The retouching process is arguably the most fun and difficult part of any conservation. While it’s exciting to literally reassemble the image and make the damage disappear, it’s also the thing that the viewer will see first. All of the structural work is hidden and often behind the image yet the image itself is the whole point. If the retouching isn’t spot-on then no amount of other work will matter to the viewer. This painting of a canal had a pretty nasty compound tear and required a lining to

After the cleaning, varnish removal, and some light fill-in, a layer of synthetic resin was applied and then the retouching process can begin. Little by little the damage disappears and the image comes together. | Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration

Just a bit of what’s happening in the studio this morning. Putting both my hot tables to work. This is a prime example of why having the second table is so critical. Aside from having capacity to work on really large pieces, it also allows me to split the work between the two tables. On the small table I’m lining two paintings with high heat (150F) and on the large table I’m doing three treatments to flatten wavy and rippled canvas at lower heat (120F) further, because the large table has three

When detergents, solvents and other cleaning agents just don’t cut it, surface accumulations can be removed with a scalpel. It’s slow going even for just a few spots and luckily the whole pinto g does not need to be cleaned this way. | Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration

I talk a lot about how the materials and techniques I use are reversible and here is a prime example of that. I had mended a small tear using the bridging technique that I am very fond of. The client accidentally damaged the painting and now it needs to be lined. Before I can do the lining I have to remove the bridging and as you can see it’s really quite simple. | Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration