Lining Paintings

This landmark volume documents the legendary Conference on Comparative Lining Techniques held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, a pivotal event that transformed the debate around the structural conservation of paintings. Bringing together an international group of practitioners, the conference explored traditional and emerging lining methods during a period of rapid material and technological change. This edition includes the original papers, updated commentaries, a glossary of terms, and a new select bibliography, making it an essential historical record for conservators and scholars of late 20th-century conservation practice.

The Conference on Comparative Lining Techniques held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich is legendary. It was the first major conference solely concerned with the structural conservation of paintings and, by bringing together a distinguished international group of practitioners to discuss lining paintings, it changed the nature and status of the debate. The Conference responded to a period of accelerating change, especially the introduction of new materials and technologies, and the papers presented compare established practice with cutting edge research and development, empirical craftsmanship with scientific methodology with the goal of refining the practice of lining and minimising the risks of change to the painting. The extraordinary atmosphere, the films, demonstrations, the Lining Exhibition Gallery all encouraged radical review. The papers and conference materials record practice and principles at a critical moment in the history of conservation and constitute one of the most important foundational texts about conservation in the late 20th century. This volume contains the papers as originally presented, some of which have been brought up to date with the addition of commentaries. A glossary of terms (previously issued as a handbook) and a new select bibliography are included.

Foreword Westby Percival-Prescott Introduction Caroline Villers The lining cycle: causes of physical deterioration in oil paintings on canvas: lining from the 17th century to the present day Westby Percival-Prescott Effects of consolidation measures on fibrous materials Gustav A. Berger and Harold I. Zeliger Wax impregnation of cellulose: an irreversible process Gustav A. Berger and Harold I. Zeliger The removal of old linings from oil paintings by the use of the vacuum hot table John R. Essex A method for lining canvas paintings with glue composition Peter Newman Comparisons of dimensional stability between woven glass fibre fabric and conventional linen canvas as lining supports for paintings Pierre Boissonnas Consolidation and lining adhesives compared Robert E. Fieux Notes on a recent relining problem Joan Seddon Prestretched low-pressure lining methods Ronald Chittenden, Gillian Lewis and Westby Percival-Prescott Lining of a torn painting with BEVA 371 Gustav A. Berger Microbial environment: SEM examination of the microbial environment in works of art Bjorn Hallstrom and Bo Goransson Hand lining with wax-resin using an iron Georges Messens Unusual examples of lining on wax-resin Bohdan L. Marconi Lining in a vacuum envelope with a traversing infrared heat source G.A. Hedley, S. Hackney and A.J. Cummings Surface texture changes in vacuum lining: experiments with raw canvas Alan Cummings and Gerry Hedley Characterisation of lining canvases Enzo Tassinari Relining of easel oil painting with sturgeon glue L. Yashkina Adhesive method of consolidating oil paintings with cuppings and hard craquelure L. Yashkina Lining and relining methods and rules evolved at the National Gallery Conservation Department Arthur Lucas The development of wax-composition lining among the members of the Association of British Picture Restorers Philip Robinson Italian lining techniques: lining with pasta adhesive (and other methods) at the Fortezza da Basso, Florence Umberto Baldini and Sergio Taiti A low-pressure cold-relining table V.R. Mehra Some effects of impregnating adhesives on paint films Gustav A. Berger Appendix 1 Relining materials and techniques: summary of replies to a questionnaire S. Rees Jones, Alan Cummings and Gerry Hedley Appendix 2 Conference announcement, Technical Committee, list of delegates Appendix 3 The Lining Exhibition Gallery and photographs of conference delegates Appendix 4 Glossary (originally Handbook of Terms Used in Lining of Paintings) Appendix 5 A select bibliography for the structural conservation of canvas paintings Paul Ackroyd,

Foreword

Westby Percival-Prescott

Introduction

Caroline Villers

The lining cycle: causes of physical deterioration in oil paintings on canvas: lining from the 17th century to the present day

Westby Percival-Prescott

Effects of consolidation measures on fibrous materials

Gustav A. Berger and Harold I. Zeliger

Wax impregnation of cellulose: an irreversible process

Gustav A. Berger and Harold I. Zeliger

The removal of old linings from oil paintings by the use of the vacuum hot table

John R. Essex

A method for lining canvas paintings with glue composition

Peter Newman

Comparisons of dimensional stability between woven glass fibre fabric and conventional linen canvas as lining supports for paintings

Pierre Boissonnas

Consolidation and lining adhesives compared

Robert E. Fieux

Notes on a recent relining problem

Joan Seddon

Prestretched low-pressure lining methods

Ronald Chittenden, Gillian Lewis and Westby Percival-Prescott

Lining of a torn painting with BEVA 371

Gustav A. Berger

Microbial environment: SEM examination of the microbial environment in works of art

Bjorn Hallstrom and Bo Goransson

Hand lining with wax-resin using an iron

Georges Messens

Unusual examples of lining on wax-resin

Bohdan L. Marconi

Lining in a vacuum envelope with a traversing infrared heat source

G.A. Hedley, S. Hackney and A.J. Cummings

Surface texture changes in vacuum lining: experiments with raw canvas

Alan Cummings and Gerry Hedley

Characterisation of lining canvases

Enzo Tassinari

Relining of easel oil painting with sturgeon glue

L. Yashkina

Adhesive method of consolidating oil paintings with cuppings and hard craquelure

L. Yashkina

Lining and relining methods and rules evolved at the National Gallery Conservation Department

Arthur Lucas

The development of wax-composition lining among the members of the Association of British Picture Restorers

Philip Robinson

Italian lining techniques: lining with pasta adhesive (and other methods) at the Fortezza da Basso, Florence

Umberto Baldini and Sergio Taiti

A low-pressure cold-relining table

V.R. Mehra

Some effects of impregnating adhesives on paint films

Gustav A. Berger

Appendix 1 Relining materials and techniques: summary of replies to a questionnaire

S. Rees Jones, Alan Cummings and Gerry Hedley

Appendix 2 Conference announcement, Technical Committee, list of delegates

Appendix 3 The Lining Exhibition Gallery and photographs of conference delegates

Appendix 4 Glossary (originally Handbook of Terms Used in Lining of Paintings)

Appendix 5 A select bibliography for the structural conservation of canvas paintings

Paul Ackroyd

• Edited by Caroline Villers

"In light of the lengthy hiatus between the event and the publication of these edited papers...one might reasonably wonder if such a publication is useful a generation after the original presentations were made...It might be said that while still useful in a practical sense, this book is more interesting in a historical one, because it is a time capsule that allows us a careful look at an era in our profession when many lining techniques, some traditional and others innovative, were being evaluated for the first time." Studies in Conservation 50 (2005) 78-79
—

In light of the lengthy hiatus between the event and the publication of these edited papers...one might reasonably wonder if such a publication is useful a generation after the original presentations were made...It might be said that while still useful in a practical sense, this book is more interesting in a historical one, because it is a time capsule that allows us a careful look at an era in our profession when many lining techniques, some traditional and others innovative, were being evaluated for the first time.

—