#keeseville mills

[e-pine-art]

The Restoration Process

Paintings are fragile creations requiring special handling and care beginning literally from the time they are finished.  A painting lives many lives as it’s passed on through the years, from family member to family member or passed out of the family to a friend, sold to a dealer, or as in this case, sold at an auction.  And, as with most works of art, value is in the eye of the beholder and the painting may find itself in various environments that are less than ideal for its preservation.

This painting was completed 75 years ago. We don’t know the number of owners or how they cared for it. Was it hung in a good environment or did it end up on a pile in a dark damp basement? From the condition it is obvious that at some point it wasn’t properly cared for and wasn’t kept in a good environment. Without conservation Pine’s vision of “The Old Mills of Keeseville” would disappear, denying generations from seeing a painting of Keeseville’s industrial past long gone from its landscape.

Paintings typically are made up of various layers.  Paint applied to a supporting backing like a board or canvas, primed with a ground layer then finished with a coat of varnish.  It is common in Naive or Folk art for the artist to skip one or two of these layers which make their paintings more fragile.  This type of canvas art board is usually pre-primed with a white ground before it is attached to the cardboard backing but it does not have a final varnish coat.  The varnish coat is a protective coating that saturates the paint layer and acts as a barrier from damaging and corrosive particles in the atmospheric.

The question for a collector is what are the options?  I’ve already passed the first and most important hurdle. I bought this badly damaged painting, recognizing its importance as one of Pine’s early works and that it had to be saved.  At this point I have two options, the minimum is to stabilize the painting and stop the damage from progressing further.  The proper action is to have it restored to a level as close to the way it was when Emmett Pine finished the work and placed it on the shelf in his store to be sold.  Either action needs professional help, which is why the painting finds itself undergoing Michele Kay’s careful examination at her busy restoration studio in Elmsford, NY.  

For an experienced conservator like Michele most of the damage is visible under close scrutiny occasionally confirming her diagnosis with the magnification visor she uses for close work.  Also placing the painting under different types of light help her to build an outline of its condition and the work that will be necessary to restore this painting.

Raking light illumination with its play of light and shadow show the distortions in the canvas plane and the backing label.   Her examination confirms most of what she saw when the painting was left for conservation.

Michele’s analysis:  “The painting is on warped artist’s canvas board, a sign of storage in a damp environment.  Excessive moisture has caused the cardboard backing support to separate from the canvas along the lower half and develop wild distortions in the canvas plane and the backing label.  The original label on the verso of the panel identifies the art material distributor and manufacturer.”

Most important - the label has the title, date and signature in Pine’s own hand and must be preserved.

The small losses in the paint layer in the lower right quadrant were set down with an appropriate adhesive and mild heat.  The painting was then faced with a gelatinous glue and Japanese tissue paper to protect the front while work was carried out on the back of the canvas.

With the front stabilized, the label was removed mechanically from the board with moisture and gentle teasing.

Specialized tools like scalpels and small spatulas are used to gently separate the label.

After the label was removed, it was soaked in a bath of distilled water and hydrogen peroxide to remove stains and yellowing.

Now the painstaking work begins to remove the cardboard panel in small sections.

Michele’s assistant Moira Yanuck carefully strips away the cardboard backing, strip by painstaking strip.  

Look how the pile has built up while Moira’s work progresses.  With the backing removed the residual glue was softened and scraped from the back of the canvas.

Once freed from the cardboard backing the canvas was flattened over time with slight moisture and flat weights.

They now have a clean canvas ready for the next step.  Michele attached sized linen canvas strips to the inner fold of the tacking margin.  This was to increase the length of the margin in order to facilitate stretching the painting over a new custom-made stretcher.  The strips were attached with a heat activated adhesive film.

With the verso nearly completed it was time to begin work on the paintings face, beginning with the removal of the protective Japanese tissue paper.

The small areas  of paint loss were filled with gesso putty and leveled.  Also missing impasto texture was added to create the continuous flow of rushing water in the lower right corner.  These retouches were carried out with gouache and Gamblin restoration colors.

With the restoration of the face complete the canvas is carefully stretched over its new stretcher.

One of the simplest and most important preservation steps you can take is to have a protective backing board attached to the reverse of the stretcher. Michele attaches a Fome-Cor backing to the reverse which will reduce exposure of the canvas to rapid environmental changes, keep out dust, foreign objects and protect against damage during handling.

And the finishing touch - the original manufacturers label, reinforced  with an inert, non-fiberous material, is slipped into a specially made mylar sleeve and attached to the back.

With the restoration complete and the painting properly hung it is ready to enjoy another 75 years.  Scroll up to the start of the post to compare the beginning photo with the finished one below.

Working on this project with a professional conservator like Michele Kay who carried out the meticulous work on this painting, treating it like a masterpiece, and taking no shortcuts was an amazing experience for my first restoration.  And now this small 9 X 12 painting will continue to be part of the history of Keeseville, a record of its past now preserved for many to enjoy.  History recorded through the talent and vision of Emmett Pine.

A very special thank you to Michele Kay, not only for her fine work, but also for her help while I was writing this post, answering questions, providing the photographs of her work as it progressed, advising and reviewing.  My post like my painting is in a much better state due to her.

Michele S. Kay Studio, Elmsford, New York www.FinePaintingsConservation.com    [email protected]

Please contact Michele if you have any questions about her process or would like to discus the conservation of a special painting in your collection.

[e-pine-art]

Now what do I do with it?

Old Mills of Keeseville, Courtesy TJMM

On the surface, and in the photograph above, Pine’s painting looks pretty good. Of the three recently acquired at last weeks auction, two nicely framed paintings are already hanging.  This one, however; needs help before going to the framers.

Difficult to see in the photo this painting, canvas-on-board (cardboard), is badly distorted and rippled across the front with visible signs of moisture damage. 

Turn it over and the damage from moisture is very easy to see.  The back is peeling away, spotted with mold and the tacking margins are not attached.

Further inspection shows the mold is through the back and into the cardboard backing, whether it stops there I cant tell.  The paint layer is very friable, in fact what looks like white ripples on the water above the dam in the lower quadrant is actually where the paint has lifted off the canvas.  This needs to be seen by a conservator.

Conservation services for a work of art, is not for the faint of heart. Conservators are highly educated and a good one has trained with experts and has years of experience.  Conserving a work of art can take hours, days and weeks of painstaking work, and the charges reflect the work of the conservator and in this case, well above the value of the painting.  Whether a painting is worth conserving or not is up to the owner of the canvas.  In my case, this small painting is dated 1940, soon after Pine began painting so a very early work by him.  Paintings of the old mills by the upper dam in Keeseville are rare so in my judgement - it must be preserved.  Luckily, a very talented conservator is located close to home.  

 Michele S. Kay - Fine Paintings Conservation and Restoration  www.finepaintingsconservation.com

Michele Kay at work in her studio.

Michele S. Kay graduated from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. She received her classical European training in the craft of paintings restoration in Florence, Italy where she worked for several years in the studio and workshop of Ennio Regola. After returning to the United States in 1981, Michele continued to develop her technical skills and gentle-handed approach while at New York Conservation Associates, Ltd., The Brooklyn Museum of Art, and at Dianne Dwyer Studio, Inc. Ms. Kay established her own conservation studio in 1992 and continues to work on traditional easel paintings of different periods and schools.

Michele examines the extent of the damage.

After examining the painting Michele’s proposed treatment:

“The painting would be consolidated and set down with appropriate adhesive.  The soot and grime would be removed with water dampened cotton swabs.  The face would be protected with Japanese tissue paper and starch glue.  The canvas would be gingerly separated from the board and residual glue and paper would be mechanically scraped from the verso.  The painting would be flattened over time with slight moisture and weights.  The mold stains would be disinfected and bleached.  A custom made stretcher would be fitted to the painting and the tacking edges would be reinforced with linen strips and adhered with Beva 371 heat activated glue.  The losses would be filled  and retouched. A foam core board would be attached to the back of the stretcher and the original canvas board label would be attached to the back of the board.” 

