Abstract
Surface cleaning of a painting by Nicolas de Staël proved to be much more challenging than expected. Though the painting was executed in oil paint and the paint layer was dried properly, a traditional cleaning with fluids and cotton swabs was impossible. The very vulnerable paint surface with an extreme relief and widely undamaged impasto asked for a new combination of cleaning methods to make a safe and responsible surface cleaning possible. The selected method will be discussed, as will the re-framing and preventative measures that might protect the surface in the future.
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Notes
- 1.
Nicolas de Staël, Fleurs grises, 1953, oil on canvas, 99.7 × 72.8 cm.
Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, inv. AB17683. The painting stays on long term loan at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and is currently not on display.
- 2.
His family had to flee during the Russian Revolution and de Staël got adopted after the early death of both his parents by a Russian family in Brussels. Dobbels (2000), pp. 242.
- 3.
After World War II Paris became the European center of abstract art. As part of the non geometrical abstract art, the artists of the École de Paris developed an European equivalent to the American abstract expressionism. Paris Central (2009, p. 7).
- 4.
Paris Central (2009, p. 10).
- 5.
Some of the similar flower paintings by de Staël from that period are Fleurs, 1953; Fleurs noires, 1953; Fleurs rouges, 1952, Fleurs dans un vase bleu, 1953 and Fleurs blanche et rouges dans un vase gris, 1953. Dobbels 2000.
- 6.
ICN project “moderne schilderijen schoonmaken”, research project on the cleaning of modern paintings. Fleur Grises was chosen as one of three case studies for this project. However, the preliminary investigation was not followed up by further research or treatment. www.moderneschilderijenschoonmaken.nl, 2005.
- 7.
Exhibition “Paris Central, Vrije stad, vrije kunst in de jaren’50”, Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst Amstelveen, 24.10. 2009–17.01 2010.
- 8.
RCE (formerly ICN) project dry cleaning, the research project investigated different materials for dry cleaning. www.cultureelerfgoed.nl searching for dry cleaning (Daudin-Schotte et al. 2013, p. 209).
- 9.
Consolidation took place with Lascaux 4176 and a heat spatula set on proximately 40 C. Lascaux 4176 is a finely dispersed, aqueous dispersion of an acrylic copolymer, MSDS: www. talasonline. The glue combines the qualities of relatively high strength with high viscosity, a fairly mat dried film and fast drying properties.
- 10.
Brachert 1985, p. 11 “… selbst Schmutz kann mitunter noch als Patina angesprochen werden”.
- 11.
Pulp pads = “Zellstoff auf Rolle” and “Zellstofftupfer” from Deffner & Johann, www.deffner-johann.de. Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper.
- 12.
EVAZOTE® Foam is a closed cell cross-linked ethylene copolymer foam.
References
Brachert T (1985) Patina: von Nutzen und Nachteil der Restaurierung. Callwey, München
Daudin-Schotte M, Bisschoff M, Joosten I, van Keulen H, van den Berg KJ (2013) Dry cleaning approaches for unvarnished paint surfaces. In: Mecklenburgh M (ed) Proceedings from of the cleaning 2010 conference, Valencia, 26–28 May 2010. Smithsonian Institute, pp 209–219
Dobbels D (2000) Nicolas de Staël. Hazan, Paris
Paris Central (2009) Vrije stad, vrije kunst in de jaren’50, Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst Amstelveen, 2009, exhibition catalogue
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Stangier, S. (2014). Fleurs Grises – A Delicate Surface. Difficult to Clean – Essential to Protect. In: van den Berg, K., et al. Issues in Contemporary Oil Paint. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10100-2_14
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