Conservation Prof.Martens Flashcards
What is varnish damage and how do you remove it?
Varnish damage: oxidation - turning yellow, running blue, blinded varnish, excrement of flies, test window removal varnish central panel.
Varnish removal: Dry mechanical cleaning with eraser (or by rotating movements with fingers), overcleaned varnish, mechanical removal with scalpel, varnish removal with solvent.
Why is magnification useful when looking at paintings?
You are able to see small details the naked eye cannot pick up
What are some risks of degradation for supports?
Fungi
Insects
Worm holes
Climate
What are the types of retouching?
-oil retouching
-resin retouching
-resin-oil retouching
retouching with aqueous solutions
- Aquarel retouching
- Gouache retouching
- Egg tempera retouching
retouching with synthetic media
-acrylic resin retouching (e.g. Paraloïd B72 dissolved in toluene or xylene)
- Polyvinyl acetate retouching (PVAc) (e.g. Mowilith dissolved in ethanol)
-polyvinyl alcohol retouching (PVAl) (e.g. Mowiol dissolved in water)
- Keton-resin retouching
What are blisters?
Paint layer lifts forming air bubbles
What are some flaking in paintings?
Flaking types: On panel and canvas, disintegration of binding medium, cupping (migration of moisture from exterior wall through canvas and paint layers), blisters on transferred canvas, heat damage, chemical damage.
What do conservators not do?
Conservators do not create new cultural or historical goods, other professions do replicas of objects that have been lost.
What does the training and education of a conservator-restorer include?
Knowledge of history of art and civilizations, methods of research and documentation, knowledge of technology and materials, conservation theory and ethics, conservation-restoration history and technology, chemistry, biology and physics of deterioration processes and of conservation methods
What is cupping?
Migration of moisture from exterior wall through canvas and paint layers
Part of paint layer becomes concave
What causes delaminating?
-Movement in support by fluctuating RH
-Movement in support by fluctuating temperature
-Wrong painterly structure
-Colouring layers getting brittle by ageing
-Decreasing adhesion of medium by ageing through
micro-organisms
-Wrong treatment (e.g. wrong lining)
-Mechanical impact
What is the cleaning controversy in conservation?
Removing varnish is considered problematic (mostly in Italian school) as it can remove top layers of paint.
What are the limits of a conservator’s expertise?
Conservator must work within the limit of their expertise and seek help from others when they lack knowledge
How far does different imaging techniques penetrate?
How to clean loosely hanging canvases?
Cleaning reverse: cleaning under air pressure, deformation caused by textile patches, removing old lining, facing, vacuum hot-table, treatment of wrinkles, treatment of tears (textile patch with starch or wax), gluing fibre under microscope.
What are some types of retouching?
- Oil retouching
- Resin retouching
- Resin-oil retouching
- Retouching with aqueous solutions
Aquarelle retouching
Gouache retouching
Egg tempera retouching - Retouching with synthetic media
Acrylic resin retouching (e.g., Paraloïd B72 dissolved in toluene or xylene)
Polyvinyl acetate retouching (PVAc) (e.g., Mowilith dissolved in ethanol)
Polyvinyl alcohol retouching (PVAl) (e.g., Mowiol dissolved in water)
Keton-resin retouching
What are some forms of degradation?
Rimpling
Discolouring
Increasing transparency through formation of led soaps
Bleeding
Bleaching
Darkening
Waning
Premature cracks
Age cracks
Cracks caused by stretcher
Spiral cracks from bumping into canvas
Fake cracks - incisions
Fake cracks - paint baked in hot heat to make it look older
What is a textile patch on a canvas?
Repair damaged canvas with a textile patch
How can you repair wormholes in a wooden panel?
Fill holes with epoxy resin
It does discolour the wood
What is filler made from?
Glue based filler (e.g. glutine glue and chalk)
Emulsion filler (glue – oil - chalk)
Oil filler (oil – leadwhite or chalk = mastic)
Wax-resin filler
Beva 371-chalk filler
Contains synthetic resin and paraffine desolved in tolueen and gazoline
synthetic resin filler
What are some types of reinforcements for wooden panels?
What is the purpose of ICOM and ICOM CC?
Action aimed at protecting cultural heritage, ensuring expansibility for future generations, and clarification of language between conservator, restaurateur, and curator.
How can flaking paint be fixed to support?
Injecting glue behind paint layer and then pressing down paint layer to fasten
What is varnish cracking?
When the varnish layer cracks on top of the paint layer
There can be cracks in the paint layer and the varnish layer
How can a support be treated when infested with fungi or insects?
Inject with poison
How common is interdisciplinary work in conservation?
Interdisciplinary work with conservation has become more common in later years even though it has been common in other fields for many years.
What is a luxmeter?
Instrument that measures light
How can a canvas be repaired?
Sewing ripped part
Applying patch with starch of wax
Glueing fibres under stereo microscope
Woven in mending of hole
What are ideal properties of glue in conservation of supports?
- minimal negative ageing
- tensionless hardning
- insensitive to climate influence
- cold usage
- glued join cannot be stronger than the original panel
Different types
Glutine glue
Artificial glue (epoxy)
How is the document idealistic and vague?
The document says little about interventions itself, doesn’t talk about treatment matters, provides little protection for the conservator and doesn’t mention reversibility of conservation.
How can a counterfeit painting be spotted?
Fake cracks
Fake signature over cracks
What is heat damage?
When painting is heated over 75 C
How do you use preventative conservation?
By controlling humidity and temperature to stay the same
Packaging safely during trips
Registration, storage, handling, safety, environmental, emergency planning, public awareness
Aim to slow down decay