acrylic on canvas

Subtle surface qualities were most important to the artistic intent of this artwork, an unvarnished minimalist style acrylic painting. The artwork had been subjected to splashing from an unknown liquid, leaving a number of faint dark stains at the centre. There were also areas of oily staining at the edges of the painting from handling, which is common with these types of contemporary paintings. To restore the delicate visual qualities of the painting, we:

• tested the solubility, pH and conductivity of the paint layer

• created a custom cleaning solution to clean the surface and remove stains

• retouched embedded stains and disrupted surfaces with reversible media