If, like me, you find the conservation and restoration of historic artworks interesting, you will probably enjoy this series of videos (YouTube link) from Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration, a conservation studio located in Chicago.

In the video from which I’ve shown some example images, above, we see the restoration of a badly torn portrait by William Merritt Chase.

The videos are not meant to be detailed or instructional, they just follow the general process.

I’m not familiar enough with contemporary restoration methods to know if there is anything unorthodox about the procedure, or if this is a standard approach, but the process shown seems reasonable to me. All of the changes are meant to be reversible, and any repainting is restricted to a new replacement surface, inserted only where the original canvas is missing.

There are additional videos on Baumgartner’s YouTube channel that go into other aspects of conservation and restoration. They also have an Instagram feed.

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