Mold

On behalf of Simon Gillespie, Charlotte Baber
<charlottebaber [at] hotmail__com> writes

>We are having problems with a persistent form of mould which keeps
>reappearing on a twentieth century canvas oil painting. We think the
>mould is in the paint and has the appearance of round spores with a
>white halo. Has anyone got any suggestions for tackling the problem?

In the late eighties of the last century the Basle Historic Museum
had similar problems, but on old canvas paintings. The Researcher
Dr. Raschle of the Swiss Federal Institute of Material Testing
(Eidgenossische Materialprufungsanstalt--EMPA) in St. Gallen,
Switzerland, then recommended the use of a Whitespirit--the general
swissgerman denomination is Sangaiol (I don't know, if it is a
protected name, anyhow, similar products do the job as well). It has
a content of approximately 15 % aromatics and is generally available
in drugstores.

The application with the necessary ventilation by brush or spray gun
from back and/or front, after thorough aspiration with the
appropriate vacuum cleaners, proved successful. I applied the same
treatment to paintings of the 2o th century, with similar in mould
appearance than that is described by Simon Gillespie--with excellent
results. If the storage condition of the paintings prior to the
White spirit treatment is not changed though, it only takes a few
years and the mould will be back.

Hans-Christoph von Imhoff
Lorette 28
CH - 1700 Fribourg / Suisse
As of August 17, 2000 until Mai 15, 2001
Art Conservation
Art Centre Extension
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario
Canada  K7L 3N6
+1 613 533 6166
Fax: +1 613 533-6891


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:11
                  Distributed: Sunday, August 6, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-14-11-001
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