ART RESTORATION

The restoration of original paintings is a skilled practice and may involve cleaning, stabilisation, re-touching and re-working in order to preserve a piece for future generations. The job is meticulous, with the aim of restoring the work as close to the original state as possible. It requires knowledge of art materials, chemical interactions and colour skills, plus in some cases analysis technology such as x-ray machines, scanners and microscopes.

However, restoration isn't without controversy. In the past some works of art have been ruined, so these days techniques are employed that allow the process to be reversed. Many old paintings are affected by light, humidity and temperature, becoming embrittled, faded and discoloured. Varnish in particular can darken in tone and create a very drab impression far from what the artist originally painted, and colour pigments may fade so that their vibrancy is lost and one is left with a dull, low-contrast picture. Varying temperatures and humidity mean a succession of damaging expansion and contraction cycles leading to flaking, whilst behind the paint, chemical changes in the canvas can weaken it until it becomes warped and/or brittle.

The field of art conservation differs from restoration in that it primarily deals with education, documentation and preventative care of works, whereas restoration aims to return pieces close to their original form.

                ORIGINAL YELLOWED IMAGE                                                            COLOUR & CONTRAST CORRECTED

In the above pictures the first image has taken on a yellow tone, with whites especially affected together with a loss of clarity often symptomatic of degraded varnish. In a digital image the tonal values will be altered with the shadow and highlight areas then enhanced to restore the picture’s original presence. Faded photographs can be similarly corrected depending on the existing flaws. In the examples below we see over-exposure/fading with little definition and washed out colour. Software techniques can correct many originals, depending on the deterioration, but very poor examples may not be salvageable to a good standard. In some cases remedial work requires colour references.

Digital manipulation is not limited to colour and contrast correction, for many old works of art require repairs and the rendering of damaged areas. It is vital that new areas match the original painting as closely as possible and, where necessary, an identical texture must be added to the finish. In some cases a little artistic licence is required, for instance to extend a picture slightly for aesthetic or formatting purposes. Here is a Scenica example with one of Godward’s paintings:-

Having contrast-balanced and colour-corrected the original image it was decided that the tip of the parrot’s wing at the top of the frame could be extended. This would mean that when the print is mounted no part of the wing would be cut off (which can look like an unsympathetic or clumsy framing).

Below is the completed new version with the wing tip of the green parrot added, plus the extension of the grey marble and other material at the top of the original picture.

     

DOLCE FAR NIENTE

  (Pleasant Idleness)

            1897

The main context of digital restoration deals with restoring damaged images and photographs to their former glory using computer software. During this process there are various techniques to remove flaws and blemishes, stains, 'red eye', discolouration, cracking and fading, plus replacing missing parts of a picture. A good digital artist can also turn your black & white photos to colour ones (or much more easily do the reverse).

Although not as painstaking as practical restorations, the attention to detail and the responsibilities of restoring classical paintings are no less. One must research the subject matter and then sensitively and accurately restore the image in terms of repairing damaged parts and ensuring the correct balances are recreated. It's of necessity to work in very high definition and to know the tools and techniques of the software employed. Once finished, the image will be saved in a lossless format (such as Tagged Image Format - TIF) and then can be cropped and converted to various sized formats for printing and framing.

Please respect © Scenica

LINKS

The process of art restoration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWXKktMZjIQ

National Gallery restorations: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/the-restoration-of-margaret-the-artists-wife/the-cleaning-of-the-painting