Union Mills, Braddan
Date made: n.d.
Artist: unknown artist
Description: Union Mills, Braddan.
In December 2023 this painting will go on display in our National Art Gallery at the Manx Museum in a section dedicated to explaining how we conserve our artworks. It came into our collection in a poor state and in the gallery it will have a label explaining how we might fix such damage:
Chris Weeks, Collections Care and Conservation Manager for Manx National Heritage writes:
This is an example of amateur painting in a naïve style by an unknown artist. The buildings it depicts are important but have been lost. The painting does not have a frame.
A picture frame doesn’t just show off the picture. It also protects it from knocks and from dirt. Many picture frames are glazed for this reason. Conservators like picture glass, but the glass can be distracting.
The dirt on this picture is a mixture of sooty dust and, possibly, tar from smokers’ pipes and cigarettes. Physically and chemically it is very well stuck to the paint! It isn’t easy to clean paintings like this without dissolving some of the paint or loosening it on the canvas. We usually send paintings like this off-island for cleaning and conservation by specialists.
Measurements: unframed artwork: 35 cm x 45 cm
Materials: oil on canvas
Object name: painting
Collection: Art Collection
ID number: 1954-5534
Subject tags : #artgallerydamaged
Comments
Linked Records
People: