Restoring 2 Lost Masterpieces - Part 4 - Allan Ramsay

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

The first 1,000 people to click the link will get a full year of Premium membership to Craftsy for only $1.49: go.craftsy.com/bloomfieldartrestoration/ *This offer is valid to new members only*.

[@deborahdufel1664]

Stunning. Thank you for sharing your work.

[@jerryraz5294]

Well done! Jer

[@sherrillsturm7240]

I APPRECIATE THE RESEARCH YOU DO TO GIVE THEM CONTEXT AND ATTRIBUTION.

[@di_tattoolover]

Excellent work. It is a magical thing to watch a master doing his craft. The difference is amazing ..

[@phranerphamily]

Eeeeek James you got a sponsor!! That's usually a big milestone in a KZbinr life ☺️ and thanks for the Christmas present of a very long new video. Happy Christmas to you and your family.

[@sus8e462]

Good problem to be so busy! Fantastic restoration to bring them back to life & always worth the wait to see your postings!!

[@tjanderson575]

You are a true miracle worker! I’m always fascinated by what you can do and how well you do it.

[@hackenbush6060]

Thanks so much for sharing your work this year. Really appreciate your genuine personality and all the extras you include besides the actual restoration.

[@ponysong2006]

Delightful!

[@slamcatX2]

Thanks!

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

Thank you for the Superthanks !!! Much appreciated 🙌🙌

[@PINTandDALE]

Well done! Happy Holidays! Looking forward to the new projects. Thanks for sharing your talents with us all.

[@quenoselecruzenadie]

I like the matching lace bits on his cravat and her bodice. Subtle symbolism. What a restoration journey! Thank you for sharing, and best wishes this holiday season, and for the upcoming year 😊

[@scottg6919]

Beautiful, enlightening and inspiring. Thank you so very much. Best compliments of the season.

[@frozenfeather13]

"for a break I started cleaning the stretcher", man that's not a break haha work never ends I guess. Also, so excited to see a 40+ minute video today, made my week! And finally, I was thinking, I used to hate seeing frame restorations, but I actually really love them now, it's fascinating seeing the work. Thanks for everything you're doing and the joy you bring us art nerds!

[@dianaharrison2280]

A wonderful restoration, such a joy to watch. Thank you and Christian greetings from the Holy Land

[@VTheYo]

Breathtaking work as always!!!!! ❤❤❤

[@Medard1947]

Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

[@slamcatX2]

Very lovely ❤. Thank you so much for your wonderful videos.

[@maryschiff9580]

Really lovely. ❤

[@R4kk00n]

"He looks very well fed." 😁Indeed

[@QueenCityHistory]

Absolutely stunning!

[@TheGar1968]

Superb work.

[@borge2014]

Wonderful restorations. Happy Holidays.✨

[@kennethcrace6181]

I enjoy watching you work your magic. A Merry Christmas to you & yours.

[@lornaperryman489]

Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy and Happy Christmas. Lovely work.😊

[@RLM1943]

Excellent work!

[@giovybez8061]

Jaw dropping work. Have a blessed Xmas. All the best to you and yours.

[@Elong.]

Merry Christmas 🎄

[@jugheadjones5458]

Beautiful work! It was worth the wait. Merry Christmas!

[@tecktonalex]

dunno how i got here but glad i did

[@LinaAliceAnderson]

I really enjoy watching your work process. The gentleman looks very solid post-restoration, but do you think the lady may have been fattened up a tad too much (the neck area looks somewhat swollen, see the before/after at 44:30)?

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

Yes when you see them side by side you can see that she needs more of a shadow adding to add a little more definition. Ive discussed this with my client and we will be adding some more retouching to put this right.

[@LinaAliceAnderson]

@@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration Amazing! And thank you for the update! 🤗

[@walkertongdee]

If you manually set the focus on the painting it won't focus on your hand making the painting out of focus.😀.

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

Thanks for the tip! I did wonder how I could do this! thank you

[@Sekhmet_says_okay]

Would it be possible to use a non-animal based glue? Totally appreciate the need to maintain the pictures in specific ways, but just curious if there are viable alternatives. Thanks 🙂

[@Ragnar8504]

Baumgartner always uses synthetic adhesives for linings so it certainly seems an option.

