[Thesis of Master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage of the University of Turin in agreement with the JRC]

Pino Pascali’s work was in a poor state of preservation. Made with the use of different materials, such as: steel wool, plywood, PVC, nitrocellulosic colour and polyurethane, the latter in particular being compromised and altered.
Conservative problems were characterized by intrinsic degradation of the material with the appearance of gaps and extensive areas of de-adhesion of the pictorial layer.
The restoration therefore provided for the consolidation and compensation of polyurethane foam, the resolution of the conservation problems of steel wool and the chromatic integration, thus also ensuring the aesthetic re-proposal of the work.

The armchair, in polyurethane elastomeric resin colored in paste with nylon pins, had widespread and wide fractures on the seat and back.
The objective of the intervention was both the recovery of structural stability and the removal of surface deposits and adhesive tape residues present on the surface, as well as the approximation and re-adhesion of the edges of the fractures. The intervention methodology was based on the principle of effectiveness and compatibility with the original material, ensuring its integrity.

The work suffered anthropogenic damage during a temporary exhibition.
The intervention provided for the restoration of the surface flatness of the damaged paraffin sheets, on which there were depressions and scratches. In addition, some fragments that had become detached were re-adhesive on the crystal zoomorphic element. The white and smooth plaster plaster plasters, due to a previous restoration intervention, which were located on one end of a crystal element, were then removed.

[Photo: detail of the work]

The work, in a very poor state of conservation, had obvious conservation problems due to the execution technique: an alkyd colour on a canvas made of cotton fibre and viscose and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with white acrylic preparation in titanium and lithopone.
The widespread and wide uplifts of the pictorial film have been solved by consolidating the painting on time at the cracks. The previous touch-ups, characterized by unsuitable grouting because they were too rigid compared to the surrounding drafts, could have created other tensions and, most likely, new uplifts. For these reasons they have been removed and proposed again in plaster and glue with imitation of the surface and, finally, accorded to the chromatic rendering.

[Photo: detail of the work]

On the occasion of the exhibition Kandinsky, harmony preserved. Behind the scenes of the restoration (Mondovì, Museo della Ceramica, 15 November 2018 – 3 February 2019), the work of the famous Russian artist has been studied in the Centre’s laboratories thanks to the collaboration with the Municipality of Bergamo and GAMeC and the support of the Fondazione Casa di Risparmio di Cuneo. Through the multidisciplinary study carried out on the painting, oil on cardboard, an attempt was made to provide the most complete knowledge of the materials and the executive technique used by the artist, intervening on the climatic stabilisation of the work inserted in the Travel frame with microclimate control. The restoration work involved consolidating the painting layer, which was significantly compromised by raised cracks, and subsequently removing a layer of non-original paint.

The large size and the particularity of the execution technique (painting and graffiti on canvas with oil, acrylics, wax pastels and charcoal) involved a preliminary diagnostic phase, as a result of which it was possible to intervene on the crept pictorial layers and improve the structural function of the canvas / frame system. In addition, some criteria have been defined to allow the museum to monitor the conservation conditions of the work both during permanent and temporary exhibitions.
The intervention was carried out thanks to the campaign “Returns 2018’ by Intesa Sanpaolo.