Dans un Café à Paris, Before Treatment
Dans un Café à Paris
Artist: Loïs Mailou Jones
Title: Dans un Café à Paris
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Date: 1839
Dimensions: 36 ¼” x 28 ⅞”
Jones painted Leah Whipper at the height of his career as a Broadway and Hollywood actor. This painting is executed with varied mark making from both paintbrushes and palette knives. The figure and his surroundings are constructed using angular, blocky applications of paint. The paint is applied in a way that follows a shape’s simplified planes, giving a very structural and geometric look to the rendering
Jones was born and raised in Boston and became a teacher. In 1930 she began teaching art at Howard University and has students including David Driskell, Elizabeth Catlett, and Sylvia Snowden. She had a sabbatical year in Paris where she was influenced by the African tribal art exhibited in Parisian galleries.
Condition Summary
This painting came into the lab in preparation for a full reinstallation of the American Galleries. The painting was generally stable. While slightly slack on the stretcher, it had an insert backing that provided more than enough support. There were some small areas of cracking along the edges and especially on the white table cloth that required consolidation. The sharp crack pattern throughout made us warry of zinc white. There was some grime on the surface and small losses/abrasion that could benefit from inpainting.
Treatment Proposal Summary
The buildup of dust and minor grime on the surface and the shelves created by impasto required some surface cleaning with cosmetic sponges. Cracks throughout the white table cloth and other select areas were in danger of flaking, so consolidation was recommended. However, XRF was needed to better understand if zinc is present in the painting and possibly zinc soaps. The possible presence of zinc soaps would help dictate what kind of consolidants would be appropriate.
A full treatment proposal and treatment report can be downloaded for further information. Below are select information and images of the treatment process.
Before Treatment, Normal Light, Recto
Before Treatment, Normal Light, Verso
Before Treatment, Specular Light, Recto
Before Treatment, Transmitted Light, Recto
Before Treatment, Raking Light, Recto
XRF
For consolidants BEVA and Aquazol were under consideration. However, the white area, which had the majority of cracking and lifting, looked like it could be zinc white. If that were the case, I wouldn't want to use hydrophilic Aquazol, as moisture would exacerbate zinc degradation. To be certain, I did XRF with their handheld BrukerTracer III-V+ instrument along with the assistance of Isabel Schneider, project objects conservator. There are zinc containing materials in the painting, likely in both the ground and the white paint. This means BEVA is the safer option. See XRF report for all taken spectra.
Example of taken spectra
Area of Zinc cracking
Area of Zinc cracking under magnification
Consolidation
The major concern were the cracks forming along the bottom third on the white table cloth, caused by zinc white degradation. I was limited to solvent based adhesives, I started by testing aliphatic & aromatic solvents that play nice with BEVA. All tested solvents were safe options. After discussions with Lauren Bradley and Ellen Nigro, I settled on Petroleum Benzine with a few drops of A100. In their experience Petroleum Benzine. works very well with BEVA and the few drops of A100 prevents a “gitty” texture that BEVA can have with just Petroleum Benzine. Then I used BEVA to consolidate any mobile or flaking areas around the cracks.
Consolidating cracks under magnification PC: Camille Ferrer
Inpainting
I did minor inpainting of distracting abrasions and losses using Gamblin Conservation Colors and Isopropanol. The varnish was sensitive to Isopropanol, however after talking with Lauren Bradley we decided Gamblin was still a good choice for the following reasons: I could easily achieve the gloss level needed, it would be highly unlikely the inpainting would have to be removed separate from the varnish as its so stable, the inpainting would easily be removed with the varnish if it were removed later down the road, and the inpainting was so small it was unlikely to disturb the coating around it. I made sure to work relatively “dry” when doing this inpainting to make sure the surrounding area would not be disturbed by the application of isopropanol. This inpating was very selective as the artist used some kind of rubbing technique that emphasized the canvas weave. Some areas of this rubbing technique had become more abraded over time, and the white specs from the rubbing had become large and distracting from the composition in small areas. Lauren and I were very precise when deciding what spots to tone back. I wanted to balance, not fully hide, these spots of abrasion.
Loss (left), fill (top), and inpainted fill (bottom)
Before (top) and after (bottom) inpainting
Before (top) and after (bottom) inpainting
Drip Removal
There were five drips of what seemed to be wall paint on the surface. I mechanically removed most of these under the microscope with a porcupine quill. There were a few portions of these drips that were more stubborn. I was able to swell the paint drips with very careful application of isopropanol on a wooden skewer, and then more mechanical action to remove the swollen material.
Location of the drips
Drip under magnification, partially removed with porcupine quill