What Does It Cost to Clean a Painting?
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Transcript of What Does It Cost to Clean a Painting?
“How Much Does It Cost To Clean A Painting?”
Do you mean this one... ... or this one ... or this one... or?
Damaged in a fire Nicotine with flaking paint Sealed in grime and abundant bad retouchings
Obviously, each one is tested to discover the best and safest way for its
particular needs. No off the shelf products are used. You don’t hit it with a
mop!
As a painting conservator in private practice I'm asked everyday over the phone or
from a photo and email, "How much does it cost to clean a painting?" as if it were a
per square inch trades-‐estimate like laying electrical conduit or painting a house.
We don't hit anything with a mop. The article below illustrates well the discovery
process and the care required on this particular Old Master painting. But Old Master
paintings clean differently than Impressionist paintings. Beaux Arts paintings clean
differently than Post War Abstract Expressionism. Modern acrylic paintings are
different than your family's 19th century family portrait.
In fact, we worked on the famous series of 40 paintings, ALL done between 1874
and 1886 of the Spanish missions of California by (THE SAME ARTIST) Henry
Chapman Ford for the Mission Inn in Riverside CA... and everyone of them had to be
cleaned differently than the other.
It takes discovery and analysis, care and judgment and a professional work ethic. To
see the difference between cleaning the artwork in this article and an Impressionist
picture with a lot less complications watch this short time-‐lapse cleaning video of a
renown CA Impressionist Edgar Payne's artwork... and this wasn't a quick-‐wipe-‐
cleaning either! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-‐DSzHcEBZ40 Give us a call and we’ll gladly take the time to discuss your questions. Connect with us and we’ll inspect your painting and give you an estimate for free. If you live between Monterey, Ca and San Diego or Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, we’ll even provide door to door service.
Contact Fine Art Conservation Laboratories at 805 564 3438 http://www.FineArtConservationlab.com for a short video tour of our lab
If we are going to invest the time and resources to fully conserve a work of art, we want to be sure the work is worth the effort. Is the painting worthy of the time and resources? Are we learning anything about the painting, the artist, or the subject? Is the original in good enough condition to reveal it, or is the damage too severe? The NCMA portraits of Lord and Lady Cavendish by Paul van Somer have rarely left the gallery walls in the past few decades. They are considered key works in our collection, holding an important place as good early portraits and favorites of our Education Department. The Cavendish family was prominent in early 17th-‐century England. Our Lord William was a leading member of court society, a member of Parliament, and a close friend of King James I. After William’s untimely death from “overindulgence,” his wife, Lady Christian, navigated debt and civil war to preserve the family fortunes.
While many paintings are attributed to Paul van Somer, only a handful are irrefutably by his hand. A Flemish portrait painter, Van Somer went to England at age 40 and quickly became a favorite of King James I and his Queen Anne of Denmark. Van Somer’s work in England formed an important transition between the stiff and formal paintings of Queen Elizabeth’s day and the more naturalistic painting realized by Van Dyck in the mid 17th century. Van Somer died at 45, leaving behind only a few documented paintings, making the NCMA’s signed and dated pair highly important to the understanding of his oeuvre.
In the natural course of events, restoration seems to happen about once every hundred years when works of art change hands, are inherited, sold, or purchased. Each cycle tends to include retouching or overpainting and the application of varnish. With time these restorations age and degrade, resulting in darkening and discoloration. As a result the quality of the artist’s work becomes harder to discern, sometimes to the point that you can’t see the original at all. Our 400-‐year-‐old Van Somers appear to have received at least three rounds of restoration. While the paintings are “readable,” we see only a suggestion of the original color and detail. A modern conservation treatment addresses this by removing all nonoriginal material to the extent possible without damaging the work of the artist. Conservators have to proceed with great caution to avoid any damage to the original painting. The preferred route is to “unpack” the accumulated layers one by one, systematically removing them from newest to oldest. The most recent varnish and restoration paint on our Cavendish portraits was probably applied in the early 20th century, not long before they came to the Museum in the 1950s. This restoration layer was removed fairly quickly with simple mixtures of mild solvents applied with large cotton swabs. The next layer probably dates from the 18th or early 19th century. Aging restoration materials tend to become increasingly insoluble with time. These layers follow that pattern, requiring more complex cleaning systems with stronger solvents. The third and oldest restoration lies directly on the surface of the original paint.
This layer can be indirectly dated by the late 17th century cartalini or inscription in the lower corner of each portrait that was painted on top of this restoration layer. This restoration covers paint damage, losses that suggest water damage, and long creases that might occur from trauma or neglect. This last layer of restoration proved to be very hard and insoluble, difficult if not impossible to remove with conventional cleaning methods. Conservators often avoid removing this type of restoration for fear of damaging the underlying original. But with the help of a laser invented by Duke professor and art conservator Adele De Cruz, combined with solvents and scalpels, we are able to remove this layer and reveal the underlying original colors and details. This work is performed under high magnification to ensure the original paint surface isn’t harmed. This is really slow work, a few inches a day at best. We’ve uncovered numerous fine details of Van Somers’s technique, including the beautifully painted garments and the diamond and pearl jewelry. Most exciting has been the rediscovery of the long-‐lost emerald green background and the blue feather in Lady Cavendish’s hair. This work is slowly changing the paintings from their overall brown appearance to the subtle but opulent red, purple, and green color scheme initially realized by the artist. The cleaning is also revealing long scratches and numerous islands of paint loss, as well as significant abrasion and alteration from past restorations. Nevertheless, along with the reality of what the painting has lost comes the revelation of long-‐hidden nuance and detail, evidence of the artist’s hand that has been obscured by time and restoration. If we’ve done our job well, then we have a whole new understanding of the skill of Paul van Somer, and a better idea of what Sir William and Lady Christian really looked like.