Case Study

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <IMG SRC="27ebf3f0.gif" border=0 width="447" height="63" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> |   <B><U>H</U></B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home"><U><B><U>ome</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oil Paintings 1"><U><B><U>Oil Paintings 1</U></B></U></A><B><U>   |   </U></B><A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oil Paintings 2"><U><B><U>Oil Paintings 2</U></B></U></A><B><U>   |   </U></B><B><U>Case Study </U></B><B><U>   |   </U></B><A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Objects"><U><B><U>Objects</U></B></U></A><B><U>   |   </U></B><A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Frames"><U><B><U>Frames</U></B></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04758020.gif" border=0 width="600" height="2" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B> <A NAME="krishna"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>Case Study</B></div> <div> <B>Problems with an iconographic painting of Krishna attributed to Ravi Varma</B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="719" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 381 WIDTH="713"><div> Oral history passed down through the generations sometimes conflict with information gathered during a conservation treatment. The current owner supplied the following information: "My Grandmother's sister said that her father in law personally worked for <I><B>Raja Ravi Varma</B></I> and he definitely painted this picture."  </div> <div> <I><B>Varma</B></I> is credited with bringing about a momentous turn in the art of 19th century India and influenced future generations of artists. He was the first to cast the Indian gods and mythological characters in natural surroundings employing a style of European realism. Gradually, images of Gods and Goddesses became ubiquitous through mass oleo graphic reproductions affecting artistic style, form, and dress and then literature and later, the Indian film industry. </div> <div> However, the "irregular" signature on the verso indicates that the painting was probably executed by <I><B>M. Arumoogham Pillai</B></I><B> </B>from Trivandrum in 1891. <I><B>Pillai</B></I> is credited to have taught <B>Ravi Varma</B> how to paint. Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) is where <B>Ravi Varma</B> lived while learning to paint. </div> <div> The famous <I><B>Ramaswamy Naicker</B></I> of Madura, recognized a potential rival in <B>Varma</B> and refused to teach him but his student, <I><B>M. </B></I><I><B>Arumugham Pillai</B></I> would sneak into Moodath Madam at nightfall to share his knowledge with <I><B>Varma</B></I>. Thus the attribution to <I><B>Pillai</B></I> bears some consideration too.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="859" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 328 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1aa96400.jpg" border=0 width="406" height="320" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="13"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="328" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="13" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1ac86420.jpg" border=0 width="390" height="322" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 ><NOBR><div> Tape was applied to the front to repair a long tear. When </div> <div> removed in the past, it also removed paint from the sky.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="13"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="38" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="13" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="404"><div> A pressure sensitive </div> <div> tape is visible as orange patches.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="866" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 307 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1af9c2d0.jpg" border=0 width="412" height="301" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="307" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="15" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1b0912d0.jpg" border=0 width="401" height="301" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 ><NOBR><div> Glue was used to apply sparkly decorations and pearls </div> <div> onto the headdress and other parts of the painting.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="38" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="15" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="411"><div> Part of the religious use of the painting included pressing burning incense onto the foreheads of the sacred beings.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="878" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 310 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1b395300.jpg" border=0 width="405" height="304" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="310" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="15" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1b4962f0.jpg" border=0 width="406" height="303" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Removal of additions, surface dirt, and discolored varnish.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="15" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Inpainting (retouches) of the losses recover the aesthetics.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="555" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 406 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1b615900.jpg" border=0 width="533" height="400" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 WIDTH="549"><div> The client elected to fill the voids with toned fabric and not retouch the losses in the sky and left foot. We mitigated the visual flaws without the reconstructing the missing elements.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="123824a0.jpg" border=0 width="130" height="74" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home"><U><U>Home</U></U></A><U>   |   </U><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U><U>About Us</U></U></A><U>   |   </U><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact"><U><U>Contact</U></U></A><U>   |   </U><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Services"><U><U>Services</U></U></A><U>   |   </U><A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Treatments"><U><U>Treatments</U></U></A><U>   |   </U><A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U><U>News</U></U></A><U>   |   </U><A HREF="client_list.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="References"><U><U>References</U></U></A><U>   |   </U><A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQs"><U><U>FAQs</U></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Objects"><U><B><U>Next Page</U></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id29_m.htm" TITLE="Case Study "><U><B><U>Top of Page</U></B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>