Painting – gilding – sculpture

• WHAT DO WE TREAT ?

Painting, gilding and sculpture,
Works of art (from all periods),
And on all supports.

• WHO ARE WE ?
  Conservators with formal qualifications (university degree or equivalent), >From science to the humanities, A cross-disciplinary team in which everyone has his or her specialisation.
  
• WHO DO WE WORK FOR ?
  Works/objects from the private sector and works from museums, Private and public institutions, Private individuals, professionals, curators, Anyone who is passionate about art.
  
• HOW DO WE WORK ?
  
  1.After observation, research, examination and evaluation, we offer you a free estimate and without obligation (the price is valid for 3 months).

2.At an hourly rate of 55,00 euros (21% VAT included).
This also includes transportation cost and insurance (Brussels area and excluding public procurement).

3.A guarantee of 10 years subject to normal conservation conditions.

The surface of the work, in direct contact with the environment, is subject to several aggressive elements leading to various changes. But the work can also be more profoundly damaged and the damage is only visible with the aid of a microscope.

The cleaning of two sides of a work is a delicate operation: it provides information on the condition of the work and it allows the conservator to predict possible subsequent treatments.

The varnish is a full component part of the work: when it has undergone change, it can be removed, partially or entirely. An appreciation of the degree of removal is dictated by several factors: its condition, the state of the underlying colours, the structure of the work, etc. It is a highly delicate operation in the course of which the conservator must make sure that he/she entirely respects the delicate paint layer, made all the more fragile when there is a glaze.

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A lacuna, that is to say a material loss, is noticed. This change is due to a lifting of the pictorial layer, then to the flaking of the paint.
The work's readability is hindered and the consistency of its structure is endangered. Some filling remedies both problems by filling the lacuna and then by preparing for the retouching, which will restore the pictorial unity.

The retouching reintegrates the filled lacunae into the pictorial surface. It is limited to the altered surface and, as the other steps, must be strictly documented.

The use of stable and reversible techniques and material always allows a later conservation to improve today's treatment if it later proves obsolete.

Without counting the treatment for stretcher and canvas which can tear, crack, become detached or lose tension and therefore become incapable of playing their role, the support of the pictorial layer.

It is not just the aesthetic qualities of the conserved work that are
rediscovered: the treatment has enabled it to rediscover a new balance of physical and chemical components of its structure.
The work is not younger than when it entered the studio, but it is stronger for facing the past and its adversities.

Good conservation conditions ensure its longevity.

A team assisted by

Corinne Van Hauwermeiren
Conservator w.a
Art Historian

Jean-Claude Echement
Conservator w.a
Building Conservator