Uploads from IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art, tagged landscape

pink petals

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:52:58 -0700

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i'll take one of everything, please

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:52:58 -0700

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how does your garden grow?

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:52:59 -0700

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so much to see

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:52:59 -0700

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from a-z

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:52:58 -0700

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hanging basket

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:53:00 -0700

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plant a tree!

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:52:59 -0700

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the couple that plants together

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:52:57 -0700

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moxy moss

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:53:00 -0700

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Landscape with Rolling Hills Before Treatment: UV Examination

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:50:15 -0800

IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art posted a photo:

This image, taken while the painting was under ultraviolet light (UV), shows the areas of excessive filling and overpaints. The overpaint shows up as dark patches.

Why does it look this way under UV light?
The different materials (ie: the original artist’s paint and the varnish and overpaint applied by the restorer) absorb and emit the UV energy differently. UV light is one of the many simple observation techniques conservators use to examine works of art.

After removal of discolored varnish, excessive fills, and overpaint: all previous damages exposed

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:50:36 -0800

IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art posted a photo:

This detail shows the extent of the damage to the painting. Some of the worst damages were located in the sky.

Landscape with Rolling Hills After Treatment

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:50:39 -0800

IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art posted a photo:

The damages were carefully reintegrated to make the composition whole again.

How long does it take to complete the conservation of a painting like this?

This is a commonly asked question. The treatment for this particular painting took over 220 hours. Each treatment is different and the amount of time it takes depends on factors such as the size of the painting, what has been previously done to the painting, and what is currently wrong with the appearance and condition of the painting.

Detail during removal of discolored varnish, excessive fills, and overpaint

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:50:27 -0800

IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art posted a photo:

The previous restorer’s materials not only covered the damages to the painting, but also extended onto the original paint. In some cases, large areas of the original paint were covered.

This image shows an area of the painting during the removal of the discolored varnish and overpaint. The true color palette of the original paint was revealed and the excessive white fills were removed from the artist’s original paint.

After removal of discolored varnish, excessive fills, and overpaint: all previous damages exposed

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:50:32 -0800

IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art posted a photo:

There were numerous old damages to the painting. The white areas are places where the original paint and ground were completely missing.

Landscape with Rolling Hills Before Treatment

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:49:26 -0800

IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art posted a photo:

Before treatment, the painting was covered by layers of dirt, thick discolored varnish, and excessive filling and overpaint. The discolored layers of dirt and varnish obscured the true colors of the painting. All of the landscape murals at Wishard were painted in light, soothing shades as a means to promote healing in the patients, but the dirt and previous restorer’s varnish literally turned the light blue sky a dull, murky green.

Landscape with Rolling Hills Before Treatment: Raking light image

nobody@flickr.com (IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:49:56 -0800

IMA - Indianapolis Museum of Art posted a photo:

This raking light image of Landscape with Rolling Hills shows both the uneven surface that resulted from the damages that occurred when the murals were removed from the wall, and the heavily applied filling and overpaint.

The painting was executed on a fabric support that was glued to the walls of Wishard Hospital. That glue appears to have been a lead-based glue, which is very strong. The fabric support was probably a jute or burlap fabric, which became very brittle over time. The strength of the glue and the fragile fabric support were probably the reasons why the murals were damaged when they were removed from the walls.

Some of the damages were not completely re-aligned when the painting was mounted to a masonite support during the 1967 restoration attempt. That is why the surface of the painting appears so “lumpy”.

Why didn’t the conservators at the IMA remove the paintings from the masonite during their conservation work?

A conservator carefully diagnoses and evaluates each treatment before the work begins. The conservator has to understand the original artist’s materials and how they have aged over time. As previously mentioned, this painting has a fragile fabric support. Trying to separate that fragile material from the masonite, which is much thicker and durable, would cause a lot of physical stress to the painting, and could cause more damage. Under the right lighting conditions, the lumpy appearance of the surface can be reduced without causing all that stress to the painting.