AIC PAINTINGS SPECIALTY GROUP POSTPRINTS Papers Presented at the Thirty-second Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works Portland, Oregon June 9-14, 2004 Compiled by Helen Mar Parkin Volume 17 2005 The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works This publication entitled 2005 AIC Paintings Specialty Group Postprints is produced by the Paintings Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC). © 2005 The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works Publication of this serial began in 1988. Except for Volume 3 (1990) all issues until Volume 16 are unnumbered. ISSN 1548-7814 The papers presented in publication have been edited for clarity and content but have not undergone a formal process of peer review. This publication is primarily intended for the members of the Paintings Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. The Paintings Specialty Group is an approved division of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works, but does not necessarily represent AIC policies or opinions. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributors and not official statements of either the Paintings Specialty Group or the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. Responsibility for the materials/methods described herein rests solely with the contributors. Additional copies of this publication are available for purchase by contacting the Publications Manager at the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences - Permanence of Paper for Publication and Documents in Libraries and Archives, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works, 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20036 http://aic.stanford.edu Gateway Graphics; Judy Mahan, Consultant AIC PAINTINGS SPECIALTY GROUP POSTPRINTS Volume 17 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS Paintings Sessions: Cleaning Acrylic Emulsion Paint; A Two-Part Study 1 Geneviève Saulnier and Marie-Ève Thibault A Novel Approach to Cleaning I: Using Mixtures of Concentrated Stock Solutions and a Database to 9 Arrive at an Optimal Aqueous Cleaning System Chris Stavroudis, Tiarna Doherty, and Richard Wolbers A Wide Open Field of Color: 21 Caring for Color Field Paintings at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Tatiana Z. Ausema Controlled Laser Cleaning of Fire-Damaged Paintings 30 J.H. Scholten, S. Postma, R.M.A. Heeren, U. Ullenius, I. Larsson, W. Hesterman, and V. Zafiropulos Fire, Water, Air, and More Than 1000 Square Metres of Soiled Surfaces to be Cleaned 32 Gunnar Heydenreich Cleaning by the Yard: Vermont's Hand-Painted Theater Curtains 39 Mary Jo Davis and Emily Gardner Recovering the Appearance of an Unvarnished Surface (abstract ofpresentation) 42 Jim Coddington and Jay Krueger The Consequences of Cleaning the Mummy Portraits from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology 43 Noëlle L. Streeton A Pilot Study for the Effects of Tri-ammonium Citrate solutions Used for Surface Cleaning Paintings 56 Aviva Burnstock and Klaas Jan van den Berg The Use of the Er.YAG Laser in Cleaning Painted Surfaces: Theory; Application; Laboratory Models 65 (abstract) Adele deCruz, Myron L. Wolbarsht, and Paula Bracco Selected papers from General Session: Here We Go 'Round Again: Cleaning Linseed Oil from Carousel Animals at the Shelburne Museum 66 Richard L. Kerschner and Nancie Ravenel Perspectives on Patina 73 Joyce Hill Stoner Architecture and Paintings Joint Session: ILWU Union Hall Mural Project, Honolulu: Restoring a Modern Fresco and its Architectural Setting 79 Nora Jaso Ludviksen and Rogelio Bernal Fernandez Conservation of the Polychrome Ceiling and Wall Paintings at the Santa Maria de Cuevas Mission 84 Karla Muñoz-Alcocer John S. Sargent's Triumph of Religion Murals in Context: 90 The Restoration of Sargent Hall at the Boston Public Library Kate Smith Maurer, Angela Chang, Glenn Gates, Teri Hensick, Narayan Khandkar, Philip Klausmeyer, Kate Olivier, and Gianfranco Pocobene Paintings and Textiles Joint Studio Tips Session: Handling Large Textile Objects 101 Sarah C. Stevens Emulating Glazed Chintz Fabric with B-72 103 Ann Frisina Better Swab Grips 104 A Lining Fabric from a Fabric Store Stabiltex False Eyelash' Repairs Nancy R. Pollak The Use of Cyclododecane and Re-moistenable Tissue Paper 105 ...as a temporary moisture barrier and temporary facing Beth Szuhay and Joanne Hackett Non Stick Coating for Tacking Iron Tips 106 Robert Proctor Using Aquazol: A Brief Summary 107 Julie Arslanoglu Pneumatically Generated Mist for Adhesive Reactivation 111 Kathleen Kiefer Tips on Using Azeotropes for Cleaning Solvents and Adhesive Delivery Systems 113 Christopher Augerson CLEANING ACRYLIC EMULSION PAINT; A TWO-PART STUDY. Geneviève Saulnier, Conservator of Contemporary Art Marie-Eve Thibault, Conservator of Paintings. 