Projects
Conservation/restoration of ‘White Bud’ by H F Lucas Lucas, dated 1923.
Conservation/restoration of the oil painting ‘White Bud’ by H F Lucas Lucas, dated 1923. The painting had not been varnished. There were numerous brown coloured mouldy spots and a white haze over the paint layer. There were several scratches, abrasions and lacunae. The tension in the canvas had slackened. A small dent was present. The back of the canvas was very grimy. Five of the eight wedges were missing. The wedges were not secured. One wedge had broken off and the remnant sits in the corner hole. The painting had been separated from its frame but the frame was present. The frame was grimy and mouldy. There are inscriptions of the provenance of the painting and the horse at the back of the canvas.
The painting was left unvarnished. The back of the canvas, stretcher and frame were surface cleaned. The small dent was moisture teated to flatten. Four new wedges were added. A fifth wedge could not be inserted due to the broken off wedge that could not be removed. The canvas was tensioned and the wedges secured. A photograph was taken of the inscriptions at the back of the canvas and the photograph was encapsulated. The deepest lacunae and scratches were filled. The mould spots, fills, scratches, shallow lacunae and black abrasions were retouched. A build-up could not be added to the frame as the moulding was too narrow and the hardwood very though. The painting was secured with canvas offsets (metal S-bent plates) and the holes pre-drilled for the screws. The back of the painting was protected with a gas-permeable waterproof and dust proof barrier and attached to the back of the frame with acid-free paper gum tape. The encapsulated photograph of the inscriptions was attached to the back of the framed painting.
