AIC's 51st Annual Meeting

Innovations in art materials of the 20th century and the need to experiment with new visual possibilities produced a wide range of artwork made of unusual components. Therefore, when restoration treatments are needed, unorthodox works beg the restorers to take a different approach than the one followed for traditional paintings.

A bibliographical review of painting techniques becomes almost irrelevant with a piece made in the context of an artistic vanguard movement; this is why the artist interview has become an essential resource for conservators of contemporary art. However, for modern pieces, this measure was not yet widely practiced. Moreover, in the case of deceased artists, finding accurate information about their materials and methods becomes difficult, with some artworks almost impossible to decipher.

Trabajo, is an oil-based mural, painted in 1941 by Argentinian artist, Benito Quinquela Martín (1890-1977), and is located within an indoor patio of Public School Nº7 Mexican Republic in the Villa Santa Rita neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The mural measures 300 x 800 cm and is mounted at 80 cm above floor level. It is composed of eight vertically juxtaposed, semi-rigid Celotex plates. Celotex, a brand of cellulosic chipboard, known for being lightweight and economic, is widely used as a construction material but is evidently unsuitable as a painting support. The incompatibility of materials produced an adhesive fault between the support, ground, and paint layer, leading to large areas of media loss.

Traditional materials and techniques for media reintegration, such as pointillism, trateggio and chromatic abstraction, were not adequate for the issues at hand. As an alternative, the restorers decided to test the use of wax media for inpainting. Historically, wax has been used as a stable, flexible material, known for its versatility in a broad range of artistic techniques.

According to the colour palette of the lacunae, a colour map of areas of loss was made to help create sticks, using wax as a binding agent, together with inert materials and pigments. The restorers filled areas of loss by melting the wax sticks with the aid of small thermal spatulas; and in areas with impasto, the wax was moulded while warm to match the original texture. Any excess of wax was removed with white spirit and a swab. Since the areas of loss were considerably large, there was no risk of covering the original painted surface.

The wax stick method —a technique with few bibliographical sources— proved to be the most suitable for the particular case of Trabajo. The variety and the inherent frailty of its materials, as well as the challenges of the outdoor environment, required a customised treatment and a whole new approach in which minimal intervention was a priority over implementing invasive treatments that would otherwise compromise the integrity of an artwork made with unusual materials and techniques.