1. INTRODUCTION Shortly after acrylic emulsions were introduced to artists as a painting medium, conservators and scientists voiced concerns about the materials' properties. Since then, researches have successfully enlightened conservators about acrylic emulsions' characteristics; however, few treatment suggestions have been published. This paper describes the efforts, in collaboration with the Canadian Conservation Institute and Queen's University's Master of Art Conservation program, to develop an effective cleaning method for unvarnished acrylic emulsion films. Acrylic emulsion paint films dry by the evaporation and the absorption of water into the substrate. Some additives present in the polymer matrix are water soluble but not volatile. These additives dry or at the surface of the polymer film or at the interstices of the polymer spheres or within the substrate. From this result a stable film where acrylic spheres are stacked in a thigh polyhedral arrangement (Williams 1994). Cleaning methods currently used for painted surfaces involves solvents, aqueous solutions or dry cleaning materials. Most solvents and aqueous solutions affect dried acrylic paint formulations (Murray et al. 2002, Strain et al. 1993, Tanks 1991). Solvents swell or dissolve dry acrylic paint films while aqueous solutions dissolve water-soluble additives present within or at the surface of the paint film. The pigments and interface of the polymer spheres can also develop capillary movement of solutions (Stringari and Pratt 1993, Michalski 2000). Although erasers have been used for cleaning acrylic paint surfaces, the effects of dry-cleaning on acrylic emulsion paint films are not well known. The scope of this project was to evaluate dry cleaning materials as cleaning agents for unvarnished acrylic emulsions. Dry-cleaning products have proven to be effective, especially in the paper conservation field, as they tend to remove layers of dirt without disrupting fragile substrates. During the first part of the experiment, five types of erasers were tested on acrylic emulsion samples. The paint was applied on nonabsorbent substrates. A synthetic layer of dirt was applied on the samples, which were cleaned at three different environmental conditions. The second part of the experiment discarded the application of a dirt layer, the environmental conditions and the erasers that damaged the paint surfaces in the first part. The cleaning tests were performed on samples applied on absorbent substrates. For both parts, data on gloss, color changes and morphology was collected before and after cleaning. 2. EXPERIMENTAL, PART-1 2.1 SAMPLES Samples were made out of Liquitex® Artist-grade, Medium Viscosity emulsion paint. Five colors were chosen in order to detect the variable results that may be obtained on chemically different films. Cadmium red medium hue, ivory black, titanium white, matte medium and gloss medium paint were applied on glass slides with a Sheen Film Applicator (200|im clearance) and then stored vertically for a period of six Geneviève Saulnier, Conservator of Contemporary Art National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa 380 Sussex Drive, P.O. Box 427, Station A Ottawa ON KIN 9N4 Marie-Eve Thibault, Conservator of Paintings Contractual Conservator, Montreal. AIC PSG Postprints 17 (2005) 1 months. The resulting samples had very different visual properties. For some colors, the non-absorbent nature of the glass substrate enhanced the migration of the additives to the surface of the polymer film. The additives found on the gloss medium samples had a networking shape visible to the naked eye (Fig. 1). Under magnification, these additives took the shape of rococo feathers (Fig. 2). The red and white samples' additives were round-shaped (Fig. 3). The ivory black and matte medium were the only colors that didn't show any migration of additives. Both had a large number of filler particles visible under 20x magnification and had very busy surfaces, also responsible for giving their matte sheen. Fig. 1. Gloss medium Fig. 2. Gloss medium sample at a Fig. 3. Titanium white sample (detail). Raking 20X magnification. Transmitted sample (detail). After light. light. dirt application. Because of time constrictions a naturally occurring soiling process could not be obtained. A simplified recipe for dust and dirt that consisted of silica and carbon particles mixed in mineral oil was applied onto the samples (Wolbers 1992). The samples were