Hannalee Billings

April 13th, 2014

Art 101
Art Conservation and Restoration Issues
Works of art are everywhere, on the walls, streets, buildings, and even on city
buses. Art can help people feel a sense of relaxation and inspire creativity. But, what
about taking care of art? Art conservation is important in todays society, as art ages it
needs extra attention and protection. A professional conservationist examines, conserves,
and protects art work to keep it as close to its original condition for as long as possible
(Chartier, Dr.). Art restoration is the act of restoring a painting be rebuilding,
repainting, or cleaning in the hopes of returning the art piece to its original form.
Although there are several positive aspects of both forms of care of art, there are issues
surrounding the practice such as the monetary issues, cleaning of the art can be
irreversible, and amateur restoration.
Conserving art is expensive; several conservationists offer a treatment appraisal.
The cost varies from professional to professional and does not include packing and
shipping fees (Getting Estimates). Shipping and handling can also increase the risks of
damages to the work of art. With these aspects taken into account, conservation is simply
always the better answer than spending money on complete restoration. This is because
conservationists suggest preventative care so that as any potential damage can be stopped
and thus leading to lower costs in restoration if needed.
Restoring art is also expensive depending on the size, condition and age
(Haskins, Scott M. ). Therefore if a work of art were large, old, and falling apart it
would cost more than a smaller, newer, and better-taken care of work of art. The cost

could range from $200 to millions of dollars after the art piece is appraised. More so
many restoration artists ask for a fee to appraise the art piece itself. Art owners must
consider the simple question, is the cost of restoring the painting more than what its
worth? And if it is, how much restoration should be conducted on the art piece? The art
owner, conservator, and restorationers must evaluate and choose the best route of practice
for each case individually to achieve the greatest possible outcome for the work of art.
Cleaning the art piece can be irreversible. Restoration professionals consider the
following question, would the art piece would look better restored or not? Usually
restorationers practice using minimal intervention to protect historic significance and
original artistry. But, some would still argue that minimal intervention still takes away
dirt and corrosion that could be historically significant (Critical Issues). To this day art
restorationists feel a slight restraint restoring works of art because they are unable to
encompass what the original artist intended. This sort of feeling was expressed
beautifully by Van de Wetering, Ethics in restoration have found their origin in the
growing awareness that we will never understand the artists intentions to their full extent
and that, consequently on our interpretations, which in restoration are expressed on the
very object, never entirely cover the truth. But with that being said, artists cannot live
forever so there will become a time (which I believe has already been reached) where one
must choose to either save a painting by taking the greatest techniques at hand or letting it
wither away because the original artist is not present to fix the problem?

N.d. Fox News. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

<http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fnlatino/lifestyle/876/493/Spain%20Botched%20christ.jpg?ve=1&tl=1>.

Restoring art pieces by oneself or by someone who is untrained to do so could

have serious negative effects on the art piece. Restoration may require special equipment
that average households may not possess and therefore simple kitchen remedies found on
the Internet can damage paint or diminish the value of colors (Grant, Daniel) For
example, a woman at a local church decided to offer her services to restore a portrait of
Jesus that was over 100 years old ("Amateur Restoration). As you can see in the photo
above the original is on the left and the restored painting is on the right. The face is
almost completely unrecognizable, as you can see above Jesus has turned into some sort
of sloth or monkey due to the extreme amount of smudges and brush strokes. The only
thing remotely accurate about this restoration is the color of the robe and the attempts to
reach the skin tone of the original. This art piece is now permanently disfigured and
cannot be restored to its previous appearance. The womans intent was not to damage a
historically significant painting, but the outcome unfortunately ended up that way.

N.d. WHBL. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. <http://media.mwcradio.com/mimesis/201404/03/2014-04-03T170213Z_1_CBREA321BBY00_RTROPTP_3_TECH-US-ITALYPOMPEII_JPG_475x310_q85.jpg>.

Pompeii, also known as one of the lost cities of the ancient Roman Empire, was
destroyed by volcanic ash in 79 AD. Excavation did not begin until almost 1700 years
later in 1748 (The Destruction). Another example of a restoration issue could stem
from professionals itself. Though the best efforts have been put into restoring and
conserving what is left of Pompeii, deliberate acts by restorationers have been called into
squestion. For example, placements of the bodies were changed early on in the
excavation to increase funding of the restoration. Also, though accidental, increased
activity throughout the city causes deeper erosion in the original walkways and paths.
Many of these issues can be overlooked but one issue stands out the most: the continuous
controversy of the cost of restoration, recently increasing to 8.2 million Euro dollars (11,
329, 534 American dollars) in addition to money already been allotted towards the
project (Osser, Eddek). There is still a lot of work to be done in Pompeii, as you can
see in the picture above, and hopefully restorationers can find adequate funding and the
use of preservation skills to keep this ancient ruin around for many years to come.

N.d. ArtWatchUk. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. <http://artwatchuk.wordpress.com/tag/leonardosvirgin-and-child-with-st-anne/>.

Virgin and child with Saint Anne is one of Leonardo da Vincis famous works of
art; it is almost 506 years old so it is not surprising that this work of art might need some
restoring. But what happens with professionals over clean a work of art? As you can see
in the picture above (the left being the restored painting and the right being the original)
there is a clear difference and almost as if the restorer went on Photoshop and used the
blur tool (a tool used to soften or smudge a photo) throughout the whole painting. The
background also seems to have lost a lot of the blue tones and detailing of the peaks and
trees. The faces seem to be a lot brighter and smoother but it seems to be that it is at the
expense of contrast and strength in the tones of the painting (Leonardos Virgin).
After restoration this painting has somewhat lost its human appeal because of how
unrealistic the skin and facial expressions now look, which is flatter and almost flawless.
They have also changed the hair color of the baby from a light blonde to reddish brown,
for what reason is unknown. The restorationers stand by this painting arguing the changes
made are justifiable and necessary to keep the portrait in good shape, even claiming that

technology can reassure that no real changes have been made (Leonardos Virgin).
Though, the human eye can definitely see the major differences in these two paintings.
The bottom line is this: is the conservation or restoration of the art piece worth the
price that is demanded? Can conservationists help prevent restoration after being
evaluated? Is restoration worth losing some of the historical value of the art piece? This
all needs to be considered before restoring an art piece. Though, conservation is almost
always worth it because it helps prevent future destruction. One way I have found to
solve this issue is to always look more at minimal intervention rather than full-scale
restoration. Minimal intervention meaning the least amount of interference with the
original work of art, being the brightness and colors for example, and only touching up
what needs the most attention and fixing.

Bibliography
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