle… more brittle that any other period of art. This is because the additives into the fabric in order for them to be produced by industrial looms accelerates the deterioration by acids. I have in the lab canvas that is 200 years older that is 10 times stronger because it was made without the additives for mass production.

In the case of this “White House Quality” historical portrait of George Washington that was painted about 1800, the hanging wire which was a bit frayed, poked the art handler as it was being hung, the person reacted and accidentally hit against the portrait putting his elbow through the painting.

What might seem to have been a disaster, the owner chose to see the repair of the rip as a good excuse to have the painting cleaned of its yellowed varnish, have an historically appropriate frame made and to get a high tech light that would really show off his gorgeous artwork. As it was to be hung in a focal area of the home, it turned out to give a beautiful glow of quality to everything else in the room that he entertains in. Here is his testimonial:

We are often asked if we can cut costs by patching the rip. This option most always creates negative condition problems, sometime immediately and sometimes “down the road.” The patch sets up an uneven reaction of the canvas from humidity and heat setting into motion new cracking patterns and causing very often disfiguring bulges. In addition, the later removal of the patch can be problematic depending on how “permanent” the repairer meant it to be (it may be very hard to remove). In other words, you will be creating preservation problems almost immediately.

The distortion caused by patching a rip in an oil painting.

Many smaller rips can be repaired very nicely without a general lining and can even be made to be minimally visible from the back.

If you buy a painting with a patch and you want to properly preserve and restore the artwork, then you will have to pay for the removal of the previous repair person’s sins in addition to redoing it correctly.

Here is a link to a video on how a proper rip repair is performed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhhu0AZ_WVI

Note that this video offered 4 excellent tips for collectors to help determine the quality of the rip repair of an oil painting:

  1. Realignment of ripped fibers must be exact – best done under a microscope
  2. The fill or replacement of lost paint must be perfect and textured to match original surrounding paint
  3. The inpainting colors (color matching of missing paint) must be exact in color and transparency
  4. The gloss of the final result must be exactly like the surrounding areas.

Questions about your painting restoration interests? Call Scott M. Haskins, Oriana Montemurro, Virginia Panizzon Art Conservators at 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.com

Posted in In Lab, Painting on canvas, Travel | Tagged | 4 Comments

Wright Thurston’s International Power Summit

An experienced art conservation technical relationship with art seems to be an important expertise and knowledge sought after by auction houses, art dealers, curators and investors in art. Why is that? What should this tell you?

The fact that I inspect and discuss on a professional basis with people perhaps 50-500 works of art a week also “ups my game” when looking at hard-to-determine conditions and situations that may have an affect on an acquisition or value of a painting.

When buying art, due diligence is no less an important concept than in other areas of investing. An expert in your pocket is the key to avoiding many mistakes.

Wright Thurston’s International Power Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah this week highlighted my expertise and offered my availability to its patrons and investors to help them with this part of their portfolio… and I don’t think anyone fell asleep on me!

Some of the things we discussed were fake paintings, discovering a hidden treasure and hitting the lottery, condition of the artwork and how it affects the value… and stories, stories, stories. I opened myself and our lab’s expertise to those in attendance to aid them in their art related interests.

Of course, you can see in the flier, there were many extremely experienced experts who shared their specialized knowledge in other fields of investment and personal development. It was fun!

Scott M. Haskins, Art Conservator

805 564 3438

faclartdoc@gmail.com

Posted in Consulation | Tagged | 2 Comments

Preservation and Restoration of a very cute 27 ft. mural, Animal Circus by Hubbel Reed McBride c.1940. Its lining and stabilization.

I can’t imagine that anyone would want to destroy such a quality painting and fun subject matter as this painting. I’d like to share the fun subject matter of a mural that was saved from demolition in Denver, Colorado.

Detail left side of mural

Animal Circus by Hubbell Reed McBride was painted about 1940, oil on canvas adhered to a wall (marouflage). It is super cute in all its details, even when looking at it up close. Do a Google search for “Animal Circus Murals” and look at “images.” You won’t find anything that comes close in quality or being so cute (for kids of course!).

Our art conservation lab’s reputation for working on large paintings preceded the arrival of this mural to us. In fact, at the time we were just finishing up on the lining (backing) and conservation of three 30 ft paintings for the State of Texas.

So, this project is also unique in that our lab is one of very few that can line or back a 27 ft long painting… in the world. See the short video…

Animal Circus Mural Restoration, Lining a 27 ft painting. from Scott M. Haskins on Vimeo.

