Conservation Treatment of Paintings
		The restoration of a 1933 Leman mural   in the Saskatchewan Legislative Building.   read more>> Oil on Canvas: Painting of Chinese Village, ca.2000, 39 ¾” x 47 1/8”. Private owner. Before Treatment: Painting was rolled when shipped from China and ground layer is brittle which resulted in severe horizontal cracks and deformation. After Treatment: The painting is completely in-plane and appears as intended. During Treatment: The cracks and canvas are brought in plane on the heated suction table. Before Treatment: Detail showing severity of cracking in raking light. After Treatment: Detail of cracked area restored. Oil on Canvas: Landscape painting, Adamson, 14 x 28, n.d. Before Treatment: This family heirloom was torn, brittle, with raised cracks, stretcher cracks and a discolored varnish. After Treatment: Cleaned painting was given a solvent vapor treatment to flatten cracks and was lined to stabilize and repair the canvas. Detail Before Treatment: Detail of tear, cracks and stretcher crease. Detail After Treatment: Center top, cracks are reduced and tear is repaired. Acrylic on Canvas: Norville Morrisseau, 2003. 21” x 31 ¾”. Private Owner. Before Treatment: Painting had frayed and deformed, tears and abrasions can be seen in raking light. After Treatment: Tear was inpainted with a reversible media and rub removed. Before Treatment: Detail showing tear area and black rub at top left of fish. After Treatment: Torn area was carefully reshaped with humidity and pressure to align properly; painting was lined to repair tears. Oil on Canvas: “Moving Out”, P. Regehr, 24 ¼ x 18 1/8, n.d. Before Treatment: Painting was in a house fire. It had heat-damage, soot and deformations. After Treatment: The painting was carefully cleaned, re-stretched, restored in heat damaged areas, and provided with a new frame. Oil on Canvas: “Mount Thule, Bylot Island”, Lawren Harris, 91.5 x 112.5 x 7.5 cm, framed, 1930. Public museum collection. This important Canadian historic painting had ongoing conditions of instability and had been conserved many times over the years to stabilize paint and replace missing image. Our conservators and the custodial museum conservators discussed treatment of this painting. Because the painting is in high demand for access through exhibition, it required a full consolidation and stabilization treatment to withstand future touring. In our lab, this extent of treatment is reserved for a painting in very unstable condition exposed to a high degree of risk for damage or deterioration. Before Treatment: This Group of Seven painting had a network of cracks through the entire surface with associated cleaving and flaking, which can be seen in raking light. After Treatment: The paintings stability, durability and image have been improved as can be seen in raking light. During Treatment: Areas of previous conservation/restoration were removed so that they could be replaced. During Treatment: Following vapour treatment, the painting was consolidated on the heated suction table to stabilize flaking paint. During Treatment: Removal of the discolored varnish layers. During Treatment: The original colors in the sky and mountain are revealed during the varnish removal. During Treatment: A fill was applied with a paint brush to areas of loss.
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