![]() ![]() Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2019 Far above the statue, which is a dark patinated bronze, a white woman on a white horse rode through a sunlit landscape in a perfume ad for Lancome. ![]() 2021 The color scheme was muted with rich woods, deep greens, and patinated silvers. Victoria Hagan And David Colman, House Beautiful, 22 Sep. Jeff Macgregor, Smithsonian Magazine, The zinc countertop is nonporous, naturally antibacterial, and will patinate in time. Charles Curkin, ELLE Decor, 18 July 2022 Burnish and patinate and apply wax to color and protect. Caroline Picard, House Beautiful, For a Hamptons beach home, designer Poonam Khanna clad a monolithic kitchen island in shiny brass that will naturally patinate with time. Thankfully the dirt on paintings is usually far more innocuous but if left on the surface it robs the picture of depth and vibrancy, eventually making the paintings illegible and unfit for display.Recent Examples on the Web White marble, black granite, and patinated gray soapstone all work beautifully, as do more colorful surfaces. It would obviously be entirely inappropriate to clean the suit but it’s significance also renders it undisplayable. One item that I can think of that would fit into this category is Jackie Kennedy’s outfit worn in Dallas on the day of her husband’s assassination, which is in the collection of America’s National Archive still gruesomely soiled. Unless there was some kind of hugely important event that caused the dirt, it’s not usually considered to be significant to the history of the object. There has also been much discussion about how much artists may have anticipated and hoped for the effects of age on their varnishes.ĭirt, for me, is less of a problem. Turner was renowned for varnishing his pictures before the paint was dry. The artist may also have decided to add finishing touches on top. It’s important to consider whether or not a varnish has been applied by the artist as if that is the case it has likely been applied closer to the time that the painting was finished, so may have bonded with the fresh paint beneath, making the distinction between paint layer and varnish layer blurry. There are a number of things that might alert you to an original varnish including the known history of the object and uneven or selective varnish application. If a varnish is present that I believe to be original, which is rare, especially in museum collections, then my default position is to leave it where it is. My own criteria for deciding whether or not to remove a coating, and I’m sure I’m not alone, depends very much on originality. As I’ve previously talked about, one of the best ways to ensure that you’re not taking off something you shouldn’t is to work in a controlled way tackling surface coatings in layers rather than all at once. ![]() One of the major criticisms of conservation is that we strip away patina when we clean pictures or other works of art, and take with it something that made the work of art feel more special or authentic. When that’s an oil painting it means dusty and yellow. It refers to the quality that something acquires as it ages, a sort of ‘lived in’, mellow look. It’s a very ‘conservation’ sort of a word and one that is pretty loaded. I was surprised to see the word ‘patina’ appear as a Daily Prompt today. ![]()
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