Goddess Diana Art Conservation Treatments at Philadelphia Museum of Art

A couple of years ago I made a video wile I walked through the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I was surprised how many people commented and enjoyed that walk through with me. Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFULHuqJ6kw

In that video I highlighted the statue of the Goddess Diana the which was just announced that the Bank of America is funding conservation treatments and regilding. Here's an interesting article about it: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=63474#.Ucn3jhb9NjQ

The question comes up every once in awhile, "How ethical is it to redo, repaint, refinish artwork"? That's a good question! If you strip and refinish important valuable furniture, you will seriously impact the value. But, stripping a vintage car down to the metal and redoing it can enhance the value. If you repaint a damaged painting, the value goes into the toilet. But the Chinese restorers cover over damage on old ceramics so to make the damage undetectable (they think)... the value of its original nature is greatly compromised. A historic structure gets completely redone from top to bottom and it adds value to the property. If you over clean valuable wood duck decoys, the value is nil.

In this case, the worry is not about its monetary value but concerns the original nature of a historic statue. The idea with this art conservation intervention is to take it back to its original appearance but I question whether this is heavy handed. Goddess Diana has a history. Let her show off the testimonial conditions and let her be what she is now, today. She will be stunning in gold I'm sure. But her historic wrinkles will be botoxed away.

For a video tour of our lab go to http://www.fineartconservationlab.com
Art conservation questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438
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Controversial WPA Mural is Uncovered.... AGAIN!

Rediscovering lost murals?... How can you loose a mural?! Well, this controversial WPA 1930's mural by Harry Donald Jones was painted out, then cleaned, then painted out... all at the command of federal judges! Then the building was traded... what a mixed up deal! Now the Beaux Arts classical federal courthouse has been rehabbed to be  the City hall for Cedar Rapids Iowa and Scott M. Haskins  and FACL been doing the mural conservation and art restoration uncovering this high profile mural in the City Council Chambers the last couple of weeks.

Here's the scoop:http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/wpa-mural-restoration-in-city-hall-of-cedar-rapids-iowa/

Valuable Granville Redmond painting found in storage boxes

A lady called the other day who is not "into art." But she was going through her mother's boxes that were left to her and had been in storage for some time. In the box she found this little 12' x 14' painting and didn't really think about it. It really didn't appeal to her. But she could read the name, Granville Redmond 1915. Fortunately for her, she Googled the name and wowie kazowie! It was nice to know also that she Googled for someone to clean it for her and she found our website at http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/. And it was nice to know several people she talked to confirmed that she should come to see us.

So we've cleaned this nice tonalist piece and thought you'd like to see it, freshly discovered from being "lost" since it was bought back in the 20's, she said.

If you saw this for sale, would you have "black lighted" it? What would you have seen? Learn more about doing your due diligence when you buy paintings (and other collectibles) by clicking on this link: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/uv-blacklight/

A real Van Gogh? An unsolved art world mystery opens at the Nevada Museum of Art

Article in artdaily.org about authenticating a Van Gogh with infrared and x-rays is bunk! Here are some details: http://tipsforfineartcollectors.org/authentication/infrared-and-x-ray-for-authenticating-a-van-gogh/

Can I Clean My Oil Painting Myself?

"I have several oil paintings, old and dirty. Is there some way I can clean them myself?" I get asked the question often, so I'm going to answer it publicly: 

Here's the answer... and it IS a great question. Oil and acrylic painting have many painting techniques through the ages that make them susceptible to damage if you don't know what you are doing. 

Added to that is what ever is on the surface (nicotine, discolored varnish, grime... varnished over grime, lacquer, linseed oil varnish to name a few). Each is taken off in a different way. 

Those two conditions (technique plus the type of stuff you want cleaned off) make cleaning pictures the main reason and way that paintings are often damaged by inept people. 

The only cleaning technique I can offer, then, is saliva and Q-tips! You might say, "Ewwww! Spit on my painting!?!?!?! Well, the enzymes will help remove grime and by using saliva, you won't use enough water to damage the art. 

We sometimes clean paintings with saliva inch by inch and, in fact, may have a 3'x4' French Impressionist painting worth $millions coming into the lab in about 10 days that we will clean with this exact technique. The attached photo shows a painting during cleaning that took hours and hours to remove with a number of toxic solvents and lots of know how. 

See the time lapse video of the cleaning on this page: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/edgar-payne-art-restoration-and-conservation-expertise/

Art conservation questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438
Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121
Questions about the painting in this video? Call Steve Stern at 310 729 6666

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TREASURE DETECTIVES AUTHENTICATION OF STRADIVARIUS VIOLIN UTILIZED THE UV BLACK LIGHT - Learn more

LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE OF TREASURE DETECTIVES ON CNBC DEALT WITH THE AUTHENTICATION OF A STRADIVARIUS VIOLIN AND ONE OF THE “TESTS” OR METHODS OF EXAMINATION UTILIZED THE UV BLACK LIGHT.

