Oil Painting Restoration & Repair 1-888-532-6732 Museum Quality Methods & Results

Serving Michigan and The Nation From Our Boston Area Studio

 


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Oil Painting Restoration & Repair

 

Contact me for a free appraisal of what can be done to reverse the effects of accidents, neglect and time.

-Bruce Wood, MFA, oil painting conservation specialist. 1-888-532-6732 (Toll Free USA)



Before and after of damaged oil painting portrait

This lovely woman (Recently recognized as Virginia Woolf) was painted by Boston artist Mary Catherine Callan in the early 1900's.  Somewhere between then and now, the portrait collected a thick layer of grime and a few punctures.  The ear was almost totally lost.

Fix holes, Tears and Scratches in Oil Paintings

We repair canvas rips, tears and other substrate problems by lining, patching and reweaving. Gouges in panels can be repaired and in-painted.  We can also replicate missing pieces (holes) to restore your painting to its original beauty.

 

Stabilize paintings: Reline paintings

Relining stabilizes the painting and relaxes the paint film.  It also retards the progression of stress cracks and other damage caused by uneven tension, flexing and mishandling.

 

Fragile canvasses can be mounted on a variety of new surfaces including archival polyester canvas and hardboards.  If there are important markings on the back of the canvas, it can be lined onto a clear mylar.  

 

Replace lost and damaged paint

Professional color matching, inpainting and retouching is done with close attention to detail and surface quality. 

 

Clean oil paintings

Remove the effects of smoke damage,

water damage, mold and darkened varnish.


Restore oil painting colors

Oil paint oxidizes when it dries, and becomes dull over time.

This is especially evident in paintings which have never been varnished. Cleaning and nourishing the paint surface, followed by varnishing, can restore the colors to reflect the artist's original vision.

 

Varnish oil paintings

We finish our work with archival non-yellowing protective varnish.  Available in gloss, matte and satin finish.


Insurance claim estimates

We are glad to provide repair estimates for insurance claims.

 


Oil painting conservator Bruce Wood cleaning a 17th century altar panel.


Restored Early 19th Century portrait with collector Lawrence Branagan.


 

A thank-you note from a collector of Arthur Diehl's paintings:

 

September 30, 2013

 

Dear Mr. Wood,

 

I wanted to thank

you for the beautiful work

restoring our Arthur Diehl

Paintings.  Eventually, I will bring

the previously cleaned paintings

in for appraisal.  (Two that

were cleaned & repaired at

RISD.)  Your work was far

superior!

 

Thank you again...




A detail of a recently cleaned Edward Potthast painting shows how cleaning and varnishing can restore colors and contrast.




From Patti in Oregon:

 

Bruce,

 

I just returned home and found the painting waiting for me.  We just unpacked it and all

is well.  It arrived looking fabulous!  

Now I just have to find the right place

to hang it???

Thank you so much for working a miracle

of the old, tattered piece I sent you. 

Now I really have a work of art!

 

I will send a photo once it is hung...

 

Patti



The antique oil painting above had a heavy layer of smoke and discolored varnish. The smoke is visible on the back of the canvas (shown on the far right, removed from its stretcher bars.)  There was also pronounced cracking and cupping of the paint. 


The painting was relined onto a sealed piece of new linen, flattened and stabilized before cleaning. 


The middle photo shows the painting during the cleaning process.  Note the color of the sky and cobblestone street on the left side of the painting.


The far right photo shows the results after cleaning and varnishing with a non-yellowing, ultraviolet protecting archival varnish.


 


 


Oil painting on broken board before restoration


Oil painting on broken board after estoration

This early 20th Century oil painting on paper-board suffered from neglect and a bad fall.  The fragile corners were mashed and broken, and it had several gouges in the surface. The pieces were re-assembled and mounted onto a new board for stability.  Then the painting was cleaned, cracks repaired, and careful retouching finished the job.





Humidity and shrinking had caused this c.1900 naive Hudson River School painting on canvas to rip itself apart.  It was lined onto a layer of polyester canvas and then onto a rigid board.  After cleaning, repairing the tears and in-painting the paint losses, a final coat of non-yellowing varnish brought out all of the beautiful details.



