Cleaning 150-year-old varnish from a Frans Hals portrait | National Gallery

[@hyperactivehyena]

The 'innacuracy' of his brushwork lends a really beautiful quality to those hands.

[@bonsaitomato8290]

His “inaccuracies” are why we know him today verses more his more “accurate” contemporaries. When he said “inaccurate” I knew he was a great restorationist, a terrible artist, but a top notch conservator.

[@camille.c]

always a pleasure to listen to an expert chat about their work! and to see closeups of paintings in those 'halfway' stages. would love to have a tour of the main conservation work areas if that's possible :)

[@DV-dt9sq]

Please put more often these beautiful videos of restauration. It is simply wonderfull!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@nationalgallery]

You're in luck - we have a whole playlist here for you! kzbin.info/aero/PLvb2y26xK6Y4i1rQVRppfR3mBHcwybGA0

[@gerryholden]

Thank you. Perfect presentation; interesting, informative, concise - just what we want. Keep them coming

[@geoffreykeane4072]

I’d like a much longer version of this with Paul. More detail please!

[@mariangelacanzi1441]

An accurate presentation. Informative and interesting. I look forward to watching more videos from you, dear National Gallery! And I look forward to coming back to London to wander through your amazing rooms!

[@nationalgallery]

Hi @Mariangela Canzi, we look forward to welcoming you to the Gallery soon!

[@djflorence8051]

His knowledge and skill is outstanding

[@cstz]

It's always pleasure to have a new video by the National Gallery. As always it is thoughtful, informative and lovely to watch. Thank you!

[@nationalgallery]

It's our pleasure - thank you for watching and subscribing!

[@splodge5714]

Always nice to see a painting being cleaned of the old varnish. There is a wonderful exhibition of Hals portraits on at the Wallace collection, London, until 30.1.22. My favourite, The Laughing Cavalier, star of the show.

[@susanhepburn6040]

Thank you very much, Paul.

[@upendrakulkarni4375]

Wow thank you The National Gallery.

[@PE3FS]

Frans Hals didn't do all of the painting. he had pupils. They painted only hands or fabric. Judith Leyster was also a pupil and worked a while with Frans Hals. In Haarlem we have a complete museum with a lot of Mr. F. Hals paintings. Nice video.

[@bobbytirlea]

Wonderful presentation, such expertise in the field!

[@mauropagliara7419]

Very interesting . Bravo !

[@vickiharrington8870]

Amazing portrait. Thanks.

[@PeterPaul175]

Very good, but I wish we could have seen the entire process from the start until its complete restoration. We have only just seen Chapter One.

[@reecekennedy8528]

Very exciting! How does one get into this line of work?

[@mozdickson]

Paul was a Busdriver on the 148 Night Run to Notting Hill (you may have seen a film by that name once Reece?), but one night a chap left a briefcase and The National Gallery identity card (fob is it?) and swipe card, on the top deck. That was Paul's big chance, and as you can see he took it with a flourish. What became of the actual NG employee you ask? Odd, but he was never seen again.

[@colleenhonderich1598]

@@mozdickson Whoa. That's a story in itself.

[@favouritemoon4133]

Please give us more.

[@nationalgallery]

Hi there, you can watch more of our conservation videos here on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/behind-the-scenes

[@joiesferrer7140]

Hello Paul, beautiful intimate portrait and great to see it being so expertly cleaned. May I ask what solvents you are using in order to do so please? Looking forward to seeing it completed . So interesting to see your work in progress.

[@_artorical_]

Wonderful! Lovely background music too! ☺️

[@hansendesigns]

So nice. I wonder what clue made them know it’s Hals though they don’t know the woman. It’s always frustrating how reframing messes with the composition. Maybe they could pair her up with an unknown male portrait someday... :)

[@Figueiredoartconservation]

Excellent history lesson, thank you

[@nationalgallery]

Thank you for watching!

[@michaelhope8899]

Love this series of vids

[@TheMomeni]

Loved this, have my own high value item and planning to Take a ridk on it.

[@jonrettich4579]

So Franz Hal’s brush work can be a little like Delacroix or even the impressionists. His delightful energy is part of why I like him so much. Just as in cabinetry from that time, before and beyond, less important areas were handled more casually or not at all. This was a commercial undertaking for him.I would mention a portrait of the execution of Maximilian by Manet where the fingers of one hand are basically only a deep cherry red outline.

[@mariangelacanzi1441]

Interesting comment. It made me think of the Italian painter Pelizza da Volpedo. He too tended to paint a bit like the Impressionists. Some areas in his paintings were less defined.

[@warrenhenning8064]

Feels weird to watch someone clean varnish with a q-tip without plugging Squarespace

[@marinaellinson5623]

Or Patreon!

[@olga138]

Also strange to not see the q-tips being rolled by hand on long pieces of wood.

[@MSYNGWIE12]

One of my dream jobs as an art history grad but one needs a painter's hand and chemistry still? Only one institution will taught it when I was a student in Canada- many paintings have been ruined through improper restoration. So tragic this wonderful work by the master, Franz Halls was " chopped"- I am always enraged by bad work, I feel the artist "knows". Would love a tour, watch a conservationist at work. Namaste

[@cliffordlawrence8525]

Interesting, but...more detail required. What materials are used to removed the varnish? What was the original varnish made from? When you come to retouch the painting how do you know where to stop?

[@valdecidossantos8889]

Eu tenho um quadro da van gohj

[@maximhollandnederlandthene7640]

How does it look now ? 🤗

[@georgefrench1907]

👍

[@danhanqvist4237]

Haarlem was not controlled by Spain in Hals's time. That's partly why he and his parents ended up there when they left Antwerp.

[@chandana___]

Asking this in a most sincere way to understand better - Why do we need to conserve paintings? How what needs to conserved and what need not is decided?

[@Divertedflight]

Conserving paintings is required to prevent further damage and reverse where possible (I'm going to presume you're not asking why the painting needs to continue to exist.) The lining mentioned in this video would have been to strengthen the original canvas which was probably judged to have weakened with age. Sometimes paint flakes lifting off the surface are more firmly attached. Here the blanched mastic varnish was obscuring the painting so needed to be removed. After this; restoration paints (made to be removable) will hide the damaged areas. The staff would likely discuss what sort of paint fill ins are best for each work of art. Sometimes invisible to the eye, sometimes visible close up, sometimes a blank background in a medium tone to not hide the damage, but make the losses less jarring to the over all picture.

[@a.kaiser8965]

the videos are just not long enough!

[@nationalgallery]

We have longer videos with our Conservation team here: kzbin.info/aero/PLvb2y26xK6Y7VpUt4n_py9LGrJKR9WsQ-

[@bonsaitomato8290]

Frank Hals painted inaccurately? Well if he painted any more accurately he might have painted out Impressionism from the history of art completely.

[@tekannon7803]

They should take out the black streak that was overlooked by Hals. Sadly, Frans Hals shows us why great haste is often accompanied by disappointment from observers.

[@tiagoml-qq5uh]

But does Julian approve??

[@joiesferrer7140]

Hello Paul, beautiful intimate portrait and great to see it being so expertly cleaned. May I ask what solvents you are using in order to do so please? Looking forward to seeing it completed . So interesting to see your work in progress.