Now that I’ve reduced the distracting bumps caused by the previous lining adhesive, I must now re-line the picture to another auxiliary canvas support. I was hoping not to have to re-line the picture, but it was not possible to locally mend the tear since the fibers along the tear edges were too frayed and weak.
It’s now time to move onto the structural phase of the conservation treatment for the Canaletto work. Structural work entails further securing of any loose media, such as paint or ground, and any repairs if necessary to the canvas and stretcher. Our Canaletto was lined in the past, which means that the original canvas was adhered to a secondary canvas. There are a variety of reasons historically why paintings were lined, but in the case of the Canaletto it was most likely due to the tear in the original canvas.
After many hours and consultations with Timothy, cleaning is complete. I am always amazed at how much more one sees of a picture once the discolored varnish is removed—subtle details in the composition become visible and the picture's overall sense of depth is enhanced.
I’ve been cleaning the Canaletto, taking my Q-tips to the surface and gently removing all of the restorer-applied discolored varnish and overpaint. Upon removal of some overpaint, an area discussed in our earlier video post, I discovered a turret, or tower. This is a pretty exciting discovery. While it doesn't make a lot of visual sense in the context of the painting, it is nevertheless interesting and makes one wonder if it was overpainted in the first place because it didn't work or if there was some other reason.
It's likely you have a photograph, painting, illustrated card, or drawing that just doesn't look the same as it did when you first brought it home. Heck, you probably have a shirt that isn't as bright as it once was and maybe there's a stain or two on it reminding you of a not-so-graceful moment. The world is a tough place and the effects of temperature, light, water/humidity, and other humans mark us and our things without fail.
Now that the painting has gotten a thorough check-up and health assessment by the curatorial and conservation teams, it is time to decide how best to treat it.
In the beginning of the summer, I began working at the DAM. Since then, I have been reviewing objects selected for upcoming textile art exhibitions to determine the conservation treatments that will be required and ensuring that necessary supplies and equipment are on hand to perform the treatments. I am undertaking the conservation of textile-based collections in the Margaret Page Conservation Laboratory in the lower level of the Hamilton Building.
Denver Art Museum staff are publishing a multi-part series on a long lost painting recently located in our collections.
In my last post, I discussed some of the techniques I used to examine the Canaletto. In this post I will review (with pictures!) my findings. The techniques discussed were: normal, raking and specular illumination, ultraviolet-A radiation, and x-radiation. I was able to gather useful information from all of the techniques for my assessment.
I’ve finally been able to more closely examine the Canaletto to gain a better understanding of its present overall condition and treatment history. Generally, the picture is in better shape than I anticipated. To come to that conclusion I used a variety of evaluative and analytical techniques to assess the painting’s structural and aesthetic state. These non-destructive techniques range from looking closely at the picture in bright and varied lighting to bathing the picture in ultraviolet or x-radiation.
My story is about the discovery and subsequent process of reaching consensus on the attribution of an unpublished early work by the Italian veduto (vista or views) painter Giovanni Antonio Canal, called il Canaletto I 1697 – 1768 at the Denver Art Museum. Yes, even unknown works by old master artists can be found even in museum storage areas.
I chanced upon this painting one day in 2007 while looking at works with other staff members from the Department of Painting and Sculpture in storage.
I was happy to hear from Timothy Standring, the curator of European painting and sculpture, that the Denver Art Museum was awarded the TEFAF grant to treat a long lost Canaletto picture, Venice: the Molo from the Bacino di San Marco. Though eager to look at the picture myself, I was also a little apprehensive to learn of its condition because pictures of this age are often heavily restored or "touched up," which may have been the reason it was overlooked in the first place.
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First Look