WORTHINGTON FINE ART GALLERIES

Perspectives on Restoration & Conservation of Fine Art Paintings - If and When to Restore. Simon Parkes and Sotheby’s Mark Buck discuss current practices in Fine Art conservation and cleaning the Collection of Mrs. Margaret Thompson Biddle. Conservation materials have certainly evolved. Detergents, chemicals and other solvents have changed and improved dramatically over the years. I think it's fair to say that damage caused by restorers has been greatly reduced by the restoration community having access to better materials and information. But it's certainly fair to say that over the centuries, by far the most damage to paintings has been made by people trying to clean, line or retouch paintings, but lacking the knowledge to do so properly. Materials alone don’t ensure safe and good restoration. Thoughtful work, experience and many hours looking at works in public collections, particularly in Europe, are invaluable.