Art Restorers: Advance Storm Warning Advisory
November 8th, 2007 by FineArtRegistry
As in any area of human kind, there tends to be conflicts of one sort or another. And so in the art world, as one might assume, there exists the same human frailties. In an article entitled Question: “Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?” Answer: Those Green With Envy by Joan Altabe, the reader is enlightened as to the sticky situations that can exist in some art museums today, especially in the realm of art restoration.
Joan begins by relating an incident that originated in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum in 1986. It seems that an unknown painter entered the museum and slashed a painting by well-known abstract artist, Barnett Newman. Damaging it to a point that no one in the art conservation community believed it could be restored. The painting was estimated to be worth over one million dollars. Mr. Newman’s widow recommended a restorer that her deceased husband had a great deal of respect for and even before his death remarked that he had the expertise to conserve his work.
Daniel Goldreyer was a very well known restorer of fine art, including works such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Rothco, to name only a few. He took on the unenviable task of setting about to restore the badly damaged work by Barnett Newman. When he completed the restoration, to his amazement, the art community and the public media excoriated him. He was portrayed as a money hungry fraud. This referring to a man that had crafted the international code of ethics for art restorers.
As the story progresses, you will learn how Mr. Goldreyer battled to restore his good reputation. Despite the Amsterdam’s Museum campaign to smear his respected name, he managed to triumph. Be sure to read the entire account at www.fineartregistry.com. And if you are an art restorer, do take heed.