Repainting murals

Thomas Dixon <dixon-tom [at] hotmail__com> writes

>Keith Haring painted a mural on the side of a three story brick
>building at a technical college in Melbourne Australia in 1984 using
>commercial house paint. ...
>...
>..., there has recently been public pressure to repaint the
>mural to return it more to it's original appearance and this seems
>to be supported by the Haring Foundation in New York. The Haring
>Foundation has apparently funded repainting of some Haring murals by
>sign painters in the US East Coast region.
>
>The local conservation community and preservation groups in
>Melbourne support a traditional conservation treatment which is more
>reversible and focusses on preservation of the artist's hand, but
>will not appear as much like the original as repainting would. There
>are legal issues as the mural has been classified by the local
>heritage authority, which must issue a permit for any work to be
>done.
>
>Does anyone have specific experience with similar murals being
>repainted vs. given a conservation approach? I would appreciate any
>information about successes or failures in the repainting vs.
>conservation treatment of murals, especially by Haring.

It seems as though the total original intent of the artist is
already gone and that the conservation work already done has not
brought it back albeit the mural does survive because of the
conservation work.

First, is there a protective reversible coating? A repainting can
occur over this coating thereby making its removal possible in the
future. But how long will the coating last and how long will the
repainting last? Is there a commitment to maintenance? In the final
analysis, all of the treatments should fit into sound conservation
maintenance whatever the decision. So what I am saying is that if a
repainting can be justified as part of sound, reversible,
conservation maintenance (and paint is a protective coating) and an
artistic intent be reclaimed then proceed with the repainting,
albeit, with all applicable expertise, documentation, commitments,
and statutes.

Richard J. Trela
Trela Fine Art Conservation
806-655-5640


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:24
                 Distributed: Sunday, November 7, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-24-24-002
                                  ***