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Centuries Old: Peter Brefini works tirelessly to restore an 18th-century
Spanish mural that has been sliced into seven separate panels.
www.kaminskiauctions.com
978 927 2223
KJ NS Mar14 Oliver.indd 90
on the other hand, sees pieces that are filthy, ripped, and
poorly handled. Bishop refers to museum-based restorers as
"custodians of artworks, [whereas] we are like the ER of the
restoration world."
Over at Tysver's "retouch station," he addresses a Russian icon—a small private object of veneration, which is
not a hugely valuable work but adored by the client. There
was significant damage—lifting paper, cracks, and paint
loss. "In-painting" (versus the colloquial "retouching")
has a precise meaning, explains Tysver. Its mission is to
fill in what is missing; it is not a matter of repainting. The
term resulted from abuses in the 19th century when there
weren't strict regulations on art conservation that honored
the original work and did nothing to alter it. "We [want]
90
1/17/14 12:40 PM