  


The painting above had severe cracking from humidity damage which shrunk the canvas.  It was starting to lose sections of paint.

The old canvas was lined onto a new hardboard panel, and the paint relaxed and flattened prior to cleaning.

Then paint was added overall to fill in the dark cracks, minimizing the distraction of Craquelure. (See detail of original condition, above right.)





This view of our studio shows paintings of the Presidents of Dean College in various stages of cleaning and repair. 


The photo on the right is a detail of the 1864 portrait of Dean College's Founder Oliver Dean during cleaning and varnish removal.

    



The original round stretcher on the painting above had deteriorated, warped and shrunk, causing the paint to buckle and crack.

The paint was relaxed and the canvas was relined onto a hardboard for stability.  Cleaning and revarnishing restored the lost colors and details.





This oil portrait had been wrapped in newspaper and stored in a hot attic for decades.

 

The heat caused the paint to melt in spots and bond with the newspaper.  Also, the painting had never been varnished, and severe oxidation caused discoloration in the face and an overall haze on the surface of the painting, obscuring many details.  There was also a small (one inch) hole in the shirt and tie.



After cleaning, restoring and conserving the painting,

the colors have returned to what the artist intended.


 

 

  Love's Melancholy, (above)

  collection of  the Art Institute of Chicago.

  The painting on the left is possibly a

  study for this highly-finished piece.


The circa 1865 oil painting above had multiple tears and scrapes, along with a thick layer of grime.

During restoration, it was discovered that the painting may be a study for Love's Melancholy,

an 1866 oil painting by Constant Mayer (1829-1911) which is in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago.


The loose and cracked paint was consolidated, and a vapor treatment helped relax the painting.

It was lined onto a new piece of polyester canvas,  cleaned, holes repaired, and in-painted.

A new coat of non-yellowing varnish brought out all the details.




Rips were repaired, and years of dirt and discolored varnish were removed from this circa 1900 painting of Venice.




Antique Oil Painting Cleaning & Repair


Years of accumulated soot and grime were removed from this antique Peruvian Cuzco School painting of the Archangel Uriel.




  


This early Twentieth Century oil portrait of Belle Dole, wife of James Drummond Dole (founder of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1901)

had suffered from humidity and a fall.  There was a puncture at the tip of her nose, several severe cracks, discolored varnish,

and off-color paint from an old restoration. 


When uncovering the back of the painting, we discovered that the artist painted Mrs. Dole on to of a painting of a child! 

The outlines of the original image can be seen in the above photo of the back of the canvas. 


The portrait received a vapor treatment to relax the cracks, and was lined onto archival polyester canvas to reinforce it. 

The old varnish was removed, the puncture was repaired, and the face was in-painted and retouched.

After a coat of non-yellowing varnish, Belle looks like she's returned from a spa.




Oil on Panel Portrait Before & After Retouching & Repair


This 1921 oil painting on wooden panel had been in-expertly painted over (white paint covers the chest)

and it was neglected for years.  The original painting was never varnished, and the over-painting had

bonded with the original paint.  Even so, it was mostly removed and then retouched.



Revealing an Impressionist Masterpiece:

 

The photos below show the progress of cleaning a small (14"x14") oil painting of a mill by Macowin Tuttle (1861-1935).


It is a masterpiece of plein air (outdoor, on location) painting

which combines impasto palette knife application with richly textured

energetic brush work. The painting appears to date from around 1900.


Cleaning revealed the original colors and details which were obscured

by discolored varnish and layers of household smoke and grease.


It also revealed some old repairs, where the retoucher matched the color of the dirt! 

These can be seen as dark green blotches in the tree branches, center left.


The old retouching was completely removed and lightly inpainted with appropriate coloration and impasto.




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Clean Oil Paintings is located at The Woodshed Gallery, 1243 Pond Street, Franklin MA 02038 

Hours: Tuesdays thru Fridays, 10-5, Saturdays 10-3

Appointments are available at other times.

Tel: 1-508-533-6277  or Toll Free (USA): 1-888-532-6732


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Oil Painting Restoration Services for clients in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia,  Wisconsin & Wyoming

 


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Toll Free (USA): 1-888-532-6732