It’s #EUDayConservationRestoration!

Let’s look back at the amazing conservation story of a painting in very poor condition: Festival Scene (c.1960) by Sylvia Cooke-Collis.

This work was conducted by Giulia Campagnari during a shared NGI-CAG-IMMA conservation internship.

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Damage on the left tacking margin caused the painting to become detached from its stretcher.

Canvas severely distorted, there was bulging and cracking of the paint layer, causing flaking in several areas. Added to this, heavy dust and dirt were present all over the surface!

Several aqueous solutions and solvents for cleaning the painted surface were then tested.

During this, it was discovered that some colours proved to be extremely sensitive to water, so a suitable solvent for removing dirt was chosen to achieve a gradual and balanced cleaning.

As the painting appeared to be suffering inherent fragility and potential future flaking issues, conservators opted for a full consolidation treatment by impregnating canvas, ground, and paint layers with a thermoplastic consolidant solution applied from the verso (reverse side).

After complete drying of the solution, the turnover edges of the canvas were then ironed with a hot spatula.

The painting was then placed face up on a heated vacuum table.

The heat provided re-activated the consolidant solution and allowed its better penetration into the painting, which ensured perfect adhesion between paint and ground layer and the canvas.

The vacuum created by the machinery allowed the painting – made more flexible thanks to the consolidant solution – to be kept flat during the process and finally regain its original planarity (flatness).

The painting was then re-stretched and fixed with staples on its original stretcher.

The stretcher itself had been dry-cleaned in advance of this with smoke sponges and treated with beeswax to seal all woodworm holes as a preventative measure.

Deep paint losses were then in-filled with gesso.

Retouching on losses and cracks was subsequently carried out using watercolours (a reversible process).

To complete the project, the frame was cleaned and retouched before final re-framing of the painting.

We would like to thank Giulia Campagnari and our @NGIreland colleagues for their contributions to and assistance in this 2018 conservation project.

Festival Scene (c.1960) by Sylvia Cooke-Collis now hangs as part of the collection in our storied Gibson Galleries.

Sylvia Cooke-Collis (1900-1973), who was from Killavullen, Co. Cork, once trained under Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone and exhibited @RHAGallery. #LucidAbnormalities