Cleaning a 19th century oil painting - See the unexpected twist this art conservation cleaning took

1. Cleaning a Painting
A discovery process and the “unknown factor”
G.A. Cuomo c. 1880
When I got this Victorian 1880’s oil painting from a friend/client
(Thom Gianetto at Edenhurst Gallery) I thought the yellowed varnish
would be an easy/quick, safe (for the painting) removal. After 40 years
of cleaning paintings, you would think that I could just “eye ball” it…
but its better to be humble and ere on the side of caution.
Some people think that cleaning a painting is a per square inch type of
estimating and that I should be able to do it over the phone. But to
clean an old oil painting safely, we need to do solubility tests with
each of the solvents we might use to make sure they dissolve the
varnish without dissolving the original paint! Sometimes we use a
head-mounted magnifier to get a closer look and sometimes we use a
stereobinocular microscope! Varnish qualities vary widely and just
when you think it looks “normal” you find that the varnish in question
won’t come off with the usual stand bys.
I thought this painting would take about $300 in time and materials to
clean but instead, it resisted and took about $1,200.00 in time and
materials to clean completely (no yellowed varnish left behind) and
safely (no adverse affects on the original paint). So, as you can see, the
cleaning process (as are some of the other art conservation

2. treatments) requires, sometimes, a “discovery process.” Most of the
time, however, we nail the estimate up front but some of you may be
happy to know that the “unknown factor” happens to me too when I
work on my artwork.
The “take away” for you from this article is a better knowledge of the
estimating and discovery process when cleaning a painting. That may
help you to have a better conversation when you talk to an art
conservator.
Would you please give this blog post a THUMBS UP? Thanks!
Art conservation questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438
Art and antiques appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate, FACL
Appraisals 805 895 5121
Call Thom Gianetto, Edenhurst Gallery 949 376 9222 or go to the
gallery website at http://www.edenhurstgallery.com for Early
California Impressionist and Modernist Paintings
Scott M. Haskins was recognized recently as the Number 1 Art Expert to
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