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Course: The Museum of Modern Art > Unit 1
Lesson 3: Behind the scenes at MoMA- Conserving Henri Matisse's "The Swimming Pool"
- Framing "Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth
- Installation of Richard Serra's sculptures at MoMA
- Conservation | Pollock, "One: Number 31, 1950"
- Conservation | Picasso's Guitars
- Conservation | Paik, "Untitled," 1993
- Conservation | René Magritte, "The Portrait," 1935
- Conservation | René Magritte, "The False Mirror," 1928
- Conservation | René Magritte, "The Menaced Assassin," 1927
- Conservation | René Magritte, "The Palace of Curtains, III," 1928-29
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Conservation | Pollock, "One: Number 31, 1950"
You can experiment with Pollock's famous painting technique and those of other Abstract Expressionist artists by enrolling in our online course: Materials and Techniques of Postwar Painting.. Created by The Museum of Modern Art.
Want to join the conversation?
Is it intentional that this has no frame?(17 votes)
It actually is intentional. Many abstract artists did not like the use of frames over their paintings because they sort of segregated the work from the environment around it, and for them, being able to feel as if one is "inside" the world of the painting was very important, and was a major consideration for the artists as they created their works. Thus, you will notice that much art of the Abstract Expressionist period has no framing.(20 votes)
Is there a story behind the meaning of the name "One: Number 31" ? Why is there a "One:" in front?(11 votes)- At1:05, the curator indicates that some restoration had previously taken place--does that mean that a previous owner damaged the painting and then hired someone to cover it up?(5 votes)
- Previous restoration does not infer that the work was damaged. Curators are constantly improving techniques and materials used to carry out restorations so they remove previous restoration attempts and replace them.(4 votes)
Is it not illegal to 'overpaint' an original painting? And secondly, wouldn't one be concerned about ruining a painting by cleaning it? Would it not be better to just put it behind glass to protect it from further damage from dirt?(4 votes)
I don't think the question of "legal" even figures into this, UNLESS I, as an owner, try to sell the work onward as "totally original". the glory of having pictures and slides from previous decades so that comparisons can be made really helps buyers (and conservators and restorers) to see what something looked like closer to the time of its origin. In that way, the bed restoration a couple of videos earlier was made possible. In that way, restorers knew where to look for overpainting.
the question of legality is not the main one for me, the question of "why would someone want to add to a Pollock" comes more to the fore for me. Perhaps, with a documented chain of ownership and a record of the painting's condition at various times since 1950, it can be figured out who owned it when the overpainting was applied, then someone could ask the "why" question.(5 votes)
Would the artist be concerned that the frame might present some sort of distraction?(3 votes)
Well, that is a hard question to answer. Pollock seemed to want his art to be very abstract and the idea of it being framed in general could make it more like "normal" visual art. He might have liked the idea that you wouldn't have to focus completely on his work, but this is very unlikely. Though we cannot know for sure, he probably would be very concerned about it, but less concerned and more annoyed.(5 votes)
- 50 years from now Im sure restorers of the future will cringe at what we consider state-of-the art restoration(4 votes)
May well be true! This is actually why a lot of restoration work must be done in such a way that it is reversible. I happen to know more about book restoration than paintings. Old books, for example, if they have lost their original bindings, may not be given a new cover unless this is clearly marked as a non-original binding and the restoration can be easily undone.(3 votes)
At0:15, the video mentions using something called a dry sponge to clean the painting. What is a dry sponge and why is it used?(2 votes)
1:05Video transcript
We're in front of Jackson Pollock's
<i>One: Number 31, 1950</i> We're working on this painting
to restore it and there will be several
steps to that restoration. The first steps are the cleaning
of the surface. This has included dry cleaning
with dry sponges. We're now at a stage in the process where we are surface cleaning it
with moistened swabs. <i>One: Number 31</i> came into
the collection in 1968 and this is the first time
that it will be surface cleaned so there is a good bit of embedded grime
on the paint layer. In 1998 when the museum had a
significant Jackson Pollock retrospective we were able to look at this painting in the context of others from 1950. There were some differences in the way
this painting looked and we wanted to understand more
about his materials and techniques. We used X-radiography
to look at detail shots of areas of paint
that looked very different from what we're typically seeing
across Pollack's surface. We found areas of cracking that revealed some restoration
had taken place, covering over original paint. We looked at the painting
under ultraviolet light in order to distinguish original
paint media from restoration media. In this case we took samples
from the original painting to find out what the medium was
that Pollock was using and then samples from
what we deemed to be 'overpaint' to see what the medium
of those passages of paint were. The Overpaint passages were
a completely different paint. They were made from
a different resin, and thus further confirmed the fact
that these were added at a later date. The final piece of evidence was the
discovery of some photographs from 1962 when the painting was on tour in the US. Those photographs show
certain passages where, in fact, the painting has been changed. Those changes correspond to areas
that we find to be the Overpaint, that are different
both in ultraviolet light and the medium analysis that we did. The restoration paint and Pollock's paint
are two very different resins, and because they are,
we are fortunately able to chemically separate these two layers without causing damage
to the original layer. As you go across the surface inch-by-inch
and get to know all the different textures and the different ways that Pollock
manipulated the paint. You understand how well this artist
knew his materials and how to manipulate his materials. It gives you a real appreciation
for what he was working on.