Conservation and Restoration Treatment of an Untitled Work (1948) by José Pedro Costigliolo
Clémence Jacqmin, a paintings conservator specialising in modern and contemporary art, works as a freelance conservator for The Phoebus Foundation. Her first assignment concerned the conservation and restoration of an untitled painting from 1948 by the Uruguayan artist José Pedro Costigliolo (1902–1985).
The painting is executed in oil on unalit, a support made of compressed wood fibres. At first glance, the work appeared to be in relatively good condition. Closer examination, however, revealed a number of disruptions within the monochrome paint areas. Surface dirt, scratches and stains gave the painting a dull appearance, but it was above all earlier interventions that caused the greatest visual disturbance.
Alongside general surface soiling, which could be safely removed through wet cleaning using a carefully adjusted aqueous solution, more complex forms of damage became apparent. During cleaning, pH levels and conductivity were closely monitored to prevent swelling of the relatively young oil paint layer. Wear and previous retouchings, however, proved considerably more challenging.
The wear mainly takes the form of surface abrasion, where the paint layer has been locally compressed. This results in a glossier appearance than that of the untouched areas. The original paint remains present, but is effectively “compressed” and becomes particularly visible under raking light.
The retouchings and overpaint, by contrast, sit directly on top of the original paint layer. As with Old Master paintings, they were applied to disguise losses or damaged areas. Unlike older paintings, however, the paint layer here is too young and too fragile to allow the use of solvents to remove these additions. The earlier intervention is therefore irreversible. In addition, the colour differs slightly and the overpaint has a noticeably more matte finish than the original surface, creating a clear aesthetic imbalance.
Two opposing issues thus emerge: areas that are overly glossy and areas that appear too matte. The treatment focused on refining the retouching technique in order to subtly lower or raise the level of gloss locally, a delicate and demanding process.
Using a range of retouching materials, the treatment was tailored to the specific issues of the painting, with constant attention paid to full reversibility in water. This approach avoided introducing yet another irreversible intervention, as had occurred in the past, while still aiming for a visually coherent result.
This project clearly illustrates the complexity of retouching in modern and contemporary conservation practice, where the challenge lies not only in colour matching, but also in achieving a precise balance between mattness and gloss.
