Conserving Canvas Real Time: Intro
The time has finally arrived for my advanced professional training workshop in France, which was originally scheduled for 2020 and then postponed for 3 years due to the pandemic. I will do periodic blog posts as it unfolds to keep my readers up to date.
Since its inception in 2018, The Getty Foundation has invested well over 5 million dollars in the Conserving Canvas Initiative, thus far funding 28 workshops for mid-career paintings conservators globally, an incredible and unprecedented opportunity.
These workshops have generally centered around some type of structural stabilization of paintings on canvas, including delving deep into the nuances of linings and their history, from historical glue-paste techniques, to wax resin, to contemporary methods with various specially formulated synthetic materials and various applications. For those unfamiliar with paintings conservation terminology, paintings deteriorate as they age. Eventually, the canvas support of a painting becomes so old, oxidized and embrittled that it can no longer support the paint layers, evidenced by structural cracking and detachment of paint from the substrate, resulting in compositional and material loss. One structural stabilization method to remediate this situation is to “line” the painting: basically to glue the old canvas down to a new canvas support, while also consolidating that crumbling paint layer, assuring its adhesion to the canvas primary support, and its preservation for future generations to enjoy. “Lining” has been done for centuries, but the techniques and materials employed have evolved over time.
Competition to get selected for one of these Conserving Canvas workshops has been fierce. Many of the workshops require you to be employed by a major museum or research institution to even apply, however, the French have a different approach: French museums generally do not hire full time conservators, rather, restoration work is generally contracted to private practice studios. As such, when C2RMF (Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France) decided to host a workshop, they made application to their workshop available to both institutionally employed and private practice conservators.
For the workshop I will be attending, 6 paintings conservators have been selected. I am the representative from Canada. There will be one conservator from the United States, one from Italy, one from Bulgaria, one from Sri Lanka, and one from Taiwan, and 3 out of 6 conservators selected are private practice conservators. C2RMF has a few different locations, but we will be spending our time at the Versailles location. During this time, we will be tutored on glue-paste lining techniques, which have not been taught in North America since the establishment of any of the graduate training programs circa 1970, or prior. During the workshop, we will be working on historical paintings from the collections of the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, and other French museums, employing the lining techniques we have just learned under the supervision of their experts. One aspect of glue-paste linings that fascinates me is the fact that because they developed regionally across Europe over centuries, different regions have slightly different techniques. I will be learning one of the French methods, but there is also a Roman method, a Florentine method, and a Spanish method, to name a few. It is my hope to continue delving into this topic throughout my career to get a good grasp on the differences between these regional methods, and the reasons behind why you might employ one technique over another.
Stay tuned while I post periodically from over the pond during the first couple weeks of October.