Picture the typical working day of an accredited art restorer, and you'll likely imagine them surrounded by classic artwork dating back to the days of the masters. This is accurate, to an extent. Modern art cleaning in London galleries is becoming an increasingly commonplace request, however. Simon Gillespie, a gallery based in Bond Street that hires an array of accredited art restorers, discovers this in greater detail each and every day.
This requirement for the restoration of modern art is perhaps surprising. Any collector would be within their rights to expect a painting that dates less than a century to boast superior materials and thus withstand any environmental impact. Modern art cleaning in London is not simply limited to rectifying smudged fingerprints and dusting mishaps, though.
The biggest challenge facing an accredited art restorer charged with modern art cleaning is the comparatively limited knowledge pertaining to contemporary acrylic paints. The oil paints used by the masters have been studied in great detail, and all aspects of these pigments – for good or ill – are well known to professionals. Thus, surface cleaning – whether of any flaking paint, discoloured varnish or another mishap – is a painstaking but comparatively straightforward process.
Where modern art appears to vary is in its tolerance to any cleaning process that involves water. While that may seem straightforward – nobody would ever recommend dousing art with a bucket of water, after all – carefully dabbing at smudges and imperfections with soapy water is a core component of an accredited art restorer's work. Naturally, such skilled practitioners do so with all appropriate finesse!
With water removed from the equation when tackling modern art cleaning, what is an accredited art restorer to do? This question has been posed and investigated by some of the brightest names in the business. These include several experts employed by the Tate Modern in London, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and the University of Pisa, who joined forces under the banner of The Heritage Project.
A core discovery involving acrylics was that water is not the problem, per se, but the pH of the fluid. Deionized water, especially when paired with diluted silicone solvents, has proved effective in reducing the lifting of paint from the surface of modern art. Alas, modern oil paints remain averse to water in some cases. Even an accredited art restorer will rarely predict how modern oil paints will react to any kind of water.
Ultimately, work and investigation are still ongoing into the most effective techniques for modern art cleaning, in London and throughout the world. Rest assured, this does not mean that an accredited art restorer will be unable to perform admirable work when challenged with modern art cleaning. In the event of imperfection, a gallery like Simon Gillespie of London will return the art restored to perfect health. How they go about the technique, however, is subject to debate and change. As things stand, there are no hard and fast rules surrounding cleaning and restoring 20th and 21st Century pieces.