We preserving the condition and prepared it for reinstallation it will be stable for future generations to come. Stabilizing the cracking, flaking and giving the mural support so it won’t distort will insure its long life.

Animal Circus in the art conservation lab.

Over the decades, Fine Art Conservation Laboratories has collaborated with professional conservators all over the US, in Italy, England and Spain. We were pleased to collaboration and consult with Steven Prins, a veteran painting conservator of Santa Fe, New Mexico on this project.

FACL Educational video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3sZdUqeQnk

FACL’s mural capability statement:

https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/mural/

FACL’s mural consultation statement:

https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/consultations/

FACL’s mural conservation project videos on YouTube at

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE1FF71CC598A8E79

For FACL’s overview of mural conservation capabilities (videos):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld4l6EG8T-I&index=13&list=PLE1FF71CC598A8E79

 

Contact Info

Scott M. Haskins, Virginia Panizzon, Oriana Montemurro

Art Conservators

805 570 4140 mobile, 805 564 3438 office

faclartdoc@gmail.com

HR McBride (1892-1960)

As a boy Hubbell grew up in Mansfield, Ohio and developed a talent for drawing animals that made people smile. He took that art and touched the lives of millions of people. His whimsical paintings consistently made the cover of several best-selling national magazines, which took his career to New York. But, it seems, he walked away from his successful illustrator’s career to spend his life in rural America to the delight of everyone in that part of the country.

Cartoon farm animals were undoubtedly a favorite even from his very earliest works. Drawings captured funny faces of the animals he knew with characteristic whimsical personalities.

 

After high school, he found a job in Cleveland making illustrations for a newspaper syndicate, but when they let him go after a year he had gained enough confidence to try the big market in New York. Becoming friends the founder of Editor and Publisher magazine, he was connected through the industry and for the next 25 years he distinguished himself as cover artist and illustrator for several top Hearst publications like Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, as well as the Saturday Evening Post and Liberty & Collier’s Weekly Magazine.

The Animal Circus mural in this article was commissioned for a children’s mural in a home on Park Avenue West in the 1940s. Fortunately he painted it on canvas that was ripped off the wall when the building was demolished. Though badly damaged with the inept removal technique, it survived till it could get professional mural conservation treatments.

His work is easily recognizable for its warm humor, and for animals with memorable personality. With a wealth of experience in graphic arts, Reed was a gift to the community in the 40s and 50s, painting a wide canvas of all sorts: from sacred scenes in the First Congregational Church in Lexington, to background drops for the Mansfield Players and Children’s Theater.

In the 1940s Reed McBride painted several murals in Richland County that became well-known landmarks in stores, churches and the Municipal Building. This is the one he created for the Ven-Mar market on Marion Avenue.

Ven-Mar market murals by HR McBride

Posted in Travel | Tagged | 4 Comments

Art Conservation Restoration Expert? “Have you worked for any institutions?”

There are only a few labs in the world that can handle the lining of a 30 ft painting… we did three for the State of Texas.

A New York art dealer has a client that needs some art conservation help in Utah and after looking over my resume wrote me that, yes, they had seen where we’ve done work for the Fine Arts Museum in SF and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art but had we worked with any other institutions? So, I dictated for her a quick list off the top of my head:

“The City of San Francisco, New Asian Art Museum, numerous art galleries in San Francisco, The Oakland Museum, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oakland, the City of Monterey, Monterey Maritime Museum, Monterey Museum of Art, the City of Carmel, several historical houses in the Carmel Monterey area, the University of California at Santa Barbara Art Museum, The Santa Barbara Mission, Santa Barbara Mission Archive and Library, the Santa Barbara Historical Society, Santa Barbara Historical Museum, numerous historical houses in the Santa Barbara area, Oxnard public library system, the City of Ventura, Bank of America Corporation in Los Angeles, the City of Westwood, the city of Santa Monica, Los Angeles Convention Center, the Jonathan Club, the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, The City of Los Angeles, Caltrans, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Getty Conservation Institute Special Projects Division, The University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, The Japanese American National Museum, numerous historical houses in the Los Angeles area, the Bowers Museum, the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, the City of Newport, The City of Laguna Beach, Mission San Juan Capistrano, the City of Las Vegas, the State of Utah, This Is The Place Monument in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young University, the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints headquarters in Salt Lake City for five different departments, Daughters of Utah Pioneers International Museum Plus several of their small town local museums, Fort Brigg El Paso Texas Army Base, Edwards Air Force Base in California, the Coast Guard exhibit center in Maryland, Fort Wood Army Base in Missouri, Port Hueneme Naval Base in California, The City of Cedar Rapids Iowa, the General Services Administration in Pennsylvania Washington DC New Mexico California Texas Georgia, The City of Dallas, the State of Texas, Texas State University, Texas Southern University, Fair Park Dallas Texas, the City of New Orleans…

