• Before and after

    Before and after: woodblock 1930’s

    Cleaning a woodblock print from acids, Remiens 1930

    Woodcut print by Remiens art deco

    I cleaned this Art Deco woodcut print made by the Dutch architect and artist Remiens. This woodcut also had some thicker ink layers that displayed a different elasticity than the paper. This resulted in some waving of the paper. I had to repeat the process of wetting and drying the paper several times to reach the final result.

     

  • Before and after

    Before and after: woodcut 1950

    Cleaning a big panoramic wood cut print by Han Krug

    This was a fun job but at times also a challenging task. I peeled the paper inch by inch from the board on which it was glued. The wet paper was brittle and had to be handled with the necessary care. I used denatured water to relax the paper as fast as possible, using a sharp scalpel knife to remove the backboard. As expected, some pieces came off easily and some pieces were nerve wracking to remove.

    After this the print was washed and pressed. This print had some thicker layers of ink, almost latex like, that had a different elasticity then the paper. This resulted in waving so I had to repeat the wetting and pressing of the paper until the final result was achieved. A new fresh looking wooden frame was used to protect the cheerful piece as well as a new piece of glass and a protective matte