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May 26, 2009
Need Advice: Artwork/Fireplace
We discovered this under a coat of paint. This is the best they could do. Any thoughts on someone who could restore the entire painting? Other ideas on what we should do? Thanks!
Comments
What a lovely find! The painting that remains looks beautiful. I'd like to recommend a friend, Monique Denoncin, who does extraordinary restoration and trompe l'oeil: 718-858-1039.
Posted by: vinca at May 26, 2009 12:58 PM
Wow! is that neat!? I bet if you phoned Pratt or Cooper Union you could find people who could do the work too.
Posted by: Arkady at May 26, 2009 1:29 PM
Call Westlake Conservators in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y. If one of their staff isn't available to come to Brooklyn (one of their staff members lived in Williamsburg for quite a while), they could probably recommend someone local.
http://westlakeconservators.com/index.html
There's really nobody better at this. Probably not as expensive as you think either.
Posted by: Stonergut at May 26, 2009 3:08 PM
Amazing find. Love the tile too. Do you know what method they used to strip the mantel without completely destroying the first layer of paint?
Posted by: mopar at May 26, 2009 3:34 PM
Do you know how old the house is? What area are you in? Thanks!!!
Posted by: mopar at May 26, 2009 3:34 PM
very unusual. I would guess the mantle was imported from italy. It does not look like American work.
It must have been an amaazing find for you! Like finding treasure under the floorboards.
I would find a freelance commercial artist to fill in the blank areas. Also, the artisans who do faux marble and wood graining can do this sort of decorative work as well.
Just beautiful.
I would make it clear to them not to paint the whole thing and not to make it look new but rather to just fill in the missing areas. Then, in the future, you could point out to your guests how you found it, and what areas you had infilled with new paint, an interesting old house narrative.
Posted by: sam at May 26, 2009 4:45 PM
OP here - thank you all for your wonderful comments and suggestions. we are in park slope - the house is on berkeley. my parents own the house and are doing the renovation. i will try and get more detail regarding how they actually found it (ie how they stripped it, etc) - there is a wood mantel around the fireplace that is original to it that we will replace once the renovations are complete
Posted by: anugupta at May 26, 2009 5:03 PM
From what I can see, the fireplace decoration would be in keeping with Gilded Age American decorative art. You might be interested in this upcoming lecture at the Brooklyn Museum: Saturday, June 6, 2009, a museum guide leads a free tour titled "Decorators of the Gilded Age" in the exhibition "American Identities." The museum's 4th floor is dedicated to period rooms and decorative arts. This article from the NY Times might also interest you: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/arts/artsspecial/12rooms.html
Posted by: vinca at May 26, 2009 6:08 PM
Sam, I AM a freelance commercial artist and I wouldn't dream of attempting to repair antique painting.
Most commercial artists work on computers these days. Illustrators and fine artists work with actual paint and real art supplies. But unless you know what the materials are on the original surface, you risk destroying the entire piece.
You really need a professional art or furniture conservator for something like this, not just any artist. It's not the eye, it's the craft that's needed.
Posted by: Stonergut at May 26, 2009 7:40 PM
vinca, you can't tell me that this decoration is typical of houses in Brooklyn. I am not a museum curator, but I have not seen this kind of painting in any old house I have ever seen in brooklyn, and I have seen hundreds. Don't mess with me.
I agree with you that it is perfectly in keeping with American Gilded Age taste. Affluent Americans at the time (and always) loved to buy artwork and decorative items from Europe, and this is just such an example. Brooklyn before 1900, was a pretty uptight, bourgeoise Protestant sort of place. This work is unusually florid and sensual and Latin. I say it is Italian, although it may well have been labaeld as French back in the day when the home owner bought it from an importer of fancy goods.
Posted by: sam at May 26, 2009 7:44 PM
stonegut, I assume the owners do not have the budget of the MET, an art conservator? Have you ever tried to work with one of those prima donas?
I only give sensible, down-to-earth advise. I have had similar decorative painting restored in my house by art students and moonlighting commercial artists. Naturally I am not suggesting one hire a talentless jerk of a commercial artist. Sheesh.
Perhaps others would advise the owners to contact officals at the Uffizzi to see who they would recommend to do a critical analysis and conservation protocol for this nice little painted fireplace breast.
Posted by: sam at May 26, 2009 7:57 PM
Nice find. Could you possibly post some details? Is it painted on green grey slate? I have stripped a good share of fireplace surrounds and the paint they used especially the black base is very tough to remove.
Posted by: IMBY at May 26, 2009 9:18 PM
Agree with Sam looks Italian.
IMBY, tell us what do you know of stripping slate? For example, if a slate fireplace with faux marble or the type of painting above had been painted over with layers of plain oil or latex, how would you strip it to uncover the original paint (if possible)? Are you saying they painted a black base over green gray slate? And then the faux marble on top of that?
Posted by: mopar at May 26, 2009 11:00 PM
Sam: Don't mess with you?!@*^!? Your posse can make an appointment with
my posse anytime...that would be a hoot.
The mantle was not described as "typical", it was described as in keeping with American Gilded Age art. I stand by that. I also stand by Stonergut as far as the repair being done by someone with a conservation/restoration background.
You do a thorough and unwarranted disservice to both OP and to conservators
to dismiss them as overpriced prima donnas. What other skilled artisans do you
tar with the same brush (and why)?
Posted by: vinca at May 26, 2009 11:35 PM
I don't know what the composition was, but on many of the dozen or so Eastlake slate surrounds we stripped they used either a red or black primer/paint as the base coat (lead based?, I never tested it.) that resisted the methylene chloride based paint strippers. We were stripping for speed and not in any way trying to conserve what was beneath the twenty layers of oil and latex. Originally I believe the Eastlake style had incised decorative groves that were filled with gold leaf after they were faux painted very dark colors to simulate marble. The one's that i remember were very well painted. Extremely believable.
Sam, did you just throw down the gauntlet?
Posted by: IMBY at May 27, 2009 10:53 AM
Wow, cool, Emby. So did the faux marble and/or gold leaf survive after you stripped, or just the base coat? THANKS, this is great info, really appreciate it.
Posted by: mopar at May 27, 2009 10:45 PM
For example one fireplace had been painted several times over the years and then covered in magazine pictures with a coat of poly over that. Another had been stuccoed with broken shards of mirror epoxied like a mosaic. It took about three attempts before we finally hit the stone. The gold leaf had to be removed with wooden picks in order to protect the stone from being scratched. Sometimes the paint remover would "finish" directly at the faux finish layer. Most of the time it ended up looking like the picture above.
Posted by: IMBY at May 28, 2009 12:51 AM
I also agree that you really need a professional restorer to do this right. This is a special piece and the techniques and chemical composition of the paint and the old substrate really require expert knowledge so as to not cause further harm to the original remaining work. A good restorer will make sure the restoration is also removable without further damage to the original.
Posted by: bxgrl at May 28, 2009 12:01 PM
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