Category Archives: Flood Damage

Sir George Solti conducts the Chicago Symphony in Vienna

Posted by millerfenwood in Custom Frames, Flood Damage, Works on Paper

This serigraph by Franklin McMahon (1921 – 2012) is entitled “Sir George Solti conducts the Chicago Symphony in Vienna.” Harsh mold damage had obscured many of the faces in the crowd which restoration brought back to clarity. The finished work is housed in a custom Italian frame. A couple of the finer points we enjoy about this print is 1) how its art about art, which is kind of like a bilingual ability, and 2) how it represents a gathering of people enjoying and sharing the gifts of art, which is kind of like the adoration of an unspoken language, and something we find worth preserving.

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Dutch lowlands, landscapes, and Rembrandt

Posted by millerfenwood in Flood Damage, Works on Paper

Rembrandt’s (1606 – 1669) etching of the Little Stink Mill portrays an actual windmill that was located in west Amsterdam on the De Passeerde bulwark. The mill was owned by the Leathermakers Guild and it’s where they would soften leather with cod liver oil, a smelly process which lead to the “Little Stink Mill” name. Because of the detail of the print, it’s believed that Rembrandt started the work on site, but then finished it in his studio. Unfortunately for this print, surface dirt, a watercolor drip, and acid stains called foxing were causing integrity issues. With targeted baths we lifted the foxing and simultaneously administered a specific solvent to treat the watercolor drip. Restoration was completed by carefully cleaning the surface.

 

 

Tour Boat on the Seine by Tomlice

Posted by millerfenwood in Flood Damage, Works on Panel

This wonderful painting by R. Tomlice from 1963 suffered from paint loss and a varnish that had streaked in areas which was the result of flood damage. Through restoration we carefully removed the varnish as well as deacidified it to mitigate a mold invasion. A custom Italian Florentine frame in gold was built and the artwork was then archivally placed inside it. We are very happy with the frame style and color, and how well it compliments the painting.

The Seine stretches 483 miles and connects the Paris basin to Le Havre, a major port in the Normandy region. “Seine” comes from Sequana, who was the Gallo-Roman goddess of the river. Due to the Seine’s central location within Paris, tour boats are able to pass along the Left Bank, Right Bank, Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, Louvre Museum, Orsay Museum, and Les Invalides, the burial site for Napoleon, as well as other attractions.

A Modern Take on the Cassetta Frame

Posted by millerfenwood in Custom Frames, Flood Damage, Works on Panel

With the Renaissance causing an emergence of secular art subjects, there was a need for a new frame style, one that was different from the religious, Tabernacle style. The specific need was to diverge from the elaborate and imposing style of religious frames, which mimicked, on the small scale, Gothic architecture, and head toward a style that was more organized and refined. Cassetta translates to “little box,” and its meaning is reflected in the frame’s appearance: four straight sides with an entablature formate. The other fundamental shift was the change in how the frame related to the work. The Tabernacle frame had sought to be an extension of the artwork while the Cassetta frame tried to emphasize the artwork.

Due to its simplistic nature, the Cassetta frame is very versatile, and one that were were able to modernize in a symbiotic way to three distinct oil paintings by Bill Olendorf (1924-1996). Each custom frame received gilding, and also, to match the frame to the artwork, the panel was painted with the same temperature of color included in the artwork. These works were also plagued by a substantial invasion of mold, and required quite a bit of cleaning.