Case Studies
Selected case studies demonstrate the approach to understanding each painting’s materials, history, and condition to inform careful and considered conservation treatment
Woman in Red
Artist: Hughie Lee-Smith
Date: 1970
Technique: Oil on Canvas
The treatment of Hughie Lee-Smith’s Woman in Red (c. 1970) involved addressing significant structural distortion caused by a complex history of resizing. Examination of the tacking margins revealed that the painting had been cut from a larger canvas by the artist and later restretched after leaving the studio, resulting in pronounced corner draw and short tacking margins. Weights were placed on the reverse of the painting while it was laid flat to reduce the existing corner-draw deformation. A strip lining was applied based on the painting’s original dimensions, using BEVA 371 Film applied to Pe-Cap 7-305 fabric, a thin monofilament synthetic fabric. The treatment allowed the painting to be safely restretched, stabilising the canvas and returning it to its original dimensions.
Details taken before (left) and after (right) treatment of the lower right corner, showing the change in dimensions based on the original turnover edge.
Before (left) and after (right) treatment in raking light
The Holy Family with Young St John and an Angel
Artist: Giulio Cesare Procaccini
Date: 1616/18
Technique: Oil on Canvas
The treatment of Giulio Cesare Procaccini’s monumental altarpiece involved removing a matt, cross-linked Paraloid F10 varnish applied in 1979, which made it difficult to remove. A controlled cleaning system using solvent-loaded Evolon CR was developed to soften the varnish, followed by gentle swabbing through Japanese tissue. The removal of the varnish restored the depth and saturation of the vibrant colours, revealing Procaccini’s expressive brushwork and loose painting technique. The treatment also revealed numerous pentimenti, providing insight into the artist’s working process. Retouching was carried out to reintegrate areas of loss and abrasion, restoring the visual coherence of the painting while allowing the original technique to remain prominent.
During varnish removal in UV (left) and normal light (right)
Details of Joseph taken before (left) and during (right) retouching, showing areas of retouching, including the reconstruction of the beard and hair.
Annual Chrysanthemums
Artist: Henri Fantin-Latour
Date: 1889
Technique: Oil on Canvas
When Annual Chrysanthemums was examined for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s catalogue, French Paintings and Pastels, 1600–1945, the curatorial department raised questions about the possible date of the painting. Archival research by Bloch Curatorial Fellow Brigid Boyle uncovered a 1949 letter from the dealer Julien Tempelaere to the then-director of the Nelson-Atkins. Tempelaere indicated that Fantin-Latour had dated and signed the painting; however, the date had been covered by a previous owner. This information informed the subsequent technical examination of the painting.
Using the stereomicroscope and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, I confirmed the presence of overpaint around the artist’s signature and fragments of red pigment, supporting Tempelaere’s account. Selective removal of the varnish and overpaint revealed faint, damaged remnants of the original date, “89,” which were carefully retouched. Recovering the date allowed the painting to be more precisely situated within the more than 800 floral still lifes Fantin-Latour produced between 1864 and 1898. This treatment demonstrates how conservation can contribute to a more precise understanding of a painting’s date and its place within an artist’s catalogue raisonné.
For more information about this treatment, see the published technical entry in the Nelson-Atkins catalogue: https://nelson-atkins.org/fpc/catalogue/Nineteenth-Century-Realism-Barbizon/516/
Details taken before (top), during (middle), and after (bottom) treatment