Tag Archives: Art conservation

The Sailor’s Return – Restoring an Oil Painting

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Alchemy Fine Art Restorers has been busy restoring everything from Moroccan doors to church iconography, but this oil painting was particularly intriguing.

Carl Wilhelm Hubner  (1814-70) was a genre painter who met with great success in Holland and America.  His paintings are among the permanent collections of several European and American museums.  Among his best known works are a series of paintings showing a young seaman returning home.  While similar in theme and composition, the paintings vary in the nationality of the sailor and his family. The version Alchemy restored below measures 36″ by 48″ and dates from the last decade of Hubner’s career.

The uncleaned canvas before repair of the tear.

The canvas before repair of the tear or cleaning.

Restoring an Oil Painting and Frame

Restoring an oil painting is hard work! In this assignment, Alchemy owner Kate W0od lined the painting with fresh canvas and bees-wax. She carefully cleaned the canvas and removed old varnish.  She removed previous attempts at inpainting and fixed the torn canvas, then covered the tear with reversible inpainting.  She also repaired the shattered corner of the  frame using the original shards of wood, and re-gilded it. Lastly, she added a UV-protective varnish to the gloriously restored painting and returned the sailor to his home port.

Severe damage to the canvas that needed restoring.

Severe damage to the canvas that needed restoring.

 

The damaged frame before any restoration work was begun.

The damaged frame before any restoration work was begun.

 

A painting in the process of being cleaned by Kate Wood of Alchemy Fine Art Restorers.

“Sailor’s Return” in the process of being cleaned by Kate Wood of Alchemy Fine Art Restorers.

 

The repaired frame.

The repaired frame.

 

Repaired tear with in painting. All of the in painting done by Alchemy Fine Art Restorers is entirely reversible.

Repaired tear with in painting. All of the inpainting done by Alchemy Fine Art Restorers is entirely reversible.

 

Fully restored.

Fully restored.

 

Carefully padding the painting for delivery to our client.

Carefully padding the painting for delivery to our client.

Restoring an oil painting is one of the most satisfying assignments Alchemy Fine Art Restorer’s can get.  Not only is Kate Wood an expert in oil painting, but she gets to meet the most interesting private collectors.  This was certainly one of those cases and well worth the time and care it took to rescue this delightful work of art.

Kate Wood Presents to Questers

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Alchemy Fine Art Restorers owner Kate Wood will present an overview of art conservation to one of the world’s top organizations when it comes to restoring historical treasures.

Kate will present to the Treasure Coast Chapter of the Questers on Wednesday, 12 February 2014.  Attendees to this members-only event can bring example objects in need of restoration or cleaning for discussion on how they would be approached from an expert conservator’s point of view.  Objects should be of a manageable size and weight. Kate will also share some insight into the tools of her trade as well as her philosophy of fine art restoration.

The Questers, an international organization, was created to advance the understanding and knowledge of antiques, and to preserve and restore historical sites and buildings.  They share a common motto when it comes to antiques, “It’s fun to search and a joy to find.”

Aside from their charitable support of area historical foundations, the Treasure Coast Chapter hosts an annual antique show in downtown Stuart, FL, which has raised funds to restore the Stuart Feed Store Museum, the House of Refuge, the Lyric Theatre, the Victory Museum, the Children’s Museum, the Mansion at Tuckahoe,  and others.

For more information, visit www.floridaquesters.org.