‘Whalers in the Arctic’ by John Ward (19th century) from the Hull Maritime Musem. Oil on canvas. Conservation was carried out in 2019 and was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the ‘Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City’ (HYMC) project.
When the painting arrived in the studio there was a moderate deposit of surface dust and dirt. Below the dirt layers, there several layers of yellowed varnish. There were also occasional localised discoloured retouchings. The ground and paint layers were found to be in good condition generally, with a few small areas of flaking and loss.
©Hull Maritime Museum/Pauline Murray
This photograph has been taken in raking light, whereby the light source glances across to emphasis the surface topography of the painting. The structural crack network and several canvas distortions are now visible.
©Hull Maritime Museum/Pauline Murray
The first stage of treatment was to consolidate the small areas of flaking paint and ground layers using a conservation grade adhesive anda thermostatically controlled spatula. Once this had been completed, it was safe to remove the surface dirt layers using an aqueous cleaning solution.
Following this, careful tests were carried out to determine the most effective solvent mixture to remove the yellowed varnish layers and discoloured areas of over-paint, without affecting the underlying original paint layers. Cotton wool swabs and a bespoke solvent mixture were then used to carefully remove the varnish and over-paint layers. Here you can see the painting half way through removal of the yellowed varnish. The true fresh hues of the original paint layers used to describe this Arctic scene are no longer shrouded in a veil of yellow.
©Hull Maritime Museum/Pauline Murray
After the painting had been cleaned, any small paint and ground layer losses were filled with a hand-made putty comprising an inert filler mixed with a synthetic binder. Once dry, the fillings were textured to imitate the appearance of the surrounding original paint.
©Hull Maritime Museum/Pauline Murray
The filled losses and the most distracting structural cracks were retouched with dry pigments bound with a synthetic resin.
Once retouching was complete, the painting was sprayed with several layers of a non-yellowing synthetic resin varnish.
©Hull Maritime Museum/Pauline Murray
When the painting arrived at the conservation studio, the reverse of the canvas was dusty and dirty and the wooden expansion keys were not securely attached to the stretcher.
©Hull Maritime Museum/Pauline Murray
Dust and debris was cleared from the reverse of the canvas using a conservation sponge and small hand-held vacuum cleaner. The expansion keys were secured to the stretcher using monofilament line, brass screws and cups. This will prevent the keys from falling out of the stretcher, becoming lodged between the lower stretcher-bar and canvas, and causing a bulge distortion at the front of the painting.
©Hull Maritime Museum/Pauline Murray