Goddess Diana Restoration at the Philadelphia Museuma Good Idea? Maybe not!

By Scott M. Haskins, Art Conservator

I’m often asked about my opinions on paintings. Art dealers, auction houses and private clients connect with me all the time. A recent fun evaluation/inspection I did was of a private $25 million painting of a wonderful Giverney garden lily pads. A couple of years ago I made a video while I walked through the Philadelphia Museum of Art where they had a lot of fabulous paintings by Monet on exhibit. Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFULHuqJ6kw I was surprised how many people commented and enjoyed that walk through with me.

In that video I also highlighted the statue of the Goddess Diana which stands watch over the grand staircase. In the news recently, it was just announced that the Bank of America is funding conservation treatments and the regilding of this famous sculpture. Here's an interesting article about it: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=63474#.Ucn3jhb9NjQ

The question comes up every once in awhile, "How ethical is it to redo, repaint, refinish artwork or historical objects"? That's a good question! If you strip and refinish important valuable furniture, you will seriously impact the value. But, stripping a vintage car down to the metal and redoing it can enhance the value. If you repaint a damaged painting, the value goes into the toilet. But the Chinese restorers do a whole sale cover-over of damage on old ceramics so to make the damage undetectable (they think)... and while the “restoration” may be acceptable in China, the value of its original nature is greatly compromised internationally. If an historic building gets completely redone from top to bottom, it adds value to the property (if done right). If you over-clean valuable wood duck decoys, the value is nil. 

In this case, the worry is not about its monetary value but concerns the original nature of a historic statue and its history. The idea with this restoration intervention is to take it back to its original appearance but I question whether this is heavy handed. Goddess Diana has a history that is well documented and the deteriorated finish of the sculpture illustrates or documents that past story. Perhaps some would argue that I

am wanting to reduce her appearance from an esteemed work of art into just an archeological object. But, there is something to say for wonderful works of art that testify of their past. Let her show off the testimonial conditions and let her be what she is now, today. She will be stunning in gold I'm sure. But her historic wrinkles will be Botoxed away.

For a quick video tour of an art conservation lab go to http://www.fineartconservationlab.com

To learn more about what you can do at home to take care of your stuff, download now a copy of Scott Haskins’ book, How to Save Your Stuff from a Disaster at 50% off! CLICK HERE to know more: http://saveyourstuffblog.com/products-supplies/

For a news article featuring Scott M. Haskins’, Click here: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/media-room/art-restorerconservator-scott-m-haskins-featured-in-life-section-of-newspaper/

For art conservation and painting restoration questions call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438 or faclartdoc@gmail.com

For art appraisal questions call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121 or jrholgate@yahoo.com

See short videos by Scott M. Haskins on art conservation related subjects at YouTube channel “Bestartdoc” http://www.youtube.com/user/bestartdoc?feature=mhee

See short do-it-yourself videos on collection care and emergency preparedness for art collectors, family history items, heirlooms, memorabilia at Youtube Channel “preservationcoach” http://www.youtube.com/user/preservationcoach

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