The fragility of art

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Clare Finn, an accredited conservator, reflects on her profession's reputation

Material things are so vulnerable to the humiliations of decay.

There are some I dearly wish might be spared. (Marilynne Robinson, Gilead, Virago 2006)

Caring for the physical aspects of art, slowing its decay, is the province of the conservator of art. Their skills and choices not only slow that decay but let us see it more of the true nature of the object, before it acquired obscuring layers of dirt and discolouration, had not been torn, or split or bashed. Yet that art can be fragile. That it is not eternal, but physically decays seems to surprise many. This is despite all we know about the ageing process, and that an honest look at oneself in the mirror should suffice to convince. Art, like ourselves, does not escape! Yet both can certainly look good at any age – with the right care.

The older a painting, sculpture or objet the more likely it is to have pieces missing. Paint is likely, very likely, to fall off, or have already fallen. Panels split, canvas rots, a slight knock and a hole or tear results. As time past they were repaired, losses obscured, filled and painted over, in many cases more lavishly than a loss may strictly require – the art equivalent of too much plastic surgery perhaps. Thus the profession has come in for some flak. For example, a painting once regarded as being ‘by Romney’ might be downgraded to ‘after Romney’ owing to a restorer’s interference: some restorers have been known to ‘improve’ a painting by adding more paint. Illustrating the use of the word ‘restorer’ in the late 19th century, even the Oxford English Dictionary seemed unhappy about restorers. Their choice of illustration was (quoting an 1886 source): ‘As a “restorer” of ancient buildings he was guilty of...the most irreparable destruction’.

Nor do concerns about such practices apply only to the distant past. The idea that 20^th-century paintings may have been ‘marred’ by restoration is not uncommon. Were all restorers blind, overpainting philistines? Or is it, in part at least, the word itself that conjures up these suspicions?

The verb ‘to restore’ appeared in the 13th century, developing, in Old French, from the Latin rēstaurāre, to rebuild. It means ‘to build up again; to re-erect or reconstruct. To repair and alter … so as to bring it as nearly as possible to its original form… To bring back to the original state; to improve, repair, or retouch’ (OED 1989).

 The ethos embodied in the word has led many working in the field to draw away from the title ‘restorer’, and today many call themselves ‘conservators’. Certainly, they have changed their approach. ‘To conserve’ – the word appeared in the 14th century, a 100 years after ‘to restore’, and means ‘To keep in safety, or from harm, decay, or loss; to preserve with care; now usually, to preserve in its existing state from destruction or change… or maintain in being or continuous existence; to keep alive or flourishing’ (OED). Thus it is hoped it would embody a greater respect for the integrity of the object. (Even in France, where the term conservateur denotes a curator, the term conservation préventative has now appeared.)

Today training as a conservator of art can be done only as postgraduate study. It equips candidates not just to ‘repair’ works of art but also to find out so much more about them. A student must undertake in-depth studies and original research into the techniques, materials and pigments traditionally used in art as they changed over the centuries, as well as those used, today, in contemporary art. They must study the way materials interact and breakdown; the mechanical behaviour of wooden and canvas supports. Students review historical and current practices of structural conservation; looming, strip-lining, tear-mending, hand lining and vacuum table lining. They must understand mechanics as they apply to paint, adhesives, consolidants, varnishes and coatings used in conservation so that they can predict the changes that adding these polymers to an already-complex structure of a painting may bring about. The consequences of the practical cleaning of paintings, an understanding of solvent action and varnish removal, must be learnt, as must the physics of light, optics and colour theory to aid with the visual re-integration of retouching paintings, and how optics relates to varnishes.

Research is aided by scientific examination and the analysis of the natural organic materials art is made of through the use of Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, microscopy, gas and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry, thermal analysis and FTIR and conservators must now be conversant with these techniques. Examining the condition of a painting is now done with specialist imaging techniques such as infrared, ultraviolet and X-rays, and again a conservator must know how to interpret the results. Preventive conservation is also high on the agenda through an understanding of how a work deteriorates and the effects of its environment upon it. Issues that relate to storage, transport and display of art, lighting and applications of colour measurement in conservation must all be mastered.

Once graduated, a conservator must gain a minimum of five years’ experience before applying for the profession’s accreditation, its professional qualification, as an accredited conservator-restorer (the word restorer being kept to acknowledge world wide linguistic differences). Would you use an unqualified doctor or accountant? What might you expect the results of such work to be if you did? This is a qualification that is not just given once-for-all: those who gain it are subject to review on a regular basis. ICON, The Institute for Conservation, is the lead voice for the profession, overseeing the professional qualification and standards within the UK (www.icon.org.uk).

So there is a good chance art may indeed be spared the humiliations of decay,  and being maintained in continuous existence; be kept alive and flourish – for a very long time!