The UV light is a standard method of inspection (or should be!) among vintage painting collectors and art conservators to help see invisible clues in the surface varnish layers. It’s interesting though that most painting collectors mistakenly consider the UV black light a simple method to understand/read. Perhaps that’s because a black light is commonly available to anyone for a reasonable price while other methods of analysis are more expensive and require more expert knowledge. In other words, there is MUCH more to see than just some purple spots that may be retouching.

 

 Here is what I hope is a good review of the use of a UV black light for looking at antique paintings. (Click on the link/colored words) However, a UV light is VERY useful for looking at and inspecting all antiques and collectibles…. I hear they are also useful for seeing scorpions in the dark.

Here is the link to this complete article at Tips for Art Collectors. Generally, thumbs up to Treasure Detectives for making a technical show entertaining. I’m a fan and stay tuned… I’m also in an upcoming episode!

Questions? Call Scott M. Haskins, art conservator at 805 564 34387

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

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Fake Art... I inspected 3 of them today before noon!

Treasure Detectives TV program is on CNBC tonight... this is the second episode in this new season pilot... should be fun to watch.  We deal with the problem of fake art all the time: Today in the lab, I had to "debunk" or pass a verdict of "FAKE!" on three paintings... all before noon! One was supposed to be by Matisse, one by Franz Bischoff and another by Maynard Dixon. My gosh they were horrible. The lady had bought them after she did research in the internet.

Sold on Ebay as a real painting, turns out that it was a print

Not only don't people know what they are buying but they don't know what they are selling. Ebay is awash with bogus art. Of course, I'm giving some of these people the benefit of the doubt and I'm saying they're just idiots and not fraudulent.

I could write volumes on fake paintings that have passed my way. Some of the stories are great. One of the techniques I use to examine the condition of art is ultraviolet light. Do you know how to use a black light when inspecting paintings? Here's a quick video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeR8_u5qSJM

Questions? Call Scott M. Haskins at 805 564 3438
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Treasure Detectives on CNBC was fun tonight!

Check out Treasure Detectives on CNBC. The show this evening was fun stuff: https://www.facebook.com/TreasureDetectives

Did I tell you that they will be doing an episode with me evaluating art with Curtis (the host) with infrared? They saw my short video and "had to have me." Here's my short vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxOqa-Aa9Nk

Gorgeous Painting by William Kendall - Short Video

Nice short video about the art conservation - painting restoration of a gorgeous painting by William Sargent Kendall for the Springville Museum of Art by Fine Art Conservation Laboratories - Scott M. Haskins. Rita Wright, Director invites you to see the museum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx_pt3P3_yw

Art conservation questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438
Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

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Flaking on Paintings 3 good tips for art collectors

by Eleanor Nelson, Guest Blogger

Flaking paint may start in quantities too small to see. In this way it can be a problem that is easy to miss, and exacerbate. The natural (even well-intentioned) urge to clean a painting tends, unfortunately, to manifest in wiping the surface down. This should never be done, whether the cloth used is wet or dry. A damp cloth can cause canvas to expand and contract which leads to further flaking and result in damage rather quickly.

Even a dry cloth, however, can do damage. Areas of flaking that only a trained conservator would spot may only need the encouragement of a sweep of a rag to begin dropping away. If you see flaking, it is best to not touch the affected area at all. When a problem arises, there can be enormous temptation to use our hands to try and solve it – even seasoned art experts can be guilty of touching paintings they know will flake. Each bit of flaking increases the time – and money - that will have to be spent on the project. The more that can be preserved, the better the chances are that the painting’s value will not drop too much.

Unfortunately, people may think they are being extra helpful by using cleaning solutions or solvents to clean a grubby painting. Never do this! Leave it to the professionals! Conservators train long and hard to learn the extremely complicated processes of cleaning works with solvents and even with training each piece requires the meticulous use of very small quantities of these powerful chemicals. Someone without training could damage a painting and impact its value very quickly indeed.

Finally, if you have noticed cracking or flaking, check to see if the piece is being exposed to a heat source like heating vents… even fireplaces, which aren’t used very much for heating these days but are still favorite places to hang paintings, are a less-obvious threat and so could feasibly cause more damage over time.

If you have found us because a similar situation has already happened, don’t despair. The good news is that the below references are trained professionals and the purpose of their job is, more often than not, erasing life’s mistakes large and small.

For a news article featuring Scott M. Haskins, art conservator, Click here: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/media-room/art-restorerconservator-scott-m-haskins-featured-in-life-section-of-newspaper/

For art conservation and painting restoration questions call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438 or faclartdoc@gmail.com

For art appraisal questions call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121 or jrholgate@yahoo.com

See short videos by Scott M. Haskins on art conservation related subjects at YouTube channel “Bestartdoc” http://www.youtube.com/user/bestartdoc?feature=mhee

See short do-it-yourself videos on collection care and emergency preparedness for art collectors, family history items, heirlooms, memorabilia at Youtube Channel “preservationcoach” http://www.youtube.com/user/preservationcoach

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