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The process will be very much as follows, with some small differences depending
on circumstances.
Each of 50 individual canvases 11 feet by 20 feet will
be removed from its large heavy strainer system at the
present storage area and rolled paint-side out on large
12 foot long 24" tubing that will hold it for
transportation to the restoration work area. The
paint-side out transportation method is necessary to
prevent paint-surface damage if rolled paint-side in.
It will be laid out image side up for detail photographs
and then turned over paint-side down on a 12' by 24' hot
table with a polyester film separating it from the
aluminum surface of the table.
The tears will be put back together using canvas threads
and epoxy to put it back to its original image size.
Any missing canvas areas will be replaced with a similar
piece of canvas, usually a piece of the edge of the
original canvas support that will match the surface
texture of the original painting. It will then be
bonded to a large fiberglass cloth using a proprietary
adhesive developed by the gallery and used for over
thirty years for this sort of work. It is reversible as
recommended by AIC. (American Institute for
Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works) When the
adhesive has set the canvas will be returned to the
table surface image side up for cleaning of adhesive
from the surface, and all surface dirt, stains and
foreign material.
Any filling will be done using reversible filler
material that is made to resemble the original texture
of the canvas support. An isolating varnish is then
applied to the filled areas and in-painting (often
called touch-up) is performed by artists using pigments
and resins that are color-fast and reversible if
necessary in the future.
Color and texture is matched to the original work by
the artist, and a new proprietary stretching system will
be used to stretch the restored canvas and then
varnished, using a non-yellowing clear acrylic varnish
to give the painted surface a coating that protects it
from much that can harm it over its next lifetime. It
will then be stored until ready to be assembled as a
whole cyclorama. Some individual canvas sections may be
displayed in any number of places such as churches and
large display areas while the rest of the canvases are
being individually restored. The time required to do
the complete restoration project will be approximately
three years. |
THE
RESTORATION