Banner by Korrina Gidwani

Anatomy of a Painting

By Korrina Gidwani

Abstract, Baroque, Contemporary. These distinct styles of art, alongside dozens of others, have manifested themselves in unique ways throughout history. Artistic forms, such as paintings, provide a constantly evolving medium for self-expression and historical documentation, from Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” to Grant Wood’s “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”. However, when such meaningful paintings are weathered down or treated improperly, what can be done to preserve their value and appearance  Craftsmen, historians, and scientists came together to address this question from a scientific standpoint, formally establishing the field of art conservation in the early 1900s. One century later, scientific advancements in technology and chemical techniques have transformed this promising field. Today, thousands of art conservators work to preserve the value of precious paintings, both in museums and free-lance settings. In fact, Pittsburgh is home to an entrepreneur and innovator who relies on these scientific methods when repairing and preserving paintings.

Ana Alba, a painting conservator with 13 years of experience, developed an early interest in artistic forms and pursued her passion through education in art conservation. She established a private practice dedicated to art conservation in 2014, where she evaluates and treats structural and aesthetic condition issues in paintings. The techniques she uses to accomplish these tasks are all grounded in science and have been streamlined by scientific innovations. She detailed the lengthy process that ensues when a new painting arrives in her office.

“We don’t need to know the nitty-gritty of a painting when it first arrives. Rather, it’s a more visual process,” Alba said, explaining that her initial goal is to qualitatively determine the type and extent of damage to the painting in addition to its general structure and composition. Employing a scientific approach to accomplish this goal, she utilizes a stereomicroscope and high-resolution imaging – both of which offer strong magnification in three dimensions – to analyze potential issues with the structure and stability of the piece. She relies on ultraviolet imaging to detect a natural resin varnish, a protective topcoat. If there are stains or damage that expand into the base layers of the painting, she may collaborate with independent laboratories or utilize technology from local museums to conduct a deeper analysis. For instance, to explore a painting’s structure and composition, she may use a museum’s infrared camera to pinpoint traces of carbon that correspond to underdrawings or traces beneath the paint layer. Similarly, Alba can collect and polish cross-sections or scrapings of the paint, and then use a museum’s Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer to determine the elemental composition of the paint. Ultimately, she utilizes this information to make well-informed treatment decisions – including repairs and aesthetic enhancements – and educate her clients on the extent and depth of her treatment. Typically, the treatment process lasts 2-3 months for simple treatments and 4-6 months for complex paintings with extensive damage.

Currently, Alba is working on several fascinating conservation projects. In one case, a client presented a painting in hopes of improving its surface-level appearance. However, upon further investigation with ultraviolet imaging and magnification, she discovered varnish and overpaint, additional layers that someone else had hastily applied to brighten the background and conceal blemishes. It is essential to remove these overlaying layers to reveal the base layer of paint, thus allowing preservation and restoration procedures to be applied to the original layer of paint. To determine the solubility and type of overpaint used, Alba opted to perform micro-tests in the turning edge of the painting, an area that is covered by the picture frame. She conducted tests across the canvas to account for differences in color, sensitivity, and other parameters.

Based on her findings, she “decided to utilize a gelled solvent solution in order to soften the overpaint and undermine the soluble varnish.” This intricate process swells the varnish layer without affecting the original paint layer. It relies on gel to increase the dwell time of the top layer of overpaint without penetrating into the bottom layers. As a result, Alba could easily visualize the distinction between the paint layers and then manually remove the overpaint and varnish without damaging the original layer of paint.

For all of the organic chemistry buffs out there … This approach may remind you of column chromatography. In fact, the underlying principles of these techniques are analogous to each other! Column chromatography separates substances on the basis of solubility, similar to gels and solvent systems, and even incorporates a retention factor, the time of retention, which is comparable to dwell time in solvent systems.

Finally, after gelling a solvent system, Alba meticulously removed the overpaint and varnish layers, line-by-line, using a scalpel. Even though this process sounds painstaking, Alba expressed that “it’s very zen… I just put on some nice, relaxing music since I’m there for hours with a scalpel.” After removing those layers, she could access the original layer of paint, which required additional repairs and treatments that were specialized to the paint’s structure and composition. Alba’s experiences with this case, alongside many others, reinforce the idea that scientific concepts are similar to and even underly treatment techniques in art conservation.

Alba also applied this methodical, scientific approach when collaborating with a museum team to restore a painting by Leon Berkowitz, a famous artist known for his vibrant, abstract paintings. Underneath the painting’s mesmerizing neon pigments, there was a deeper underlying issue, initially unbeknownst to the team.

“In the 1980s, someone actually vomited onto the painting and then someone else tried to cover up the vomit stains,” Alba explained humorously. Decades later, in 2015, Alba was contracted to repair the underlying damage and previous attempts to conceal the stains. She conducted tests to determine the impact of the acidic vomit on the paint’s integrity and pinpoint the depth of the vomit stains. Now knowing the extent of the damage, she carefully cleaned the stained areas and overpainted regions, followed by an inpainting process that filled in over damaged or lost areas. Six months later, Alba successfully completed this project, making it the “most difficult case of [her] career.” Once again, Alba’s incorporation of advanced conservation skills, many of which are inherently scientific, contributed to her ability to restore the painting, thus highlighting the value of integrating science and the humanities. Alba ended our interview by sharing her thoughts on the future trajectory of this field. She sees immense potential in modern acrylics, novel varnish, and cleaning technologies. Alongside these areas, she appreciates the capacity for innovation and creativity in this field. She particularly enjoys mimicking existing brushstrokes when filling in damaged or lost areas within a painting. “You can’t just carve it into the paint; you have to make it. For example, I can come up with a new formulation or mixture using acrylic mediums that has the right consistency to fake a brushstroke and then come up with a way to attach that [to the painting],” Alba explained. As her personal business expands, she aspires to continue this innovation and strives to develop new technologies. These insights reinforced the idea that the future of art conservation will likely be rooted in scientific techniques.

Whether Alba is assessing a new painting, mending structural damage, or enhancing a painting’s aesthetic appearance, she is continuously grounding her treatment decisions in scientific concepts and making use of technological advancements. By doing so, she is able to repair and preserve paintings that hold historical and expressionist significance. As a result, artistic forms can continue to illuminate an artist’s perspective, historical events, and other subtleties. Now, during your next trip to an art museum, keep an eye out for art conservators working behind the scenes to preserve these essential art forms!