“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.