Mural Conservation Restoration of History of Ranching in Texas by Buck Winn, painting restoration

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• published: 31 Aug 2016
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Story of the mural and its re-discovery by Dr. Dorey Schmidt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Ranching_(Winn) Click on SHOW MORE Buck Winn Cattle Ranching Mural: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/support/giving/buckwinn.html The Wittliff Collections: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu Click here for Fine Art Conservation Laboratories: http://www.FineArtConservationLab.com Subscribe to this YouTube channel of entertaining art conservation videos: http://www.Youtube.com/bestartdoc For our mural capability statement: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/mural/ For our mural consultation statement: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/consultations/ For general mural conservation capabilities videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld4l6EG8T-I&index;=13&list;=PLE1FF71CC598A8E79 The panoramic, History of Ranching in Texas, is an important mural by James Buchanan (Buck) Winn. This video is about the salvage, preservation and restoration of 3 of eleven 30’ sections of the 280 ft mural... often published as “the longest mural in the world.” Buck Winn painted The History of Ranching for the Corral Room at the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio, Texas. It immediately became famous and would put Buck’s name and the brewery in the record books. But, as a result of remodeling plans by the new owner of the brewery in about 1971, the mural was unceremoniously ripped from the walls, rolled up like carpets and stashed in a pile in a work shed. Although saved from demolition, these valuable historical murals were left to be smashed and damaged for the next 20 years. Rescued in the 1990s by Dr. Dorey Schmidt, 2 of the panels were donated and a third purchased by the Wittliff Collections of the Alkek Library at Texas State University. Fine Art Conservation Laboratories was chosen among many from an international number of supposed experts. Click on this link to see the proposal video and introduction to this project. The most immediate needs of the murals were the stabilization of flaking paint and the sealing in of the toxic lead materials, which would eliminate the possibility of exposure of the workers. This consolidation process was accomplished with conservation grade materials that have been tested over decades in our profession to be stable, they don't yellow and they remain reversible with no “side affects” on the artwork. Many hours of handwork were required to carefully smooth out folds, make space for wrinkles to lie flat and to help the flaking paint to go back into its original position and be stable. Talented effort was also put into repairing the numerous large rips. The choice of quality materials and particular specialized techniques for attaching the new support system to these traumatized murals was a major factor in their long term preservation. There are not many painting restoration laboratories in the world that have good experience and the expertise to handle and line 30 foot paintings. Having been trained in Italy it seems that since the very beginning of our professional career we have been involved in working on large sized works of art. The materials used for the backing of these murals is a stiff thick polyester that will hold the murals flat while being bolted to the wall. One of the benefits of this installation technique will be the potential of their easier future removal should there be natural disasters or other reasons to remove them again from the building that houses them. At this point the oil paintings on canvas were stabilized and will now last far into the future if protected and treated correctly. However art conservation is made up of two phases of treatment; one is the preservation of the artwork and the other is the restoration of the aesthetics of the artwork. So at this point the paintings are stable but they still looked beat up. The stabilized areas of lost paint were inpainted with solvent-based colors that are especially made for art conservation. They are color stable and are always reversible. We never use oil paint in this process because after aging the colors change and harden to the point where they cannot be removed without damaging the original paint layers. Inpainting colors are carefully applied with the small brush only to the areas that are missing original color. The final look of the paintings was a decision that is made by the curatorial staff of the Wittliff collection. These three murals will eventually be put on a wall that is 30 feet away from its viewers. The murals have several applications of varnish. The matte finish protects the murals against dust, grime or abuse in the future. Scott M. Haskins, Chief of Conservation, Buck Winn Mural Project Fine Art Conservation Laboratories, Diane Stevenett Art Conservation Technician, Julie Stephens Art Conservator, Oriana Montemurro Art Conservator, Virginia Panizzon Art Conservator, Danielle Masters Art Conservation Technician,