During the refurbishment and enrichment of the permanent collection of Slovenian artists, two paintings, the Portrait of Baron Erberg and his wife Terezija, were restored in 2009. Presented in the exhibition is the conservation-restoration treatment performed on the male portrait.
The painting Willows can undoubtedly be ranged among the best works of Slovenian Impressionist painter Matija Jama. The painting was again restored in the Conservation-Restoration Department of the National Gallery of Slovenia for the exhibition The Slovene Impressionists and Their Time 1890–1920 in 2008.
The onset of optic investigations as an established aid in the National Gallery of Slovenia goes hand in hand with the burgeoning of digital technical equipment, which has, with the transition into the new millennium, left an indelible mark on our every day. The term multi-spectral analysis encompasses a series of optic research methods that are used to examine paintings.
The exhibition presents investigations performed on the painting Mount Kanin by Ferdo Vesel, St George Slaying the Dragon by Master HGG, View of Begunje by Matevž Langus, and Jama’s St Nicholas Cathedral with Robba Fountain.
Paper as the artwork’s support requires special attention during the process of restoration, therefore one needs to be well acquainted with the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of the paper’s composition, as well as the medium that has been applied to it. Presented are treatments on two drawings by Janez Potočnik, two prints in the copper engraving technique, treatment on a photograph by an anonymous artist, as well as some other methods of mounting works on paper. Mounting works on paper onto card of museum quality has become a routine procedure for preserving works on paper in the National Gallery of Slovenia.
The conservation and restoration of sculpture includes treating sculptures made of various materials. Presented is the treatment performed on a Baroque polychromated wood sculpture of St Paul by Jožef Holzinger, as well as a patinated plaster sculpture of the Portrait of a Man by Alojz Gangl.
Visitors to the exhibition can also view two films (The Conservation and Restoration of the Works of Art by Master HGG and The Restoration of Paintings by Valentin Metzinger), as well as a video projection featuring snippets from the extensive documentation of restoration procedures performed on other works, created as an in-house production.
Conservation-restoration preparation of material
and authors of the exhibition; texts, photography and exhibition set-up
Tina Buh, Andrej Hirci, Mihael Pirnat jr., Martina Vuga
Graphic design
arnoldvuga+
6 May–6 June 2010
National Gallery of Slovenia
Narodni dom Gallery
Cankarjeva 20
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia