Damage repair

Julia specialises in the complex cleaning of 16th to 20th century paintings and frames, restoring paintings suffering from water and fire damage as well as accidental damage and general age and deterioration.

Below are a few examples of some of her previous work.

Bitumen damage

Bitumen had several different uses in the 19th century, often used as a glaze in the background in order to heighten it, this can cause pigment shrinkage necessitating in the filling and retouching of these areas.

Fire damage

The first image below shows the cleaning test making an impression on the shattered canvas and the restored painting below.

Accidental damage

Below is a classic example of a painting damaged in transit by a removal company.  The picture needed lining so as to stabilise the pigment and support the large area of trauma.  It was then filled where necessary and varnished.  The frame was conserved at the same time.

Restoration

Complex clean

Maritime paintings in particular are complex to clean because of the numerous detailing in masts, spars and flags; this painting needed to have a very delicate clean starting in the sky with a cleaning test where the pigment is more stable because of the presence of titanium white. You can also see the superb quality of the painting after it was cleaned.