A portrait of Proprietor Charles Cushing (1775 - 1849) was prominently hanging in the exhibit which I went to view and I was honestly horrified to see the painting on display in such a vulnerable condition. I alerted the staff to the direness of its needs and have now begun the work to stabilize the damaged paint layer and prevent further loss. This link to the Portsmouth Athenaeum’s newsletter shows a detail of the equally dramatic cleaning of Mr. Cushing’s portrait on page 7.

The conservation treatment stabilizes the remaining fragile paint layer. The restoration visually reverses the appearance of the damage. The delaminating paint was locally consolidated with an acrylic adhesive formulated to penetrate into the spaces between layers. The losses were filled with an acrylic gesso and retouched with conservation pigments. All aspects of the restoration are documented and intended to be reversible in the event that another treatment is ever needed in the future.

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