This conservation project involved examining, understanding, and documenting an artist’s change and ultimately how far to take the conservation treatment.  This project also highlights the thought process surrounding certain conservation treatment choices, or in this case, the choice not to do something.

Looking, Observing, Understanding: The Examination Stage

Before treatment image of "White Cloud" by John Rogers Cox.

All conservation work begins with careful examination, the first stage of which includes just looking at the painting and noticing details from the surface, from the brush strokes in the paint, and from the support (yes, we spend lots of time looking at the back of the painting too).  If you don’t understand what’s there, then you can’t know how to perform the conservation treatment.  So with the painting in the IMA’s conservation lab, I began to look and observe.

The first thing I noticed was the artist’s signature.  The artist signed and dated the painting 1943, then it appears that he added a second date: RE. 1946.  I contacted Lisa Petrulis, the Swope’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions and she shared some of the research and literature regarding Cox, which tells an interesting story.

Detail of the signature and dates for "White Cloud."

There is written documentation that Cox was unhappy with aspects of White Cloud.  A 1952 article by Marilyn Robb in Art News, tells the story of how Cox sold the painting to Dr. Harold Laufman, then went to Laufman’s house and got permission to repaint it, changing a barn into a house and reworking the sky.

It was not uncommon for Cox to labor over his compositions and make changes throughout the painting process.  Cox described his process in the October 1951 issue of American Artist: “I hardly ever paint a picture the same way twice.  Sometimes I make sketches before starting, sometimes I draw directly on the canvas or panel and then paint, and sometimes I just begin to paint directly.”

In the same article, Cox described how he made changes during the painting process of a Southwestern-inspired setting, consisting of a boulder in a barren landscape:

“I did not stick with the original idea one hundred percent, but changed it constantly as I went along.  In this particular picture I painted out, or sanded off, four different skys and redesigned the boulder three or four times…..I worked on the painting at spasmodic intervals over a period of one year, laying it aside once for two months to do something else.”

Detail of "White Cloud," showing the house in lower right.

Rather than depict actual landscapes, most of Cox’s paintings are done from memory, which may be why he makes changes and spends so much time sorting out details of the composition throughout the painting process.

There were some obvious signs that the sky in White Cloud had been reworked.  There was a halo of a lighter blue paint surrounding the clouds, where the darker blue layer was painted up to the edges of the clouds, leaving that small bit of the underlying blue visible.  The underlying lighter blue layer was also visible at the edge of the painting.

Detail of the white clouds showing a halo of lighter blue paint below the darker blue paint that was applied later.

Detail of the right edge of the painting where the underlying layers of light blue paint for the sky are visible.

In general, the surface of the sky was uneven in texture—there were surface irregularities and slight indentations throughout.   These irregularities were underneath the top layers of paint.  Now the question was: did the artist rework the sky, or was the sky repainted during a previous restoration campaign?  It was likely a combination of both.

The first task was to get a better image of the artist’s change.  This was done with Infrared reflectography (IRR).

Overall IRR image of "White Cloud" showing the artist’s change in the lower right. The barn that had initially been painted in 1943 was changed into a Victorian revival-style house in 1946.

Detail of IRR showing the artist’s change made in 1946. The barn beneath the house is clearly legible.

To get another glimpse of what was going on beneath the surface, I used x-radiography to further document the artist’s change and to get a better idea of what was going on with the layers in the sky. Again, we get a clear look at the barn beneath the house.

Digital x-radiograph of the bottom right corner showing the underlying barn and extensive damages in the sky.

After seeing the old damages in the sky in the digital x-radiograph, other areas of the sky were x-rayed.  The x-radiograph below gives you an idea of how extensive the old damages.  Large areas of the sky appear to have flaked away at some point.  This raised more questions:

Were the damages caused by inherent vice of the artist’s materials and technique?  Was there poor adhesion between the paint layers that the artist initially applied?  Or perhaps, the environmental conditions that the painting was exposed to over the years were not ideal?

X-radiograph taken near the center of the painting to the right of the clouds in the sky. The darker areas to the right and below the clouds are old damages. These damages are currently covered by layers of overpaint, which is why the surface of the painting appears very uneven.

The examination report for White Cloud included a detailed description of the surface irregularities throughout the sky.  In general, the surface had undulating bumps and depressions and there were very glossy areas that appeared to be old retouching from previous restoration campaigns.  The artist was probably not the only one to rework the sky.  It is possible and likely that the entire sky was repainted during a previous restoration.  To further investigate all the layers of the sky more details scientific analysis, such as cross-section microscopy to look at the stratigraphy of the layers, would be necessary.

