The history and current situation of oil painting restoration

Oil painting restoration has a history of hundreds of years in Europe and has gone through a long period of exploration and slow development. In the early days, people had limited understanding of repair methods and repair materials. Some oil painting repair techniques and measures seem very primitive and incredible today. For example, until the beginning of the 20th century, many museums still used water and soap to scrub oil paintings, soaked oil paintings in linseed oil, or used butter, lard, industrial oil, beer, Vaseline, etc. as seasonings to smear the paintings in an attempt to restore the lost color. But without the continuous efforts of previous restorers over hundreds of years, it would be difficult for many early masterpieces of oil paintings to survive to this day. The masterpiece "Mona Lisa" by Renaissance oil painting master Leonardo da Vinci has been restored more than 70 times. Apparently, everyone who restored the painting was dissatisfied with the work done by his predecessor. Looking back, I have been engaged in the restoration of oil paintings and paper works of art in the United States since 1985. I have restored more than 1,200 oil paintings so far, of which more than 60% have traces of previous restorations. During World War II, a large number of oil paintings flowed into the United States, and a large number of experienced restorers also immigrated to the United States, which led to the rapid development of the art restoration industry in the United States. With the advancement of science and the application of scientific instruments, people have an unprecedented understanding of the material and chemical structure of oil paintings through chemical analysis and the use of new observation methods such as microscopy, X-rays, ultraviolet rays, infrared rays and photography. Specialized equipment and tools, such as the hot vacuum table produced in the 1950s, revolutionized traditional lining and recondi-tioning processes. The popularization and application of beva ahesives in the 1970s represented a new round of material innovation. Oil painting restoration has become a rapidly developing industry in the past 20 years.

The establishment of international and regional professional associations has greatly promoted the exchange of technology and information. The International Society for the Preservation of Historical Culture and Art, including branches in Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Austria, Spain and Japan, has more than 3,500 members. Among them, there are more than 800 individuals and institutions engaged in oil painting restoration. The American Society for the Preservation of Historical Culture and Art has more than 3,100 members, including more than 700 individual members engaged in oil painting restoration and more than 50 professional institutional members. There are more than 500 oil painting restoration studios owned by individuals, museums, galleries and art schools across the United States (more than 60 in New York alone), of which there are more than 40 large studios with 4 to 10 or more restorers. More than 40,000 oil paintings need to be repaired every year. There are 4 institutions of higher learning that offer professional courses in oil painting restoration and award degrees. There are more than 300 short courses, training courses and seminars organized by various professional associations and institutions every year, with more than 6,000 participants.

Compared with European and American countries, oil painting has a shorter history in China, so there is no tradition of restoring oil paintings. The works of the older generation of oil painters (mostly painted between the Revolution of 1911 and the 1930s) are in poor condition due to their age and lack of proper maintenance, and some have reached an incredible level. 100% of these works require varying degrees of restoration and salvage. As for the oil paintings from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the late Cultural Revolution, most of them have been damaged due to the poor quality of the materials used. If immediate protection and repair measures are not taken, their lifespan may be even shorter. In addition, there are also a considerable number of old and new oil paintings that have been damaged during exhibitions and transportation.

The importance and urgency of oil painting restoration have begun to receive attention from all aspects. Some foreign experts were invited to give lectures in China and repair some oil paintings. However, inviting experts from abroad to restore individual works is not a long-term solution. In addition to the high cost, there is a lack of specialized facilities and equipment in the country, which will definitely affect the quality of the restoration. China needs to build its own restoration studios and train its own restoration staff. Expert teaching can only achieve the expected results if there are talent training plans and mechanisms in place. This is China’s top priority in developing oil painting restoration. The national culture and cultural relics protection authorities and the national education department should make long-term planning and investment, establish a systematic mechanism for cultivating talents, and also establish a development and supply mechanism for equipment and materials, establish professional research institutions including scientists, and Organize fixed and regular internal and external communications.

The value of works by deceased famous artists continues to increase, and the number of artists and their works continues to increase, which determines that the demand for protection and restoration will also continue to increase. This is a long-term trend. The absolute number of oil painters in China today may be more than any other country in the world, and more oil paintings are produced every day. The protection and restoration of oil paintings will become a permanent job. Considering that every oil painting will age sooner or later; considering that modern oil paintings use a variety of different materials and material combinations, new repair materials and new repair methods will need to be continuously developed in the future; considering that repairing a painting The manpower and time required to paint an oil painting is often the same as that of producing an oil painting; considering that it takes many years to train an experienced restorer, it is never too late to make comprehensive planning and investment from now on morning. The professionalism of oil painting restoration

Oil painting restoration is highly professional.

Due to their special purpose and performance, the materials used in oil painting restoration, including surface coatings, adhesives, solvents, reinforcement and backing materials, fillers and complementary pigments, etc., are different from traditional oil painting production materials. Repair materials It is required to have chemical stability, safety, effectiveness and reversibility, and it is required not to be mixed with the original materials after use, not to affect the stability of the original materials, and not to change the original appearance of the restored oil painting. The equipment tools and operating methods used are also different from those used in oil painting production. In the past 20 years, the technology and materials for oil painting restoration have developed rapidly. The general trend is to become more and more specialized and scientific, and the professional requirements for restorers in all aspects are also getting higher and higher. Incorrect and unprofessional restoration often causes irreparable damage to the oil painting and brings trouble to future restoration work. Therefore, the work of restoring oil paintings should be undertaken by trained professional restorers.

It is worth mentioning that there is often a situation in China: when dealing with peeling oil paintings, a painter is asked to fill them with oil paint. This kind of processing method may be able to temporarily meet the visual requirements, but it is not advisable. The correct method first requires eliminating the cause of the color peeling and fixing the loose paint layer so that the same situation does not happen again in other parts of the painting. At the same time, you should absolutely avoid using oil paints to supplement colors. Oil paints will change their hue during the drying process and are difficult to remove after drying, which will definitely bring more difficulties to future repair work.