r/restoration • u/Hauklin • 1d ago
Painting on wood pannel
So i don't know much about painting But I bought these 4 paintings in a flea market that are in more or less good condition and I wanted to know if I could have information to restore them if possible mainly for the three-mat and also if it was possible to apply a coat of varnish to prevent it from cracking. Thank you for your answers
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u/Airplade Pro 6h ago
Sorry to tell you that this is not a DIY project. You stand a 95% chance of ruining them. Not everything can be restored (unless cost is literally no object).
I don't want to casually speculate on their value, but hiring an art restoration professional is probably going to be cost prohibitive. You can "flash freeze" them as is with a few layers of UV resin under a fume hood, but that's a one time no return process saved for heavily damaged items you want to sorta protect from getting worse.
Source: I've owned an art conservator/restoration firm for 39+ years.
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u/coffeeismyreasontobe 12h ago
Restoring these is going to be way, way more complicated than you expect if you have never done a project like this before. I see paint loss, woodworm damage, and probably some mildew. If you really love these paintings, the best thing you can do is take them to a conservator.
I would strongly recommend against putting a layer of varnish on them. It will just seal in any surface dirt, and may damage the paint layer and cause more problems. If you want to try to clean them a bit, you can use a q-tip with saliva on it (really) to try cleaning. Do not scrub, and do not continue if any paint comes off / flakes. The first rule here is do no harm, so keep them in an air conditioned room of average humidity away from sunlight.