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

There are synthetics glues but some have only been around for a relatively short period and it is unkown how they will age and what effect they will have on a painting in the future. I do use synthetic glues sometimes but I also enjoy keeping the traditional techniques alive. Thank you for your comment.

[@lorrainer4839]

Wow they look amazing. Just a question, and I hope this isn't an insult or anything; but would you, or I guess the owner, try to take these to like Fake or Fortune or something? I'm not denying your skills in trying to find the atribution, but maybe they have better connections? Just a thought from a totally unskilled in art history Aussie, but I'm fascinated about it.

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

Yesi its about getting in touch with the right people, I can do my research and we can explore as much as possible but actually getting n touch with the gatekeppers is really quite a challenge and unfortunately I dont have those contacts. My client is following this up though and is in contact with some Ramsay specialists in Edinburgh so fingers crossed.

[@emreaakarsu]

You're cutting the canvas? Are you kidding me? Just to get it off the stretcher? Hilarious!

[@tbone-d2v]

I believe he mentioned it was the old lining and not the original canvas.

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

Yes this was the old lining fabric that was extremely thin and fragile almost like tissue paper in parts, so not worth saving and cutting through this is in no way detrimental to the original painted canvas. Thanks for your comment.

[@matthewhiggins2699]

I enjoy your videos greatly and appreciate the research that you undertake into each commission. In this particular instance, however, there is a clearly discernible difference in artistic appearance before and after the restoration. In their 'before' state, the facial modeling is more pronounced and of a visually higher quality. By removing and then replacing the overpaint with your own version, I think you have altered the appearance too far, particularly in the female portrait. When there is evidence of skinning, as in this case, I suggest the better approach would be to leave the original overpaint on the faces untouched (especially when there is layer fusing), on the reasonable assumption that the previous restorer had more direct evidence of their original appearance. By removing this work we are now one step further removed from the original, for no great benefit.

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

I take your point and when you see the paintings before and after it is apparant that I need to replace the historical retouching to give her face more definition. Her face is a little fatter than it needs to be and this shading would remedy this. Its hard when you are removing varnish as sometimes you dont get to be that selective in what stays of the past restorations. Guaranteed if you dont want it to remove it will and if you do want it too it will be bomb proof. I appreciate your constructive feedback though and after discussing with my client we are putting back in this shadow. I may well post an update at some point.

[@sameerjain2]

Don’t start with ads Loose interest in the video

[@ReiMonCoH]

Rabbit skin glue? Really? I thought sure we’d moved past 1875. Obviously not.

[@ginandtonic69]

It’s the traditional method, in keeping with the age of the portrait.

[@ReiMonCoH]

@ keeping with the Age? Ridiculous. Rabbit skin glue was used because (ex:1875) that’s the best material they had. Come on now, we’re Way past that. What’s next, wax!? These materials simply aren’t use anymore

[@cstz]

So I can take it that you're saying this because you're a professional restorer yourself, right?

[@ReiMonCoH]

@ nope

[@Bloomfield_Art_Restoration]

Many artists still ruse rabbit skin glue to size there canvas's today, its tried and tested over 100 's of years, some synthetics have only been around for 20 or 30 years and who knows what effect they will have on a canvas or painting in 200 years time. Many musical instrument restrers and furniture restorers use animal glue as they are fully reversible and more stable.

[@jpfloru8669]

Not much point watching a restoration vid if you don't tell us which products you use.

[@cstz]

It's not a cooking channel sharing a recipe. And specifying products might encourage amateurs to try their hand at it, which I would think highly unadvisable. I understand that a restorer wouldn't want to put themselves in that position. As for professional restorers, I imagine there are appropriate communication channels, that are not dependent on informal KZbin channels that are clearly meant for the entertainment of "lay people".

[@BudoReflex]

Thanks!

[@jpfloru8669]

Not much point watching a restoration vid if you don't tell us which products you use.