On our website there is a link in the navigation bar for Mural Projects and another link for Consultation Projects. This is a list off the top of my head. I’m sure I’ve forgotten many others that we’ve served over the last 40 years.”

Do you think they can trust us to give them reliable information about their artwork?

A thank you after our work at Edwards Air Force Base

Questions? Call Scott M. Haskins, Oriana Montemurro, Virginia Panizzon Art Conservators 805 564 3438  faclartdoc@gmail.com

Posted in Consulation, Professional activities | Tagged | 3 Comments

Thomas Fire and Mudslides- Saving Family Treasures


There are family heirlooms, art, antiques, family history items and treasures that can still be saved and preserved in very good condition in a house that is in this situation! Use care in the removal process. Their preservation can make all the difference for the owners in emotionally recouping from this disaster for years/decades to come. Wow, what a photo above!

Don’t know what to do, need help with questions about insurance claims? ProBono, expert art conservation advice.   https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/disaster-emergency-response/smoke-damage-restoration-of-artwork-antiques-and-collectibles/

Call me on my mobile. Scott M. Haskins 805 570 4140

This mudslide in Montecito, CA was the result of extensive fires in the mountains above the city. When the rains came soon after, all of this came down onto the residential area.

The Thomas Fire in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas at the end of 2017 was classified as the largest wildfire (acreage) in the history of California. Over 1000 structures were lost in the firestorm driven by 40-70 mph winds in the backcountry which threatened densely populated areas prompting the mandatory evacuation of more than 16,000 residents with many more voluntarily leaving for more that a couple of weeks. Even though the fire was not driven into the cities, the wind blew smoke and ash onto 100,000s of local residents and polluted skies northward past San Francisco, 600 miles away.

Within about a week from the advancement of the most dangerous onslaught of the fire’s advancement, 6″ of rain in the mountains unleashed a horrific mudslide pushing before it boulders, autos, trees and you can image what else mostly doing to damage in the Montecito suburb and closing the main artery 101 freeway for weeks. The mud slid, basically, from the mountains and hills to the beaches.

Fine Art Conservation Laboratories has a special division of services to offer to disaster response companies, insurance companies and directly to collectors and owners to help respond professionally to the care, restoration and conservation of artwork, collectibles, keepsakes and antiques: Here’s a quick video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr9CEqBQCEA

We got our first call from a resident in the mudslide area today; 3 ft of mud… in the house! Unbelievably, they got out with the bare minimum… and their favorite painting… but there is a house of family memories to save as soon as they (and we) are let back in.

The mud on this painting smells like sewage. Its always a good precaution to protect your health when handling items from a mudslide in inhabited areas.

The mud etc can be removed safely from this artwork and is completely recoverable. Another day has passed and I’ve inspected about 25 works of art, all cleanable and can be returned to pre-disaster condition.

Scott M. Haskins, Virginia Panizzon, Oriana Montemurro

Art Conservators

805 564 3438 office      faclartdoc@gmail.com

Posted in Disaster/Emergency Response | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Smoke Damage Restoration of Artwork, Antiques and Collectibles

The Thomas Fire in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas at the end of 2017 was classified as the largest wildfire (acreage) in the history of California. Over 1000 structures were lost in the firestorm driven by 40-70 mph winds in the backcountry which threatened densely populated areas prompting the mandatory evacuation of more than 16,000 residents with many more voluntarily leaving for more that a couple of weeks. Even though the fire was not driven into the cities, the wind blew smoke and ash onto 100,000s of local residents and polluted skies northward past San Francisco, 600 miles away. Fine Art Conservation Laboratories has a special division of services to offer to disaster response companies, insurance companies and directly to collectors and owners to help respond professionally to the care, restoration and conservation of artwork, collectibles, keepsakes and antiques: Here’s a quick video:

Just today we have processed a dozen or so requests for evaluations and inspections of smoked artwork, sculptures, family photos, model train sets, ceramics and collectibles… all of the cherished items that make up a family’s heritage and history.

