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Fine Art Repair
10/3/2018 (Permalink)
Modern art piece being cleaned to remove soot.
By Clayton A. Barry
Fire in a home or office will cause plenty of damage. What happens when a fine piece of art such as an oil painting or delicate watercolor is contaminated with soot. Is it ruined? Can it be cleaned without causing further damage?
There are times when heat from a fire can cause severe damage to a piece of art, or water from firefighting hoses will inflict heavy damage to artwork and their frames. Sometimes the damage is beyond repair. Cleaning can be performed to stop the spread of damage, but the burns and stains now become the history of the art.
In other cases the art can be restored to as good as before. Fortunately, our company has the skills and resources to provide expert restoration of fine artwork. We have experts who work in-house who can provide cleaning for oil painting, ceramics, art-photos and some watercolors and prints. When we take on a project at our cleaning facility in Hayward, we work with local picture framers who can redo mats and frames if they need to be replaced
Th cleaning technique we often use cleaning to remove soot from oil paintings might surprise you. We use synthetic sponges, natural sponges, and even raw potatoes to clean the oil painted surfaces. Yes, potatoes.
What about the badly damaged pieces, and artwork of high value? We know our limits, that's why our company works with specialty artwork restorers including: The Conversation Center in Chicago. What an amazing place to visit and work with. I was able to tour their facilities to see restoration projects of works by Picasso, Andy Warhol, and others.
If you have smoke or water damaged artwork, photographs, prints and sculpture SERVPRO of San Leandro would be pleased to help you. We have worked for homes with fine art collections in Atherton, Alameda, Hillsborough, Piedmont, San Francisco, Stockton, and many other locations in Northern California.
Our work includes cleaning posters, fine books and even comic book collections. If it’s precious to you and you want it restored, please give us a call. We care and we’re here to help.