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.