This unsigned painting unfortunately had a book placed on it which resulted in several large tears. The linen was extremely dry, and dirt particulates covered the surface.

After defitting the painting an extensive suture operation stabilized the tears. New archival linen was adhered to provide foundational strength and deep, careful cleaning was carried out before in-fill and in-painting concealed the areas of loss. Conservation varnish to finish.

Investigation continues after de-fitting the Rondel Sr Beach Scene oil on canvas. Waiting for us on the reverse was a promising and cleanly-devised keying method. However, the reverse contained the outdated wax reline method that is unfortunately rather good at gathering dirt particulates to the reverse as well as to the front of the canvas. Along the perimeter, more damage and canvas degradation became obvious. With the aid of the blacklight we were able to locate the areas of old in-painting. Some of these areas correspond to old tear repairs, the condition of which is waiting for us under the old wax reline. Once that reline is removed, we’ll have a better understanding for what we’re facing with respect to the tears. Stay tuned for more…

Frederick Rondel was born in Paris in 1826 but emigrated to America and was best remembered as being the only art teacher for Winslow Homer. He was also a successful landscape and marine painter who painted extensively throughout New England and as far as San Francisco. A recurrent subject matter for his paintings are views along the Hudson River.

Rondel’s New England landscapes and paintings of New York City were ultimately influenced by the romanticism of his teachers in Paris: Theodore Gudin and Auguste Jugelet (Jugelet himself being a pupil of Gudin).

It is known that in 1855 to 1857 Rondel was in Boston, having arrived from Europe, and one year later was in South Malden, Massachusetts, while concurrently keeping a New York City studio.
He was away from New York in Europe from 1862 to 1868, the duration of the Civil War, but returned to the city to be a faculty member at the National Academy of Design, where he had become an Associate member.

He exhibited at the National Academy, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the Boston Athenaeum.

Frederick Rondel died in 1892.

This painting suffered from water damage that left a bulge in the center of the canvas. Furthermore, a considerable amount of dirt had found its way onto the front and reverse, and a mold growth had started on the reverse. Paint loss had occurred noticeably along the bottom.

The painting was treated for mold and then archivally re-lined to mitigate the bulge as well as provide more foundational support for the paint film. In-fill prepped the canvas where areas of paint loss had occurred and in-painting concealed them. Careful cleaning throughout the front and reverse, and archival varnish to finish.