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WISDOM, IMPRESSION, SENTIMENT
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Restoration Work
| Tokyo
National Research Institute of Cultural Properties owns Wisdom,
Impression, Sentiment by Kuroda Seiki. This work consists
of three nudes in different poses, which were experiments in allegorical
expression with the human body. The background of each nude was
painted in gold, which, over the years, was suffering from countless
tiny cracks that were curling and in need of proper restoration.
A three-year project to restore each one of the paintings every
year started in 1995 and the restoration work was completed. |
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examination, the cause of the cracks in the gold background appears
to have been the difference between the consistency of the glue
used for the primary coating of the canvas and that for the gold
coating. As the glue used for the gold coating was thicker than
that for the primary coating, as it became dry, the upper layer
of gold contracted more and resulted in pulling up the foundation.
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(fig.1)
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addition, the canvas had aged so that the four corners at which
it was attached to the cradle had shrunk and loosened. The rises
were carefully restored using a fish paste (fig.1). Paint
that had peeled off from the bodies was touched up with removable
acrylic paint. Following the retouch, the paintings were varnished
and relined with new cradles (fig.2). |
(fig.2)
 
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Wisdom
Before Restoration |
Wisdom
After Restoration |
Impression
Before Restoration |
Impression
After Restoration |
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(Restoration and Reference Material provided
by Sokei Institute of Painting Technology, Takasawa Institution.)
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