Library of Congress holds Preservation Week Activities

Library of Congress holds Preservation Week Activities 

- two webinars for Saving Your Stuff - collectibles- at home 

http://saveyourstuffblog.com/archival/library-of-congress-holds-preservation-week-activities/

Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438

Update on Smuggled Russian Royalty

Remember the story of Smuggled Russian Royalty (http://fineartconservationlab.blogspot.com/2010/01/russian-royalty-smuggled-out.html)? Well, here's an update:

The 3 Royalty portraits ,were stabilized but not inpainted ( touched up) because owner wanted to show them in their most original condition. But here's the fun thing..After we delivered the 3 portraits back,  the owner, then  had them appraised at The Antiques Roadshow.

Clean this painting? E. Roscoe Shrader Condition Evaluation

E. Rosco Shrader vintage oil painting condition question results in a good lesson for art collectors: http://tipsforfineartcollectors.org/cleaning/e-rosco-shrader-condition-question/

See art conservation subject videos on YouTube , click here “bestartdoc”

Follow us on Facebook click here: “Fine Art Conservation”

Repair a painting, Clean a painting Las Vegas

We’ve been providing art conservation and painting restoration services to private clients in Las Vegas for many years. When we get a call to restore a painting, clean a painting, fix artwork, repair a rip in a canvas painting, analyze a painting we schedule a personal visit to look over/evaluate the artwork at your location, offering a estimate of the work up front at no charge. Then, if the work is to be done, we offer PU/Delivery to your home or office.

See a new 1 1/2 min intro video and a tour of our lab: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/art-painting-conservation-restoration-las-vegas/

One of the collections we provide to service to focuses on collecting Old Master Dutch paintings.

Questions? Call Scott Haskins 805 564 3438

Art appraisal Questions? Call Richard Holgate 805 895 5121

Also, follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FineArtConservation

Can Collectibles Survive Until They Become Heirlooms?

 I have a client who specializes in selling things on E-Bay. What a fun personality she is! And what experiences she has with all the people she meets. She's my guest blogger for this posting: meet Michele.

As a long time eBay consignment seller and trading assistant, I’ve had a lot of collectibles pass through my hands. I’ve also been invited into many homes to review and value collections of items for owners seeking to sell at profit or who are seeking to immediately liquidate items for needed cash on the spot. I’m often shown many collectibles and keepsakes, just for “show”, but I’m told they’re too dear to the family and not for sale.

Time and again I’m struck by how little people do to protect these collectibles and heirlooms that they insist they could never part with for any amount of money. Surely then, they’re worth a very small amount of money to protect and preserve them against the damages of water, earthquakes and being mishandled? Certainly also, collectible objects should be anchored to protect against breakage from being inadvertently bumped or, heaven forbid, shaken from their shelves and wall mounts and such in the event of an earthquake or other disaster.

There are such simple steps anyone can take to preserve their precious keepsakes and collectibles. When I mention things to the people I meet like anchoring shelves to walls, or anchoring collectibles down to shelves or using archival plastic bags for photo albums and so on, I’m often given what my mom used to call the $10 stare. Lately I’ve been mentioning Scott’s book, How to Save Your Stuff from a Disaster…, to the people I’ve been meeting with. If people aren’t prompted by my advice to them, maybe they’ll at least buy a book and take action after they see what I’ve said to them reinforced in print.

Btw, here's a quick video to illustrate just how easy it can be to protect and save paper items: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A_7h4yTskE

Analyzing ArtWork - Authentication of Paintings

This week at Fine Art Conservation Laboratories, I have a client coming to see me (Scott M. Haskins) with a Van Dyke to be authenticated. As part of the authentication process, analysis will help establish that all the materials in the artwork are from the correct period of time. We'll be conducting a battery of "entry level" analysis - testing which will include inspection with ultraviolet (UV) light (see http://tipsforfineartcollectors.org/blacklight-package/), Infrared (IR) examination, X- radiography (x-rays), pigment sampling and evaluation with a polarizing microscope and a stereobinocular microscope.

These tests will be done before we submit the painting to more sophisticated (expensive) analysis, if the painting passes these tests! And then, given the successful results from those tests... we'll then write up the reports and submit the findings to the appropriate scholar. It will be VERY interesting!

The polarizing microscope can be used for analyzing and identifying pigments

Do you have questions about your artwork? Call Scott M. Haskins at 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

Painting Conservation - Restoration Can Help You Find a Treasure

Whether you are interested in this from an insurance point of view, a resales point of view or a collector's point of view,  you may find this blog post interesting: Painting conservation and restoration and how it affects sales - an example from the LA Art Show http://ping.fm/KrVKm 

If you find the article interesting, please leave a comment, pass it along to others and click on the THUMBS UP.

All my best

Scott

1920's Edgar Payne Painting of Sierra Lake Scene Found - Never Before Seen

It mystifies me where the top art dealers continue to find these great paintings year after year. This is another great example of Edgar Payne's (1883 - 1947)  plein aire masterful works. I can't imagine the effort it took to load up the horse, pack it in to the back country... to go paint!!!!! But the trickier task was to then, pack it all out without ruining your brand new, wet, oil paintings! 

This is what the painting looked like still dirty with a side light (raking light) to show off the cracks better. To see what the painting looks like after conservation and to hear more about the art restoration processes, go to http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/travel/long-lost-edgar-payne-sierra-lake-scene-found-2b-shown-at-la-art-show/


Scott Haskins and FACL, Inc. have worked on over 250 Edgar Payne's paintings over the years with the overwhelming consensus being that the work is top quality. Click here to see some testimonials.


You can see the painting this week at the LA Art Show in George Stern's booth. He and his son, Steve Stern who is also an art dealer, were the one's that turned up this lost treasure.


Art conservation questions? Call Scott at 805 564 3438
Art Appraisal Questions? Call Richard at 805 895 5121


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Mural Restoration in LDS Salt Lake City Temple

The historic Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City will be closed for a couple of weeks end of Jan beginning of Feb for maintenance. The opportunity will be taken to lightly clean and varnish the murals in two of the three mural rooms. See story at http://mormonartconservation.org/murals/salt-lake-temple-murals-to-be-cleaned-and-varnished/

Graffiti Removal AGAIN From Morphesis by Twitchell under Grant Ave. Overpass in LA | Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL, Inc.)

Graffiti Removal AGAIN From Morphesis by Twitchell under Grant Ave. Overpass in LA | Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL, Inc.)