Peeling Off Layers Of History
Though it brought together two of the unlikeliest people from the art world Raja Ravi Varma and Amrita Shergil, both, in turn, described as the founders of the Modern movement in India few corporations came together to join in the celebrations. At the exhibition, entitled Raja Ravi Varma-Amrita Shergil Restored, which opened yesterday at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, the restored paintings by the two masters failed to find too many sponsors. This despite the last Ravi Varma having been auctioned for a record Rs 45 lakh.
Restoration again, viewed as an art or as damaging cosmetic surgery by different people can be expensive, but more than that, it is a painstaking process. Exhibiting, on the other hand, is simply expensive, especially when a collection needs to be moved, as this should certainly do. Financial support for the exhibition in Delhi came from Eicher at almost the last moment; while the restoration costs were met by the US-based CHUBB group of insurance companies and Ford Foundation.
The exhibition throws up several questions about the importance paid to restoration in India. In a somewhat quixotic situation, there are a number of old paintings lying uncared for in poor shape in private and public museums, while trained restorers find themselves unable to work on them: not because they lack the expertise but because the institutions lack the funds. This is where the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) would like to make strategic and timely interventions. The INTACH Conservation Institute is part of the Materials Heritage Division which handles the restoration of oil paintings, water colours, wall paintings, frescos, manuscripts, textiles and other art objects. It trains conservators, curators, librarians and other personnel entrusted with the care of art objects.
Since its founding in 1990, the Conservation Institute has undertaken considerable research into the techniques of restoration. Through constant interaction with restoration processes in other parts of the world, it developed professional competence that it clams is now internationally recognised. So far, efforts seem directed more at restoration of architectural buildings, but the recognition of art conservation too has gained critical dimensions.
It is with this in mind that INTACH decided to exhibit the approximately 20 restored works of Raja Ravi Varma and Amrita Shergil at the NGMA (on display till February 1) borrowed from private collections. NGMA, in turn, agreed to supplement the exhibition with a selection from its own archives which contains the largest Amrita Shergil collection in the country.
The restored works on display had deteriorated substantially, partly on account of neglect but also due to inherent defects in materials and the execution technique of the paintings. Inadequate attention given to the conditions of storage, display, transportation and the adverse effects of atmospheric conditions are primary factors that contribute to such deterioration. The exhibition, as its contribution to popular education, not only displays the paintings but also the techniques involved in the entire process of the restoration.
Sanjay Dhar, chief conservator says, We picked two well-known artists as a means to communicate what we can achieve through restoration. The main motive was to find solutions to problems and analyse various pigments. For instance, Amrita Shergil frequently used bitumens to paint, and since she changed her mind while painting, the infra-red technology used in the restoration came in handy. The light enables the researcher to study the artists mental process: in this case the manner in which Shergil made underdrawings using fine lines before she actually started to paint, changing compositions all the while and ending up with an altogether different subject.
The advantage of the technology is that a restorer can identify cracks, wet and dry layers and spot any defects without doing further damage to the painting. Nilabh Sinha, senior restorer explains, With Ravi Varmas, we have to face the problem of overpainting by previous restorers. Since they are very old paintings belonging to a period when artists did the restoration, they always covered the background with a fresh layer of paint or varnish to hide the flaws which they could do nothing about. This is now a serious problem as the restorer has to work carefully, test various solvents and use one particular solvent which will not react with the original, but make the later fake layer disappear at the same time. Three of the Ravi Varmas had been restored two or three times each, so it became a major project to undo or uncover the fake from the original.
The quality of the canvas, ground, paint and varnish have to be taken into account at the point of restoration. Logically, every layer must be completely dry while the painting is being done since a single wet layer can damage the entire work. As canvas and paint expand and contract over a period of time (during what is referred to as its ageing period), all these factors react on the work. Not much can be done about a wet layer used years ago, though it can lead to shrinking, flaking and cracking. (Following the ageing period, however, further deterioration is arrested.)
Modern restorers do not like to meddle with the artists original work as a part of the process of restoration. Dhar relates, An Amrita Shergil painting called Fruit Vendors lay horizontal for six-seven years since the owner wouldnt hang it on the wall for fear of the paint falling off. Towards the later stage of her career, Shergil painted in a hurry without waiting for the underlayer to dry, so in spite of the work being only 60 years old, it cannot be restored to perfection.
If broken up into stages, the restoration process involves cleaning, consolidation, lining and varnishing, the degree of each depending on the damage. The restorer begins with establishing what it is he wants to clean: dust, dirt, soot, varnish. Distilled water, saliva or hard and mild solvents, which can be fast or slow evaporating, are used in a mix and match manner for the cleaning. In this particular case, Amrita Shergil proved tougher to clean as newer paintings react to solvents easily, while the Ravi Varmas proved easier on this front. The difference between using infra red and ultra violet light to identify defects is simple the former penetrates to show the drawings underneath while the latter shows every retouching clearly.
After cleaning, the artwork needs to be consolidated, which has been made easier with the easy availability of adhesives. Those such as gelatine, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol and a wax and resin mixture are the most popular.
Only recently, INTACH has developed a new adhesive (tested at the Shriram Institute) which it used to line a restored Ravi Varma with. Not all restorations need to be lined and varnished: in some cases the varnish darkens with age and can be restored simply by matching the shade.
Even though the task may prove a long and arduous one, restoration is one of the only means of ensuring that the painted treasures of the past are not lost to us forever. The response to this exhibition may well prove to be that turning point.
Newly restored masterpieces make it to an exhibition, despite scant financial support