Once such family has been in the railroad business for 4 generations and you can image that connection they feel with their family’s memorabilia! What a heartbreak to see the damage but what a wonderful moment to share with them how everything can be cleaned up to good and new.

We help compile inventories and reports for insurance reporting.

We can re-hang the artwork and secure art objects for seismic safety.

We are prepared to handle the logistics and treatments of many items at once. We are easy to communicate with and we can provide door to door service even over long distances.

Let’s Talk! Contact us: Scott M. Haskins, Andrew Jacobs 805 564 3438 office, 805 570 4140 mobile, faclartdoc@gmail.com

Double cleaning of an oil painting

This painting required a double cleaning in order to remove the smoke and debris “safely.” No original paint was removed and the full value was returned.

Here are some testimonials and examples

of our work with other disaster response companies:

Smoke Damage (Testimonial): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMPlQ90iJtc

Water Damage (Testimonial Mrs. Dau): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Umg_5trfe8

Water Damage (Testimonial Las Vegas): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_YupoIRRcs

Damage in Storage – Rip Repair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2Jxozdtl0w

Expert Author – Tom Antion Hurricane Testimonial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwBbcAF-j8A

Water Damaged Paintings: https://animoto.com/play/YGtMXOyRkR8Z0Y8QPx4gsw

Water damaged art treatment – blog: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/in-lab/art-damaged-over-and-over/

Smoke Damage – Elite Restoration – Blog Post: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/travel/smoke-damage-on-artwork-we-work-as-a-sub-to-disaster-response-companies/

Let’s Talk! Contact us:

Scott M. Haskins, Andrew Jacobs

805 564 3438 office, 805 570 4140 mobile,

faclartdoc@gmail.com

Posted in Disaster/Emergency Response | Tagged | 19 Comments

Cleaning a painting with smoke damage 30 sec video

Cleaning smoke damage from artwork, other framed items and collectibles is a service we routinely take care of. Paintings are often darkened by discolored varnish too. This gorgeous tonalist vintage painting, about 1920, by Granville Redmond  re-emerges from the darkness to its former glory. It glowed after we cleaned it and put the conservation grade varnish layers of it.

Questions about cleaning a painting?

Scott M. Haskins, Oriana Montemurro, Virginia Panizzon – Art Conservators

805 564 3438

faclartdoc@gmail.com

#ArtConservation #ArtRestoration #PaintingConservation #PaintingRestoration

Posted in Disaster/Emergency Response, In Lab, Painting on canvas | Tagged , | 20 Comments

Can Botched, Over-Restored Art (repainted) Be Saved? Clean an oil painting

Wonder Woman has been busy lately saving the world and now she’s doing art restoration on ancient statues at the Met and saving the world’s heritage too. I’m glad that she sees saving our heritage as an important work worthy of her time and she’s amazing at beating up the bad guys but would you want her “delicate touch” and “trained eye” to restore your artwork?! I don’t recall that education or experience being part of her training on the hidden lost island of Amazon Warrior Women.

BC and AC Wonder Woman low res

Lots of well-intentioned people think that restoring artwork is like “fixing” anything else. Art restorationists with a traditional craftsman background usually have no idea why they use certain materials or do certain techniques other than “that’s the way its always been done.” That’s always been a recipe for disaster. It is common that something horrific usually happens when do-it-your-selfers start restoring historical items (there are standards, guidelines, ethics to follow). Chief culprits are artists who think that because they can paint a painting, they can restore any painting. Their restorations can have severe consequences for the value of the artwork.

These untrained, undisciplined restorers have no idea why works of art fall apart. And, of course, they have no idea as to the aging problems of the materials/supplies they use for restoring. But most importantly, they don’t honor or respect the original creation, historical value or aesthetics, even if they are flawed (in their opinion).

spanish-painting-jesus-badly-restored-thg-120822-wmain-jpg_190910

The above photos got viral international internet fame when the painting on the left was restored – the final result is on the right. Yes, this is THE ACTUAL APPEARANCE OF THE artwork AFTER RESTORATION!! You might say, “You’ve GOT to be kidding me!!!” This got a lot of outrage…. and then hilarious parody responses from the public…

Before and After Restoration of Warhol’s Iconic Marilyn

Warhol before and after Do-it-yourself-art-restoration

What some people are afraid of if they restore the “Giaconda.”

