12/08/2020
A quick summary of the below article would be:
Preservation framing can be safely undertaken by framers who have taken the time to learn its fundamentals, and can show their qualifications. However, conservation of artworks, with its inherent perils and risks must be left to those who have studied and trained in this field....i.e. NOT a framer!!!
Beware the Perils
of Restoration
By Hugh Phibbs
Preservation Consultant
'Preservation' is simple: it comprises keeping things from changing. It is also safe, since when nothing is changed, no risk accrues.
'Conservation' is fraught with peril. This is especially true of its restorative component, amending the appearance of degraded works. Not only is it risky, it is less rewarding than it might be, since it is all labor. The Internet is filled with examples of works that were defaced by well meaning, but poorly trained, hands. To highlight the dangers of altering valued items, here are some reminders of why conservation must be left to conservators.
Changing a work on paper in any way is extremely perilous. Adding a solvent, like water, may lessen some staining, initially, but those changes will revert, over time leaving an item that is worse off than before. Using heat to flatten paper can accelerate oxidation reactions, in the sheet and, here, too, the damage may take some time to become evident. The only safe option, to flatten paper is storage in a folder, under steady pressure, over a significant time, as the climate cycles through the seasons.
The repair of a broken 3D work may look acceptable initially, but adhesives are likely to discolor, in time, and removing them when that has happened is quite a challenge. Extra caution must be given to plastic adhesives, since plastics are so sensitive to ultra violet light and a classing measure of degradation is color change.
The most common attempt at “restoring” something is the “retouching” that is visited on painted surfaces that have suffered losses. In the hands of a program trained painting conservator, this comes under the heading of “in paint” and it is done with utmost caution. We can never be truly sure of what the lost material really looked like and an attempt to match a fill to the surrounding area may impart an aesthetic that differs from what was originally there. Conservators only use materials which are chemically different from the original material and which are highly soluble now and in the future. One would never use the same material that the artist used, since removal of such a “repair” would be likely to affect the surround paint. What this means is that getting the new material to visually match the old paint can be quite challenging and the problems will be compounded in the future, as the new paint will age differently from the old paint, causing the “repair” to slowly become more and more evident. These are only the problems that affect what is to be added. If anything is used to remove discolored surface coatings, other problems show up.
Removal of old varnish should never be attempted with any solvent, since that solvent can affect the paint below, making it less supple and more likely to crack. Program trained painting conservators learn how surfactants can be applied in gels and poultices to limit the pe*******on of their chemistry, but this must only be done by a highly trained hand. When the discolored surface coating is gone, the conservator if faced with the task of replacing it, since the paint layer is now open to the atmosphere and is likely to have visual discontinuities between matte and glossy areas. Suffice it to say, the chemical and physical issues this presents give pause to even the most skilled conservator.
The only areas in which works can be repaired with little risk is textile, as long as the repair does not use any solvent, including water. If stitches are added, using appropriate tension, without adding stress, they should be removable at some future date, without more damage occurring.
The saddest part of amateur restoration and its concomitant misadventure, is the fact that with all the risk that this entails, the reward may well be negligible. All such work is very time consuming and those who are not institutionally trained will not be able to ask for compensation that would be in any way commensurate with the time spent.
Preservation can be safely and profitably practiced by anyone who takes time to learn its fundamentals, while conservation and its concomitant perils and risks must be left to program trained conservators.
