About Us
There’s something you should know about Restoration Division. We don’t just restore art. We’re in the business of making lives easier. And that’s not a truism, that is the standard to which we hold every aspect of our work, from our coherent condition reports to our full range of logistical solutions.
Ours is a team of dedicated specialists who take pride in their work — and the proof is in every piece we handle. Our clients have come to expect
We’re based in Chicago, IL, which makes it convenient for us to reach clients from New York to California, and everywhere in between.
If your needs are art-related, call us. Or send us an e-mail. It’s that simple.
We chose this painting because its condition exhibited a broad array of issues rarely seen in a single artwork.
This detail shows the poor condition of all of the painting’s components: craquelures and lifting paint, dry and deteriorated primer, and an overdried canvas that had become extremely brittle.
As with the previous image, this detail shows the lack of adhesion between the paint film, primer, and canvas, resulting in highly pronounced craquelures and areas of paint loss.
Additionally to the normal wear that comes with age, the frame had suffered damage from water, heat and smoke, as well as mechanical damage and amateur repairs. Its surface bears several coats of non-original paint.
The painting underwent several stages of surface cleaning, including removing the soot, dirt, and particulate films, as well as the discolored organic varnish and excessive patches of non-original paint that were applied during previous repairs.
After consolidating the frame’s wood and primer, the loose compo elements were fitted, aligned, and readhered. Missing elements were cast and sculpted. The coats of non-original paint were removed, and the needed areas were primed, engilded, and retouched.
In addition to solvent cleaning, areas where the surface films were most stubborn were carefully cleaned using scalpel assistance. The artwork was then passively humidified and flattened to a plane. The tears were aligned and mended, filling missing areas with matching canvas inserts.
The canvas was saturated from the verso with heated BEVA solution to consolidate and elasticize it. The artwork was then lined onto a new Belgian linen support, toned to reflect the artwork’s age. The artwork was then stretched on a new custom museum-quality stretcher. All labels and provenance information were preserved and transferred onto the new stretcher.
In missing areas, the texture was rebuilt by thin-film casting, and the color was matched by inpainting using colorfast paints over a thin buffering layer of removable varnish. Several thin coats of non-yellowing removable varnish were applied to protect the artwork and provide a uniform luster.
We chose this painting for one reason: it represents the most common issue with contemporary artworks. Although it only has one localized area of damage, it’s a serious challenge to restore properly and unobtrusively due to the materials and technique used.
This detail shows the L‑shaped tear that spans both painted and unpainted areas. The damage occurred several years ago, allowing the canvas to shrink and creating a sizable gap. This behavior is typical of (and most pronounced in) cotton canvas, which saw widespread use in the latter half of the 20th century.
The same tear can be seen from the verso, as well as the artist’s only signature. As a result, lining the artwork on any support was out of the question.
Since contemporary works rely on the integrity of all components to remain undisturbed in order to retain their value, the decision was made not to remove the artwork from the stretcher. The same applies to the frame, as the artwork was framed by the artist. Instead, we built supporting platforms and cleaned the canvas from both sides.
The crumbling paint along the edges of the tear was consolidated. The site was passively humidified in a Gore-Tex package and flattened.
We made an insert from canvas of a weight and grain identical to the original. The edges of the threads were aligned and fused from both sides using thermoplastic adhesive and heat. This was the most time-consuming stage of the treatment.
The remaining gaps and inconsistencies were filled using marble powder and acrylic gesso. The insert was inpainted using colorfast conservation paints. Areas of bare primer were retouched using acrylic primer and aged to match. The luster was corrected locally using diluted non-yellowing varnish.
The verso of the canvas was retouched using pigments mixed with a synthetic paste adhesive to make the insert nearly imperceptible. Raw canvas, however, is notoriously difficult to match, so the insert can still be detected when viewed from certain angles under critical light.
The end result pleased us at least as much as it did the client.
Although this artwork resembles early 20th-century prints, it is, in fact, an original sepia drawing - and it’s huge.
Even though the drawing was mounted on canvas, the wood pulp paper became extremely brittle and discolored from acidity. Widespread continuous water damage caused the paper to tear and distort, in spite of the fact that the artwork was never removed from its original framing environment.
The artwork also suffered an extensive mold infestation. Large uninterrupted areas got stuck to the glass.
The old wooden backing was constantly feeding the acidic environment. Naturally, the first step was to dismantle the old backing and remove the artwork and the glass from the frame.
The old canvas backing was equally infested with mold spores. The decision was made to gradually remove the old canvas backing while the artwork was still stuck to the glass, taking extreme care not to cause further damage.
The old backing canvas and deteriorating adhesive were removed from the verso. The artwork and the glass were then immersed in a bath of deionized water. The glass was successfully detached. The artwork was then washed in buffered hydrogen peroxide aided by light. Unfortunately, the harshest stains didn’t show much improvement after washing alone.
Those stubborn stains were then treated locally using hydrogen peroxide in a gel vehicle and heat. Finally, after several attempts, the artwork started to look acceptably light and uniform. The sheet was rinsed, and the surface was consolidated using ethulose adhesive. The tears were aligned and mended. The drawing was then dried and flattened.
The artwork was mounted onto an oversized museum rag board using reversible film adhesive. Although the staining was significantly reduced, the artwork required extensive filling and retouching — not only in stained areas, but also where the surface and pigment had been eaten away by mold.
The artwork was exhibited at the foundry, and later donated to a museum.
This painting featured a unique early-XIX-century frame. According to our research, its history is connceted to the extinguishing of one of the worst fires in the history of New York City.
Originally, the frame was adorned with an abundance of ornamentation that was unique both in its historical accuracy and exclusive craftsmanship — no small feat, considering its massive, seven-by-nine-foot size.
Unfortunately, due to its delicate design and substantial weight, the frame was severely damaged. The remaining elements were repaired ineptly.
The frame was originally gilded, but later covered in several layers of bronze paint that became discolored by oxidation. This photo shows the gilding beneath the paint, and the removed non-matching repairs.
Missing elements were cast or sculpted.
The recreated elements were gilded, and then antiqued to match. Some details' shape and position were discernable only by a shadowy outline left in the gilding.
Certain critical details required not only a wealth of technical skill, but also in-depth historical research.
The original areas were spot-gilded and retouched to acheive a cohesive appearance. Newly made areas were patinated and distressed to match the frame's aged look.
Thanks to a coordinated effort in both restoration and research, the painting and the frame assumed their rightful place in the history of American art.