I once went through the National Gallery in Washington DC with a friend of mine who is a well known frame conservator (restorer). As we walked through looking at the collection, he pointed out framing flaws and made comments about finishes and styles. I was amazed that there was so much about these frames I had never seen... or at least noticed and I commented to him, "You know, I can walk through the entire collection of the National Gallery looking at paintings and not see a single frame." He laughed and quipped back, "Yea, I know what you mean. When I go through an art collection looking at frames, I don't see a single painting"
It all depends, of course, on what you focus on (concept applies to many areas of life!). If you are an avid museum goer, then you will be enraptured by the visual feast of the art. But there is much more to see. Let me tell you another story.
I was in Venice, with a friend, and had met the head painting conservator to go through the Accademia delle Belle Arti (I know, we could talk for hours about good times in Venice!). We began in the first gallery looking at the Gothic art, making comments, looking at evidences of previous restorations, talking about damage, discussing issues of preservation. As we went along, I translated our Italian conversation into English for my companion. We shuffled along slowly in our own little conservation world talking shop, oblivious to anyone else around us. We moved into the next gallery of Renaissance art and the Marriage of Cana by Paolo Veronese where we paused. While in front of the huge painting we began talking about the conservation/ restoration treatments, the painting's history while looking at it this way and that (it had been in a fire shortly after it had been painted). As I turned to translate, I bumped into a woman breathing down my neck!
She said, "Oh pardon me! (in English) but you are SO interesting to listen to. I've never heard anything like this!" I looked past her and we apparently had a group of 10 or more people with a guilty look on their faces for eavesdropping. I laughed and told her "No problem, you can tag along." When we finished the stroll through the galleries, we got hearty handshakes and thank you's from an experienced group of museum goers who had got to look at paintings in a whole new way for the first time.
So, let me give you some great tips to help you see something new. Is the artwork in the museum or gallery well cared for? Has it been through tough times? Here are a few tips:
• If you can ignore the composition for a moment, you may see patterns of discolored shapes that don't fit the composition. Old retouching changing colors?
• Look at the artwork in reflected light. That's right, get the glare from the lights so that the colors and composition are obliterated. Can you see dull shapes that don't correspond to the composition? Repaired rips? Areas of retouching? Repaired scratches? Uneven cleaning?
• Looking closely at the painting (don't touch!), you may see areas of very small white dots, most likely in areas of shading. Too deep of a cleaning (inept restorers) that took paint off down to the fabric?
• Again in reflected light, look for lines that pucker up forming a low ridge. Poorly repaired rips and punctures?
• Circular cracking patterns that converge in the center show evidence of a point of impact. It looks like a spider's web or a bull's eye.
• Cracking patterns, in general, can sometimes tell you if the artwork has lived its life in temperate surroundings or if it has seen unstable levels of humidity and heat. If you look carefully, you will see some paintings have lots of cracks.
• Do the cracking patterns form ridges? If the ridges are extreme, they may be ready to flake. Don't touch!!
I warn you, though, as interesting as looking for signs of repair in pictures might be, you could walk through the entire museum and not see a single painting.
About this Author
Scott M. Haskins has worked in both Europe and the U.S. as a professional conservator for the last 35 years. He has years of experience planning for and responding after earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, mold, fire and everyday home accidents and is the author of "How to Save Your Stuff from a Disaster," ( http://www.saveyourstuff.com ) a non-technical book with instructions on how to protect and save important documents, photos and other items not covered by insurance. He works with the general public, historical societies, museums, small businesses, large corporations, private collectors, art galleries, state governments and the federal government. He is an expert witness in the Los Angeles Supreme Court system and on the part of the federal government regarding public art issues. He has done consultation work for Pope John Paul's family, the Shroud of Turin project and the Getty Conservation Institute among many others. He wrote a booklet on "How To Respond After an Earthquake" of which the Bank of America Corporation distributed over 500,000 through their Human Resource Depts after the Northridge Earthquake.
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