Other aspects of note in regards to the painting’s condition include the presence of small areas where the paint was cleaving and flaking, and prominent mechanical cracks in the foreground that exposed an underlying white ground layer.

If you look closely at the trunk of the tree on the left, you can see a small paint loss where the underlying blue paint is exposed (hint: it’s near the center of the trunk).

Next Step: The Conservation Treatment

With a good understanding of the structure, the conservation history, and the current state of the painting, conservation treatment could begin.  Not only did we have some questions about the many layers, damages, and reworkings of the sky, but there was also an exhibition deadline for the painting.  The Swope was lending it to the exhibition To Make a World: George Ault and 1940s America.  The treatment proposal for this painting was relatively simple:

1. Stabilize any areas of flaking paint.
2. Clean the painting to remove any dirt, dust and soot from the varnished surface.
3. Apply an additional varnish layer to even out the variation on surface gloss from the many retouchings and to adjust the gloss to make the surface irregularities less obvious.
4. Inpaint the prominent mechanical cracks that were present throughout the foreground.

The treatment would mainly address aesthetic concerns, and in the future – should time and resources allow – a more in-depth scientific analysis of the sky could be carried out.

After stabilizing the flaking paint by adding an adhesive, the surface dirt was removed with an aqueous solution.  Removing this dirt layer reduced the hazy appearance of the painting.

An aqueous cleaning mixture was used to remove the dirt, dust, and soot from the varnished surface of the painting.

Now that the dirt was gone, the surface was ready for a new layer of varnish.  An overall varnish layer was applied to even out the surface gloss.  Then inpainting of the cracks began.

Painting Conservators use very small brushes for inpainting to ensure that only the areas of damage are covered with conservation paints. You can imagine the time it takes to get the work done. If you look at the specular light in the area of the sky, you can see the irregularities in the paint surface.

Given all the precise details in White Cloud, the mechanical cracks were visually distracting.  Once they were inpainted, the foreground was more cohesive and the spatial depth of the landscape was much improved.  See for yourself in the “After Treatment” image below.

Before treatment detail in the bottom right corner showing the diagonal mechanical cracks that exposed the underlying white ground layer.

After treatment, the colors appeared slightly brighter because the surface dirt and soot were removed, the colors more vivid because a new layer of varnish was applied, and the spatial depth was improved once the prominent mechanical cracks were carefully inpainted.

In the case of this conservation treatment, less was more.  For now, the painting is stable and leaving what is likely extensive overpaint in the sky intact makes it possible to further examine the layers present and make better decisions about future steps towards the conservation of this painting.  Delving into the overpaint removal would require a substantial amount of time, not only for the research stage of a more in-depth examination, but also the hands-on work of the conservation treatment.  For now, I was able to make some small aesthetic improvements and now the painting is on display for visitors to enjoy.

Here is the painting in all its glory in the IMA’s Early American galleries. So what went on behind the scenes to get it here? About 85 hours of careful conservation work.

The painting installed in the IMA’s Early American Galleries.

Conservation work always begins with a thorough examination. A conservator has to understand the layers of the materials that comprise the painting, and have an understanding of how those materials age and what sort of damage, if any, they incurred. In short, the examination breaks down the construction and condition for all the layers that make up the painting. Paintings are composite objects and include a variety of materials. For traditional oil paintings, these include a fabric support mounted to an auxiliary wooden stretcher or strainer, a ground or preparatory layer, paint layers, and a varnish layer.

The painting before treatment. The colors look muted and hazy under heavy layers of dirt, soot, and discolored varnish.

Raking light image before treatment. The painting had large planar distortions in the canvas and the there were prominent mechanical cracks in the ground and paint layers.

Once the examination was complete, the first step was to address any structural issues. In the case of Roesen’s Still Life, there was a small tear in the canvas and there were some areas where the paint was actively flaking and several cracks in the paint that were unstable. The importance of addressing structural concerns is quite simple: you want to prevent further damage to the object.

Stabilization, or consolidation, involves the application of an adhesive to the areas of flaking or insecure paint. This is often done by adding the adhesive to the specific area with a small brush. The adhesive chosen depends on a great number of factors including the original materials for the painting, the strength of the adhesive, what solvent is necessary for the adhesive, and whether or not the adhesive needs to be heated during or after application, to name a few.

