Restoration projects

At first glance, this oil portrait on canvas seemed to need only cleaning. The initial assessment revealed more: a heavily darkened, uneven varnish, surface grime, paint losses, weakened areas of canvas, fragile edges and a broken stretcher. The photograph marks some of the visible losses and worn areas before treatment.

This portrait of Josep Rieusset, founder of the historic Rieusset factory, was painted by Sangroniz in 1923. It is an oil painting on linen, measuring 210 × 125 cm, with paint losses, cracks, weakened areas of fabric and earlier repairs. A plywood sheet covered the back, concealing part of the support’s condition.

This project involved conserving more than 14 paintings by Francesc Soler i Rovirosa at the Herboristeria del Rei, one of Barcelona’s most distinctive historic shops. Soler i Rovirosa decorated its interior in 1858; today, these paintings form part of the city’s artistic and commercial memory. The shop also appeared as a perfumery in the film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

The paintings were in very fragile condition: dust and grime deeply embedded in the surface, aged varnish, paint losses and weakened canvases. This was not a simple or repetitive treatment: each work had its own problems, and the whole ensemble had to be conserved coherently.

This oil painting had a weakened paint layer that had lost some of its flexibility. The oil binder had deteriorated, and the surface needed consolidation to stabilize fragile areas. The painting also had no varnish protection; after treatment, I applied a suitable protective varnish layer.

I restored two canvases about 80 years old. Aged varnish and dirt accumulated over decades had dulled their surfaces, but their condition also required structural work: the edges were badly worn and the canvas had lost strength.