Sarah,
Yes, this happens all the time. People even ignore the advice of a trained
conservator. In general, many people have already made up their minds
before asking advice. What they want to hear is that their chosen course of
action is appropriate. If they do not hear that, they simply ignore the
advice. Often, the underlying issue is money. Historically, snake oil
salesmen have made considerable fortunes selling products/treatments that at
best do nothing and at worst cause harm. Remember all those 19th C tonics
that included cocaine as an ingredient? In fact, Coca-Cola originally had
cocaine in it. All it takes is guts and the willingness to take money over
actually helping people. Sometimes these two even get confused, and the
vendor erroneously thinks they are helping while they make money. Ignorance
is bliss.
There is no solution to this dilemma. All you can do is offer competent
advice. Your responsibility ends there.
As an interesting aside, my own father fell into this trap when I was a
teenager. He wanted to "clean" several paintings from the early 20th
century by a well-known local artist. He did not want to spend the money,
and upon the advice of a local "restorer," cleaned them with mechanics' hand
cleaner and steel wool. Needless to say, a bunch of the paint came off,
although he denied it vehemently.
Marc
American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
4 Rockville Road
Broad Brook, CT 06016
www.conservator.com
860-386-6058
*Collections Preservation Consultation
*Conservation Assessments & Surveys
*Low-Tech Environmental Control
*Moisture Management Solutions
*Collections in Historic Structures
*Collections Care Grant Preparation
*Conservation Treatment of:
Furniture
Painted Wood
Horse-Drawn Vehicles
Architectural Interiors
Marc A. Williams, President
MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
Former Chief Wooden Object Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sarah Wood-Clark" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Painting Conservation
> Here's a question for the list. When people ask your opinion, as a
> museum professional, about something like an appropriate treatment for
> their paintings, do you find that they quite often ignore it? For
> example, in this case I expressed doubts about the appropriateness of the
> treatment, suggested that they ask lots of questions about methods and
> materials to be used, tell the practitioner that they needed to get board
> approval and I would then help them to decide whether it was the right
> course of action. And I offered to help them find a qualified
> conservation professional -- even e-mailed them a list from the AIC web
> page. Instead they authorized this treatment and left the paintings
> because "they sounded like they knew what they were talking about." I
> wonder why that is?
>
>
> On Aug 12, 2007, at 10:27 PM, Marc A Williams wrote:
>
>> My 2-c:
>>
>> I agree with what David said. The other problem with certain kinds of
>> oils is that they may not fully oxidize or dry, remaining oily,
>> softening underlying varnish or paint layers and entrapping dust and
>> dirt, creating a real mess. Oils are one of the worst products that can
>> be used for preservation of painted, finished and decorative surfaces.
>> I never use them. Period.
>>
>> The other issue is that any coating or treatment will seal in existing
>> dirt if it is not properly cleaned first. Then, the dirt is much more
>> difficult and more expensive to remove in the future. I never varnish
>> or otherwise coat a dirty surface.
>>
>> The treatments you mention, if one ignores their potentially devastating
>> effect on the paintings, of course do nothing for the losses requiring
>> inpainting. Hopefully, anyone that would consider using the
>> aforementioned products on a painting has enough sense not to attempt
>> inpainting, but I doubt it.
>>
>> I know doing nothing is difficult for many people, but doing the wrong
>> thing is much, much worse than doing nothing. I would suggest that the
>> money she would spend for the inappropriate treatment would be better
>> applied for a partial treatment by a real conservator. Conservators do
>> not have to do a complete treatment. One may be able to stabilize the
>> areas of loss and do a quick cleaning of dirt, making the paintings look
>> better, without creating any additional damage now or in the future.
>>
>> She may be surprised to find that a qualified conservator lives closer
>> than she thinks, she just doesn't know it. The American Institute for
>> Conservation (AIC) in Washington, DC maintains a referral list that
>> anyone can access. Otherwise, doing nothing is the best thing she can
>> do.
>>
>> Marc
>>
>> American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
>> 4 Rockville Road
>> Broad Brook, CT 06016
>> www.conservator.com
>> 860-386-6058
>>
>> *Collections Preservation Consultation
>> *Conservation Assessments & Surveys
>> *Low-Tech Environmental Control
>> *Moisture Management Solutions
>> *Collections in Historic Structures
>> *Collections Care Grant Preparation
>> *Conservation Treatment of:
>> Furniture
>> Painted Wood
>> Horse-Drawn Vehicles
>> Architectural Interiors
>>
>> Marc A. Williams, President
>> MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
>> Former Chief Wooden Object Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
>> Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sarah Wood-Clark"
>> <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2007 11:45 AM
>> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Painting Conservation
>>
>>
>>> Hello All,
>>>
>>> I have what may be a dumb question, but here goes...a friend has a
>>> couple of nice aging oil paintings (early-mid this century) that need
>>> some attention (cleaning and inpainting), she lives in a rural area
>>> and does not have access geographically or budget- wise to painting
>>> conservators and has turned them over to someone who has promised to
>>> go over them with Salamander Oil and varnish them. I don't know what
>>> varnish, and I seem to remember earlier in my career equating
>>> salamander oil with snake oil or worse. What does this stuff actually
>>> do? Will it harm the painting?
>>>
>>> Oh, thank you in advance.
>>>
>>> Sarah
>>>
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