Tobacco stains on painting

Susan White <smwhitewhite [at] aim__com> writes

>I have a friend who has a Hudson River School painting which has
>been sullied for many years by tobacco smoke. There does not appear
>to be a varnish present and is thinly painted.
>
>The grime does not respond to common solvents as expected but is
>only very slightly soluble in saliva. ...
>...
>When I was at Winterthur, I remember Richard Wolbers working with
>various enzymes for cleaning paintings, but since this isn't my
>field (I'm an objects conservator), I really haven't kept up with
>the research in this field.

You can try artificial saliva which you can buy in pharmacies. I
don't know the ingredients or the chemical structure, but I know
painting restorers who work with this artificial solution. Maybe
this was what Richard Wolbers used.

Ricarda Holly
Restaurierungsatelier Holly
Kretzer Str. 46
56642 Kruft
Germany
+49 2652 938070


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:40
                 Distributed: Sunday, January 18, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-22-40-004
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