Once a painting is stable, the treatment stages that have a more aesthetic impact can be carried out. For the Roesen, this stage of treatment began with the removal of dirt and soot from the varnished surface of the painting. This was done with an aqueous solution with a slightly elevated pH that had the addition of chelators (that’s where the coursework in chemistry comes in handy).

After stabilizing any areas of flaking paint, the heavy layers of dirt and soot were removed from the surface of the varnished painting. Look how bright the red flowers appear once the dirt is removed.

Once the dirt and soot were removed, I was able to then remove the discolored natural resin varnish. This was done with a mixture of organic solvents that were selected after careful testing. Here, I’d like to recount that importance of that initial examination. The understanding of what the materials are that comprise the painting is paramount when carrying out a conservation treatment.

The visual effects that the layers of dirt and discolored varnish have on the appearance of the painting are quite dramatic.  Those darkened and hazy layer not only affect the colors, but the tonal balance as well.  The yellowed varnish made the painting appear very flat.  This is especially noticeable in the pink flowers, as you can see in the images below.

After the heavy dirt and soot were cleaned, the yellowed varnish was removed subtle details and nuances of color could once again be appreciated.

The visual effects that the yellowed varnish had on the artist’s palette were quite profound. In this image, you can see some of the pink roses cleaned and compare them to one that still has its varnish (in the lower left). After the varnish is removed, you can see the cool undertones and a translucency to the soft petals.

After the layers of dirt, soot, and discolored varnish were removed, it was time to address those large undulation distortions in the canvas. This was done with controlled, local humidification. But first, the painting needed to temporarily be taken off its stretcher.

Here the painting is temporarily taken off its stretcher so that the large, undulating distortions could be reduced.

One of the common problems that cause bulges and distortions in the canvas is dirt and debris that becomes trapped between the stretcher bars and the canvas.  Roesen’s Still Life was no exception. In fact, you can see what was behind the stretcher in the image below.

Trapped beneath the stretcher and the canvas, along the bottom of the painting, there was an accumulation of dirt, dust, and debris. In this case, there were wings and casings from bugs (dead long ago) and bits of dried evergreen (probably from decorative greenery hung near the painting when it was still in a private collection).

Debris, such as the organic materials found behind the stretcher on the Roesen, is very reactive to moisture.  If exposed to high humidity, these materials will hold moisture for a long time, which can cause further distortions in the canvas and lead to cracking and flaking paint.

The dirt, dust, and debris were vacuumed from the back of the painting.

The dirt and debris were vacuumed from the reverse of the painting. After the vacuuming was complete, the localized humidity was carried out to remove the distortions. The distortions can have an effect on the structural stability of the many layers comprising the painting, but it also has a visual impact. The bulges can cast shadows and distort the spatial depth of the composition. Once the distortions were removed, the painting was re-stretched back onto its original stretcher.

After the application of a new coating of varnish, the compensation began. The painting was in relatively good condition. The areas that needed visual reintegration included the small tear in the lower left and areas where there were prominent cracks in the paint.  There were small losses of paint surrounding the tear. These areas had to be filled to adjust the depth of the missing paint and ground. The fills are textured to match the surface of the surrounding original paint.

In this image, the prominent cracks in the paint appear as light-colored lines in the blue flower bud and just below the bud. The lines appear lighter because you can see the ground or preparatory layer in the crack.

Inpainting is carried out with stable conservation colors and a very small brush. This stage of treatment is approached so that the materials and technique make the inpainting reversible. This is done mainly for ethical reasons, as highlighted in the AIC’s code of ethics and guidelines for practice. When inpainting, color is added only where the original is missing or damaged.

In this image you can see the process of inpainting, where new, stable colors are added only to areas where the original is damaged or missing.

For reference, here’s the painting again before treatment.

Here is the painting after treatment. By comparison to the image taken before treatment, the painting has more vibrant colors, the subtlety and details are legible once again, and the spatial depth is much improved.

The treatment produced wonderful results, both structurally and visually. The cracked and flaking paint was secured and the undulation distortions in the canvas were reduced, making the painting stable structurally. So much original vibrancy and detail were reveal by removing the discoloring layers of dirt and yellowed varnish. Now the painting can be safely displayed and thoroughly enjoyed by our visitors.

Special thanks again to Conner Prairie for their long-term loan of this painting.

Click here to see the first conservation blog post about this treatment.

