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.

Severin Roesen, Before

Severin Roesen was known for his realistic, sumptuous still life paintings. Most of his work was done in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he settled in 1857.

Roesen pioneered the American still life and is the artist who comes to mind as the premier colonial still life painter. Although best known for his meticulously painted tables filled with fruit that reflected mid-nineteenth century optimism, his particularly striking and difficult to find floral still life paintings paved the way for floral themes in American art.

The IMA has long sought to display a work by Roesen in its Early American gallery, so it was very exciting to learn that Conner Prairie had a floral still life painting by the artist that they wanted to put on long term loan at the IMA. The only requirement was to bring it back to its original glory by conserving the painting.

It is with great anticipation that we await the completion of this work, when the painting can be placed on view for the public to appreciate its beauty and become acquainted with the style and quality of Severin Roesen’s still lifes. We sincerely thank Conner Prairie for sharing this treasure with the IMA and its visitors.

IRT Facade

I recently got the chance to go see Crowns at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. It was great- the actors had good voices, the hats were compelling and fun and funny, the set was interesting and transitioned well for the actors from scene to scene. Most importantly, the audience loved it and really got into the story. To my surprise, there were a lot of kids there who enjoyed it, too. Way to go, Indy people, for taking your kids to the theatre.

But, I’m not actually interested in making this a theatre review. I have been thinking lately, spurned on by the recent culture rally Indy Culture Matters, about the large amount of cultural offerings we have available to us here in Indy. I have also been thinking about how much this defines the city as a thriving, important global community with an invested, artistic population. Most of our residents care about culture, and support it. But, I think the part that some people forget about is that fact that the institutions and organizations that comprise the local arts scene all actually support Indianapolis residents. Jobs, tourism, revenue- and more than our sports teams bring in, too.

So, get out and see the newest show at IRT, Interpreting William (which is based on the story of the founder of Conner Prairie.) If you aren’t into theatre, try something else.  Some events have shockingly cheap tickets. Indianapolis has countless offerings: Museums, gallery walks, historical houses, gardens, the zoo, the symphony. We have so much going on all the time, and it’s a shame to let all that amazing culture be wasted on JUST the tourists.

Feel free to comment and let me know of all the cool Indianapolis hot spots I left out!