Below is a video that shows conservator Diana Hartman working on the restoration of a painting from 1907 that was taken from the Museum of Modern art in New York City.
Hartman is skilled at solving problems and finding the right tools for the given job, which she needed for this project. The painting she’s working on in the video was painted by Paula Modersohn-Becker in 1907.
“To ready Paula Modersohn-Becker’s ‘Self Portrait’ (1907) for MoMA’s reopening in October, conservator Diana Hartman tackles the question of how to repair holes in the painting’s canvas,” the video description reads. “She figures out that a curved needle typically used in eye surgery might allow her to avoid removing the work from its original stretcher.”
Hartman repairs the painting using a microscope, eye surgery needles, and special canvas patch that matches the watercolors on the original piece. Her process is truly fascinating! See it for yourself below.