Overall, the painting is in relatively good condition. There is one minor damage, a small tear in the left side, and some areas where cracks in the paint are unstable. Aesthetically, the painting is obscured by heavy layers of dirt, soot, and discolored varnish. Underneath those layers lie the delicate flowers with glistening dew drops for which Roesen is so well known.

The treatment will be completed so that the painting can hang in the IMA’s Early American Gallery by June 2010.

Before treatment the dull, hazy, and darkened appearance is the result of many decades’ worth of dirt, soot, and discolored varnish.

The heavy dirt and soot were removed with an aqueous solution adjusted to a particular pH and containing chelators.

Once the grey dirt and soot were cleaned from the surface, varnish removal began.

The process of varnish removal.

With the surface dirt and soot removed, one can already appreciate the original vibrancy of the colors. Part of the left side has been cleaned to remove the old, yellow varnish. You can really see this in the pink roses and the white flowers. Subtle cool undertones have been revealed, increasing the depth of the composition.

This detail taken during the varnish removal gives you a closer look at how the aged yellow varnish affected the appearance of the colors.

For a paintings conservator, treatments like this one are very rewarding. There is going to be a dramatic difference between the before and after image because the visual effects that so many discoloring layers have on the original are quite profound.

Christina Milton O’Connell and Stephanie West take a closer look at the Roesen in the painting conservation lab at the IMA. (Photo taken by Aaron Steele)

A step by step account will be presented in a second blog once the conservation treatment is complete. For more discussion of the conservation process, here’s a short video with Christina Milton O’Connell, Associate Conservator of Paintings at the IMA, and Stephanie West, Conservation Technician at Conner Prairie.

Thanks again to Conner Prairie for sharing this lovely painting with the IMA and its visitors.

Wishard Hospital Murals

When you walk into the exhibition, you are greeted by a rare glimpse of art conservation.  The first painting you will see is Carl C. Graf’s Three Muses, which is presented in a partially conserved state.  The left side of the painting has not yet been conserved and is obscured by dirt, discolored varnish, and heavy restorer’s overpaint.  Walking into the gallery is like a behind-the-scenes visit to the conservation lab.  Take a look for yourself in the image below.

Three Muses

The difference in color speaks for itself.  Beneath those heavy darkened layers of the previous restorer’s materials there are delicate details and soft colors of the original painting.  Did you know that the human eye perceives value (dark and light) and color differently?  The discolored varnish effects both value and color, drastically altering the way you visually perceive the painting.  Once the exhibition closes, the conservation treatment of The Three Muses will be completed and this rare opportunity to see the process in person will be gone.

The Three Muses isn’t the only glimpse of the conservation work; there is a whole wall in the gallery that gives you a chance to observe and compare the process.  On the same wall as The Three Muses, there are two landscapes by Jay H. Connaway.  One has been conserved by the IMA and the other still retains the discolored materials from the 1967 restoration attempt.  Can you tell which one has been conserved?

two landscapes by Jay H. Connaway

As with The Three Muses, the color difference clearly shows how the current, careful conservation treatments have helped reveal the true palette of the painting.  With all the old restoration materials removed from the painting, the original colors and details can once again be seen and appreciated in Connaway’s Landscape with Rolling Hills—the painting on the right.  For a detailed, step by step, account of the IMA conservation treatment of Jay H. Connaway’s Landscape with Rolling Hills, check out the Flickr set here.

If you look closely at the Connaway landscape on the left, you can see the areas of damage and overpaint.  Conservators begin the examination and detection of these restored areas by simple observation of the surface.  The over paint is often discolored and no longer matches the surrounding original paint.  There is also a textural difference between the overpaint and the original paint; often the overpaint is more thickly applied.  Can you spot the overpaint in this detail?

Landscape with Rolling Hills

Perhaps you noticed right away that some of the details in this area of the composition (the bottom center of the painting) looked a little clumsy and heavy?  If not, the arrow in the image below will point you in the right direction.

overpaint detail

The portion of the bent tree indicated by the blue is much thicker and heavier that the original brushstrokes applied by the artist.  The color of this over painted area is also different from the original paint.  That makes this areas appear very flat; it lacks the same delicacy and detail that works in the other original areas of the composition.

Of course, looking at these paintings in person gives you a chance to better see these details and understand the importance conservation has on the visual appearance and interpretation of these murals.

Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals closes on March 29, 2009.

The portion of the bent tree indicated by the blue is much thicker and heavier that the original brushstrokes applied by the artist.  The color of this over painted area is also different from the original paint.  That makes this areas appear very flat; it lacks the same delicacy and detail that works in the other original areas of the composition.

Of course, looking at these paintings in person gives you a chance to better see these details and understand the importance conservation has on the visual appearance and interpretation of these murals.

Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals closes on March 29, 2009.

Clifton Wheeler, Women and Children. 39" x 70". Photograph by Tad Fruits.

Between 1914 and 1916 thirty-three murals were painted by Hoosier artists to promote healing at Wishard Hospital.  Many of the murals have been lost or damaged over time.  The IMA has been working on the conservation of many of the surviving murals since 2003.  The IMA will host an exhibition Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals that showcases 13 of the surviving murals at various stages of conservation and a portrait of Dr. Wishard painted by T.C. Steele in 1924.  The exhibition runs from January 17, 2009-March 31, 2009.

Throughout the decades the Burdsal building where the paintings were located sustained structural problems and several water leaks damaged the murals.  In 1967, the murals underwent a restoration attempt where several of the paintings were removed from the walls.  The process of removing the murals caused several damages and tears that were subsequently covered by excessive filling and overpainting.  Some of the murals that remained on the walls are now covered under several layers of wall paint.

Small traces of covered murals are still evident in the Burdsal building.  The texture from the original paint or the canvas slightly translates through the subsequent layers of wall paint.  In the image below Linda Witkowski, Senior Conservator of Paintings at the IMA, points out the underlying texture from one of the covered murals still on the wall in the Burdsal building of Wishard Hospital.  This area of the covered mural appears to be the legs of a figure, probably a child since so many of the murals depict children.

3rd floor Burdsal building

If you look closely at this detail image of the same area, you might be able to see it too.

Closer look

It may be hard to see since the texture is so faint.  In the image below, the rough outline for the figure has been sketched out in blue.

Outlined in blue

The wear and tear of the Burdsal building even affected the layers of wall paint and in some areas those layers peeled away to reveal small glimpses of the underlying murals. In the image below, Anne Emison Wishard points to flaking wall paint that covers one of the wall murals in the Burdsal building.  Above Anne’s hand, a foot from one of the figures in the murals is visible.

3rd floor of Burdsal building

The largest visible portion of the murals in the Burdsal building is an area that was once covered by a bank of storage lockers.  The lockers protected it from the layers of wall paint that were applied to the rest of the walls.  We counted at least three layers of wall paint that were applied on top of the murals: blue, cream, and green.

3rd floor of Burdsal building

The IMA’s conservation efforts to date have mainly focused on the murals that were removed from the walls during the 1967 restoration attempt.  The conservation work completed by IMA conservators has included the careful removal of heavy layers of dirt and discolored varnish from the surface of the paintings, removal of the heavy overpaint and excessive filling, and careful inpainting to reintegrate the damages.  For a glimpse of the step by step conservation process of the murals, please visit the IMA’s flickr account for T.C. Steele’s Autumn Landscape, Red Trees.

In the image below, Linda Witkowski is beginning the varnish removal of Carl C. Graf’s painting The Three Muses.  This painting will be a rare treat for visitors to the Wishard mural exhibition.  The painting will be shown in various stages of conservation: one portion of the painting will be left in the before treatment stage with all the layers of dirt, discolored varnish, and heavy overpaint; the central area of the painting will be cleaned to remove those layers so that the damages can be seen; and the right side of the painting will show the completed stages of conservation with the damages carefully inpainted.

Detail of Three Muses by Carl C. Graf

The conservation treatment of the murals has shown a dramatic transformation: the original colors of the paintings were revealed from underneath the discolored layers of dirt and yellowed varnish and surviving areas of original paint were uncovered from under the heavy overpaint that not only disguised the old damages, but extended several inches beyond the damages.  The image below shows the careful removal of the extensive fill material from T.C. Steele’s Autumn Landscape, Red Trees, which extended over an area of original paint.

During treatment detail of Autumn Landscape, Red Trees by T.C. Steele

The images below highlight the conservation treatment of T.C. Steele’s Autumn Landscape, Yellow Trees.  The yellowed varnish not only obscured the colors of the painting, but it also flattened out the depth of the composition.  The heavy overpaint throughout the foreground covered the cast shadows the artist used to depict the nearby trees in the landscape.  The overpaint was so heavily and extensively applied, that it even covered the damaged remnants of the artist’s signature.

The conservation treatment of the Wishard murals has been a long and intensive process.  Without this careful work, the murals would not have survived as they do today, for future generations to enjoy.