![]() Date the stretcherĬanvas paintings are often mounted on a wooden support framework called a stretcher. Here are four key indicators that specialists look for. Many clues about a work’s history and condition rest against the wall, invisible to the wider audience but awaiting discovery by a skilled conservator. ![]() Not all of a painting’s secrets are visible from the front. A good restorer has almost x-ray vision…they understand from the depths.” What to Look For People should always align themselves with a highly recommended restorer. More specifically, Shannon notes, “a good restorer is your best confidant in the whole business, whether you’re a dealer, an auction house, or a private client. Image courtesy of Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. How to Examine a Work of ArtĪrthur Bowen Davies, “ Dawn” (back), dated 1926, oil on canvas. Shannon took us through the examination process used by specialists and explained how to glean knowledge of provenance and condition from the clues left behind on the back of a canvas. To determine what these markings and labels actually mean, we sat down with Gene Shannon from Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers to learn about the process of inspecting and researching a work of art from stretcher to frame. Labels from auction houses, galleries or museum exhibitions.Descriptions of the scene, figure, or location depicted in the painting.Artist inscriptions including painting titles and dates.Stamps from canvas-makers or other art suppliers.Though the existence and condition of these indicators varies from painting to painting, markings that are commonly found on the reverse of a painting include: While not every canvas possesses a hidden artwork on the reverse, much can be learned by examining the inscriptions, labels, and hardware that accumulate as paintings change hands throughout the years. This allowed visitors a new chance to examine the backs of the panels, on which are painted a sepia-colored diptych by an artist in Raphael’s workshop, the Master of Serumido. This June, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy moved two Raphael portraits of Agnolo Doni and his wife Maddalena Strozzi to a different gallery of the museum, where the paintings encountered a radical change in installation: rather than hanging on the wall, the works were displayed in a standing glass case. Learn the process that specialists take to examine a work of art, and what labels, markings, and other notations on the reverse of artwork actually mean. The responsibility of a fine art specialist is to follow the clues left behind by a work of art to uncover its history. Works of art that have survived for centuries – and even those that are just a few years old – come with a story.
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