Current Technical Challenges in the Conservation of Paintings

This volume gathers papers from the ICON Paintings Group’s 2014 conference Modern Conservation: What’s New?, addressing the challenges of conserving contemporary artworks. Contributors explore innovative treatments and adaptations of traditional materials to tackle issues such as flaking paints, structural instability, vibration reduction, and wet surface cleaning. Case studies range from practical solutions-like using sports injury tape-to broader ethical questions around conceptual art. The volume offers vital insights for conservators working with modern materials and techniques.

As artists have increasingly utilised modern materials and techniques, it has presented the conservator with a host of new and complex problems that need to be addressed. As such, this is a subject of great interest to conservators, many of whom had expressed an interest in an event that could supplement their existing knowledge in this field. In response to this, the Institute of Conservation’s Paintings Group decided that this would be an appropriate theme for a conference that could provide a platform for contributors to disseminate their research on a number of topics relating to the conservation of contemporary art works. In addition, a call was put out for contributors who might be developing new and innovative techniques and materials to address conservation problems, or who might be utilising well-known materials that are already in the conservator’s toolkit in a new capacity. The papers in this volume were presented at the Paintings Group’s conference Modern Conservation: What’s New? held at The Wallace Collection in London in October 2014. It covered a variety of topics including: consolidants and flake laying; the possible use of sports injury tape as a temporary means of support during structural conservation treatments; rigid inserts to stretchers to reduce vibrations; auxiliary supports for modern paintings; the problem of softening and weeping paints in modern works of art and methods of treatment; wet surface cleaning treatments for contemporary paintings; and ethical considerations when dealing with conceptual artists’ wishes.

Foreword

Acknowledgements

A summary of recent developments in wet surface cleaning systems: unvarnished modern and contemporary painted surfaces

Bronwyn Ormsby, Melinda Keefe, Alan Phenix and Thomas Learner

Cleaning off liquefying paint

Line Blomsterberg Andersen, Katarina Havermark and Kathrine Segel

In search of a solution for softening and weeping paints in contemporary paintings by Tal R and Frank van Hemert

Ida Bronken, Jaap Boon and Anna Vila

Lascaux acrylic dispersion 498HV and Medium for Consolidation 4176 used as consolidants in two very different practical case studies

Jim Dimond

Laropal A81 as an alternative to MS2A and other resins

Sophie Reddington

Kinesio tape: conservation science meets sports medicine

Anna Krez

Vibration management for canvas paintings: a review of rigid stretcher insert systems,

their materials and applications

Laura Hinde

Conservation – artistic transgressions. Ethical issues related to conservators’

participation within artistic actions questioning or redefining objects’ integrity

Miroslaw Wachowiak and Slawomir A. Kamiński

Conservation issues related to the use of auxiliary supports in the treatment of modern paintings with untypical technical structures – as in works from the

series Hors cadre by Aleksander Kobzdej

Slawomir A. Kamiński and Miroslaw Wachowiak

Using a categorisation framework to simplify a complex approach to the conservation of modern art

Eunjin Kim and Taeeun Kim

• Edited by Angelina Barros D’Sa
• Edited by Lizzie Bone
• Edited by Rhiannon Clarricoates
• Edited by Helen Dowding

"Es de destacar la voluntad de celeridad en su publicacion que, segun los editores, ha estado motivada por la necesidad de la inmediatez y renovacion constante en el contexto de la conservacion-restauracion, lo que seria deseable en otras muchas publicaciones de nuestro ambito. Tambien es conveniente senalar que se trata de una referencia bibliografica con un amplio enfoque, hecho que se evidencia en la heterogenea procedencia de los autores, entre los que se incluyen restauradores de la Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Getty Conservation Institute, asi como conservadores-restauradores de museos daneses, noruegos, holandeses, polacos y coreanos, tecnicos de la industria y restauradores de la empresa privada." Ge-conservacion - December 2015 "Not only does this publication highlight the innovative practice of conservators working today, it also provides practical information making it a very useful reference book" The Picture Restorer - Spring 2016 "On the whole this is a useful publication with anecdotal and practical information that can aid conservators in their work, as well as serving as an excellent reminder for us all to consider papers both constructively and critically before applying them to our practice. There is always something that we can learn from each other through our practical triumphs as well as our technical challenges in the conservation of paintings." Amber Kerr News in Conservation - June-July 2020 (Issue 78, p. 47-49)
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"Not only does this publication highlight the innovative practice of conservators working today, it also provides practical information making it a very useful reference book"

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"On the whole this is a useful publication with anecdotal and practical information that can aid conservators in their work, as well as serving as an excellent reminder for us all to consider papers both constructively and critically before applying them to our practice. There is always something that we can learn from each other through our practical triumphs as well as our technical challenges in the conservation of paintings." Amber Kerr

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"Es de destacar la voluntad de celeridad en su publicación que, según los editores, ha estado motivada por la necesidad de la inmediatez y renovación constante en el contexto de la conservación-restauración, lo que sería deseable en otras muchas publicaciones de nuestro ámbito. También es conveniente señalar que se trata de una referencia bibliográfica con un amplio enfoque, hecho que se evidencia en la heterogénea procedencia de los autores, entre los que se incluyen restauradores de la Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Getty Conservation Institute, así como conservadores-restauradores de museos daneses, noruegos, holandeses, polacos y coreanos, técnicos de la industria y restauradores de la empresa privada."

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