Attaching the label is important as it has the name and date of the painting in Pine’s own hand.  Michele estimates that the work will take approximately two weeks, and has promised to send photo’s and progress reports so stay tuned for more.

[e-pine-art]

Keeseville's Upper Dam and Mills

Emmett Pine’s painting of the Upper Dam, Sawmill and the River Street Bridge in the distance gives us a rare view of the industry in Keeseville along the upper part of the AuSable River sometime after the bridge was built in 1878, probably between 1910 and 1920.

Painting of the Mill along the Upper Dam, Courtesy Frank and Pat Mussen

The River Street Bridge, or known locally as the “Upper Bridge” is a pin-connected Pratt truss built by Murray, Dougal & Co. “This richly ornamented bridge is an excellent example of the “catalogue bridge” marketed in the U.S. by hundreds of bridge companies from 1875 to 1910.” The bridge was built for $3,500.00 which in today’s dollars is about $85,000.

The two span wrought iron bridge was installed after the 214 foot single-span covered bridge, built above the cribs of stone in the AuSable River that served to break log jams and ice flows, collapsed during the winter of 1875 under the weight of a three-foot snowfall and high winds.

This painting shows the saw mill on the Clinton County side of the river, there was another on the Essex County side. The mill is obviously hard at work producing lumber, judging by the amount of sawdust being conveyed out into a pile that will probably be dealt with later in the day. The flume running alongside of the mill is delivering water to power the Shirt Factory next door. Across the river in the distance are a few homes, some of which are still there today.

Post Card from a worker in the shirt factory to a friend in LA. From the collection of TJMM

The store Emmett’s farther opened in 1910 on South Sable Street would have been to the right of this mill and closer to the bridge. Henry Pine also sold lumber which may have come from this sawmill in his very neighborhood.

This painting hung for many years in the home of Emmett’s good friend Charlie Twa. The painting was inherited by Charlie and Betty Twa’s grandson Frank Mussen and hangs in their home on the Highland Road. Pat Mussen remembers the painting hanging in her in-laws home, but wasn’t sure if Emmett gave it to her Father in Law or if he bought it, but like many of the owners of Emmett Pine paintings, they are passed on and remain in the family.

An 1887 Birds Eye View of Keeseville, shows the upper dam, the sawmill, and the neighboring shirt factory, circled in red. Across the river you can see the other saw mill and it’s flume.

Another painting by Emmett of the opposite riverbank depicts the other sawmill taking advantage of the water power harnassed by the upper dam. I believe this is Emmett Pine’s first painting or at least one from early days in his artistic life. This painting is part of George Moore’s Collection.

Water powering these mills along the AuSable River weren’t directly operating the saws or sewing machines with water transferring power through cogs to turn these mechanisms. The water was actually turning turbines that produced electricity which in turn operated the saws and sewing machines. By 1907 15% of the electricity produced in the United States was generated by hydro turbines.

This very rough painting (image is taken from a photo printed on plain paper) shows the saw mill on the other side of the river with logs floating along the sluice way into the mill and the Irish Church on the hill above. Emmett’s use of blue paint is to show snow on the branches, not blue leaves. I haven’t come across any mention of Emmett enjoying a psychedelic phase.

Living in a village who’s heyday was in the late 1800’s meant you were living in a village in some stage of decline; but do you actually realize that? I didn’t. During my stage of the decline, we had the Rex Theatre, Prescott’s Furniture Factory was on both sides of the river. I would run along an active and prosperous Front Street with all the storefronts occupied. The streets, especially Elm Street were actually lined with tall elms. To children growing up in Keeseville today this would sound as foreign as an old timer telling me about saw mills on each side of the upper dam, in fact in my lifetime, there was no upper dam. The river was fairly shallow for most of the year from the upper bridge flowing over sandstone rocks until coming into the larger pool held back by the lower dam.

Younger residents today don’t remember the Prescott Factory or the streets lined with tall elms but through Emmett Pine recording these scenes in his many works, we all get to look back in time at a younger and more prosperous Keeseville.