Blanching on acrylic painting

I have received for treatment a Vietnamese acrylic painting on
canvas that has been water damaged.  When water fell on it the owner
tried to wipe the water with a cloth and as a result a large area of
blanching appeared on the painting.  I have tried to remove the
whitish bloom with a range on conventional solvents without much
success. Water based cleaning mixtures do not work either since
paint blanches as soon as it touches water.  Turpentine is the only
solvent that seems to regenerate the paint but when it dries the
surface has a different shine and leaves tide marks.  Since it is
quite a large area, I have not considered inpainting as an option.

Has anyone encountered a similar problem or has experience in
removing blanching from acrylic paintings? And, would varnishing the
painting with a matte varnish be considered ethically correct if
there was no other choice? I would also welcome advice on any
conservation grade reversible varnishes that can be safely applied
to acrylic paintings without changing their appearance.

Mar Gomez Lobon, Paintings Conservator
Artco - Art Conservation and Museum Services
PO Box 148
Launceston
7250 TAS
Australia
+61 487357433


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:16
                  Distributed: Sunday, October 6, 2013
                       Message Id: cdl-27-16-024
                                  ***