Crawford Conservation, Inc.

07/27/2025

When paintings misrepresent the artist work either through restorations or degradation of materials those looking for inspiration are misled. Museums need to remember that artists go to museums in large part to learn and study techniques. Connoisseurs play an important role in sustaining a museum but artist are the ones seeking inspiration and help in finding a path towards the art of the future. Let’s not mislead them with paintings in poor condition.

07/27/2025

When paintings misrepresent the artist work either through restorations or degradation of materials those looking for inspiration are misled. Museums need to remember that artists go to museums in large part to learn and study techniques. Connoisseurs play an important role in sustaining a museum but artist are the ones seeking inspiration and help in finding a path towards the art of the future. Let’s not mislead them with paintings in poor condition. .

07/27/2025

If you varnish over grime because you didn’t remove it just remember it’s still there and it’s often made more difficult to remove in the future.

06/13/2025

PVA dripped over the reverse of the original canvas then lined to a canvas that was prepared with an oil ground. You can now see the results. Always a headache to remove! 😠

03/15/2025

Back when I was working on the wall paintings at the National Capital over 25 years ago. The people in those halls today don’t seem to be inspired by the paintings created by Constantino Brumidi in the late 1850’s. they probably just think its wall paper covering the walls? Maybe they will have them all painted over one day? Something I concern myself occasionally, maybe the same fate will happen to all those WPA murals in post offices and government buildings too? We will have to stand against it if we are aware that it’s happening.

08/23/2023

The NYT mini doc on the painting I treated in 2022 is finally out. It was exciting to work on the painting, it’s an important story.

The Met recently acquired “Bélizaire and the Frey Children,” a 19th-century Louisiana portrait with a secret: For over a 100 years, the image of an enslaved ...

06/15/2020

In the left image is the before repaint and discolored varnish removal, the repaint covers extensive damage to the original paint layer. The center image is the after repaint and varnish removal. The center image also shows the painting after careful inpainting of older damage in the paint layer. The third image is in Ultraviolet light, this causes the inpainting I applied over previous damage to flouresce and appear as a dark purple. You can see how my inpainting does not cover original paint unlike what is seen in the before treatment image on the left.

05/04/2020

The image shows the removal of a natural animal glue that was used as a consolidant and lining adhesive. Animal glues such as rabbit skin and fish glues deteriorate and become brittle over time. They also absorb moisture from the environment which can cause dimensional changes in the painting in an unstable environment. Mold growth can also be a concern in a poor environment. The natural glue adhesive used on this painting had become brittle over time resulting in poor adhesion between the original canvas and an older lining canvas.

04/13/2020

Varnish and repaint removal. A clever and deceptive restorer put a varnish on the surface of the painting that fluoresces under ultra violet light. This was done so that the owner wouldn’t be able to tell they repainted the painting. The green color is the fluorescing varnish, the center line in the repaint, the top section is the original paint layer.

04/07/2020

Removing repaint reveals older residual repaint and old and more recent fills. The fills cover undamaged original paint as does the layers of repaint. All of these layers will need to be removed in order to get back to the original paint layer.