Restored Mona Lisa

Artists put their own vibe on other artist’s artwork they restore

Artist restoring vintage painting- his own vibe

This makes me feel like someone stole Christmas.

Baby Jesus Restored by a do-it-yourselfer

Do it yourself art restoration

You may think this is funny!

But the sad thing is that this type of art restoration happens all the time!

We just returned this completed portrait to her family a short time ago…

On the left is the photo of how the painting looked AFTER restoration when it came back from a “professional” Russian restorer in the Los Angeles area not long ago! IT DIDN’T LOOK ANYTHING LIKE THEIR GRANDMOTHER! As you might imagine, the family was crushed, as they thought the original, cherished oil painting of their dear grandmother was damaged beyond repair and lost forever. On the right is our after-restoration photo of the ancestral portrait, AFTER all the previous “restoration” was removed and the original portrait was recuperated. You should have seen the owner’s/family’s faces!

Nellie Before and After

Here’s another sad previous restoration of an exquisite Spanish Colonial painting in the Franciscan archives of California. Even though the restoration looks dark and sad, at least it remotely looks like the original! The photo on the left is the restored, repainted old master. After we cleaned off all the repainting to re-reveal the original, we then properly stabilized deterioration, cleaned the underlying “gunk,” carefully and discretely inpainted only the paint losses, being careful to not slop over onto the original. Conservation grade varnish layers allowed the painting to glow and look its best. The photo on the right of the face shows the final results after conservation. Look how many wonderful details reappeared!!!

Repainted face of Spanish Colonial Madonna

Repainting a work of art as an excuse for “restoration” is, of course something that kills the value of the original: Its no longer by the artist, its no longer from the period or age of the original… its killed.

The details of restorations that involve repainting can often be sorted out to a certain degree with analysis.

You may have heard that the Charles Dickens Museum in London was excited to find out that they own an original portrait by an important Victorian artist. The bad news is that it is almost entirely hidden under later overpainting. Heavy overpainting across most of the surface, covers up to 70% of the original including most of the face. The painting is believed to be an attempt to mask the damage caused by an equally disastrous attempt to clean the picture, long before it came to the museum.

The picture has been subjected to extensive tests at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, the conservation department of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. X-radiography, ultraviolet visible fluorescence and infrared reflectography (which we do in our lab) were used to see the underlying details better.

For more on IR, click here: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/research-and-authentication/lost-leonardo-searched-for-with-infrared-its-also-used-to-help-art-collectors-find-lost-signatures-–-a-short-video/

For in on UV, click here: https://www.fineartconservationlab.com/research-and-authentication/analysis-of-art-can-reveal-hidden-details-important-to-authentication-and-value/

 

Cindy Sughrue, director of the museum, hopes to raise the money for full restoration of the painting. “This has been an interesting process to say the least, and one that has seen us swinging from despair to elation.”

“Anyone could see looking at it that it wasn’t quite right – one conservator commented that she looks more like a southern belle – but until we got the scans back it was hard to say exactly what had happened to it,” Price said. “It’s a great relief to know that most of the original painting is still there and we should be able to recover it.”

Removing a fake portrait from a vintage portrait
Thomas Rebok, Art Conservator in S. Africa: https://www.fine-art-restoration.co.za photographed the removal of one portrait from off of another portrait.

To discuss the value of your painting, call my friend Scot Levitt at Bonhams Auction House in Los Angeles. Tell him Scott Haskins sent you. I promise, he’ll be nice to you! 323 436 5425 scot.levitt@bonhams.com

Art conservation – restoration questions? Call Scott M. Haskins, Oriana Montemurro, Virginia Panizzon – Painting Conservators 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.com

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate, Certified Appraiser 805 895 5121

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In the news recently: the past restoration work on the painting Salvador Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci was so extensive and poorly done that it was no longer attributed to him. The only way to recoup the value? Remove all the restorations and see what was left by the Master. Photo on left is the painting after the past restorations were removed; photo on right is after the careful and excellent quality recent painting conservation treatments that allowed for the artwork to sell at Christies in Nov. 2017 for $430 million.Before and After Painting Conservation Salvador Mundi

Salvador Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci – Before and After Final Painting Conservation Treatments before the sale

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Posted in Painting on canvas, Research and Authentication | Tagged | 16 Comments