My recent placement at Critchlow & Kukkonen, a private conservation studio, provided an invaluable contrast to my previous experience in a museum environment. Working alongside Eeva Kukkonen, Lucy Critchlow, and Lucy Partridge, I was immersed in the fast-paced and varied world of private conservation, where the studio’s exceptionally skilled team gave me the opportunity to engage directly with a range of treatments and studio practices. Their generosity with their time and knowledge made a significant impression on me; they were consistently welcoming, thoughtful mentors, and their guidance shaped a deeply enriching experience.

The gilding of surfaces with gold leaf has for centuries signified opulence, divinity, and cultural sophistication. Within this tradition, two dominant methods (water gilding and oil gilding) have emerged as materially and conceptually distinct practices. Despite sharing the same ultimate goal, the application of gold to a prepared surface, their underlying procedures, aesthetic implications, and conservation challenges diverge in fundamental ways. This article explores both techniques critically, situating them within their historical contexts while examining their respective material demands, visual outcomes, and implications for the modern conservator and maker.

Seeking more experience in the conservation of easel paintings, I recently undertook a three-week placement with the conservation team at Brighton Pavilion. My training so far has been rooted in the conservation of flat painted surfaces—canvas, panel, and the associated materials of oil painting. This placement marked the first time I had worked intensively with gilded decorative objects, and the shift in scale, materiality, and context proved both challenging and rewarding.

It has recently been confirmed that Lincoln College will not be accepting new students onto its degree programme in Musical Instrument Craft at the Newark School of Violin Making for the 2025–26 academic year. This includes the violin, piano, guitar, and woodwind making pathways. The decision has serious implications not only for instrument making, but for conservation practice and heritage crafts more broadly. Once lost, these specialised skills are difficult to recover. Fine out what you can do to help.

There’s a certain irony to the way value is often discussed in the world of art. It’s almost always tied to price tags, auctions, headlines. When a long-lost painting is "rediscovered" and sold for millions, its value becomes unquestionable — as though its worth only existed once the number was attached. But for conservators, the job is never just about that number.

The recent success of AI in virtually unwrapping a 2,000-year-old scroll from Herculaneum has highlighted the incredible potential of technology in historical research. This scroll, charred beyond recognition by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, has long been considered too fragile to examine. However, a combination of X-ray imaging and AI has now allowed researchers to see inside the ancient document for the first time in millennia.

As a student in the conservation of easel paintings, I find it fascinating to see how AI is being used in ways that genuinely benefit historical research, rather than just serving as a source of online speculation and fearmongering. Much of the AI discourse is dominated by concerns about automation, job displacement, and the ethical dilemmas of deep learning. While these concerns are valid, stories like this remind us that AI can also be a powerful tool for preservation, rather than destruction.

The practice of restoring and retouching artworks occupies a contentious space defined by competing values—preservation versus aesthetics, authenticity versus unity, and historical accuracy versus artistic intent. As explored in Part 1, historical debates have long framed these tensions. In contemporary conservation, these issues persist, prompting ongoing critical reflection on both philosophical and ethical grounds.

The restoration of paintings, particularly the practice of retouching, has been a contentious topic in art history and conservation for centuries. How do we balance the preservation of an artist’s original vision with the necessity of compensating for losses caused by time, neglect, or damage? This dilemma has sparked debates that span the philosophical, practical, and ethical dimensions of art conservation.

This article, the first in a two-part series, delves into the historical development of retouching practices, tracing key moments, figures, and ideas that shaped how art has been restored throughout the centuries. As someone deeply fascinated by both the technical and ethical aspects of art conservation, I find it remarkable how many of our contemporary debates about authenticity and preservation echo discussions from centuries ago. This exploration of retouching's history reveals not only changing techniques but also evolving attitudes towards art's preservation and authenticity.

When I decided to pursue a career in art conservation, I wasn’t just signing up to fix paintings—I was choosing to become a steward of history. There’s something extraordinary about breathing life back into a work of art, peeling back the layers of time to uncover the artist’s original vision. These paintings hold so much more than their surface beauty; they carry stories, knowledge, and the essence of the world they were created in. Keeping them alive is my way of honoring the past and ensuring future generations can learn from these incredible artifacts.

Easel paintings, as complex composite structures, are vulnerable to various forms of degradation. The concept of the Ten Agents of Deterioration was first introduced in the 1990s by the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) and has since become a foundational framework in preventive conservation. Each agent represents a specific threat that can cause physical, chemical, or biological damage to paintings over time. This topic was brought up during my induction onto the Conservation of Easel Paintings MA course - and though I was was already somewhat familiar with them, I figured it was a good opportunity to revisit the topic and write about it. This article isn’t meant to be an exhaustive exploration, but rather an overview of how these agents apply specifically to easel paintings and their conservation, providing insight into their impact and the strategies conservators use to mitigate them.

Barnett Newman, a pivotal figure in Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting, created works that provoke both profound admiration and controversy. As a Jewish American artist, his contributions to modern art are notable for their emphasis on spirituality, simplicity, and the exploration of the sublime. Yet, his works have also been targets of vandalism, revealing deeper societal tensions and misunderstandings surrounding abstract art. This article delves into the instances of vandalism against Newman's paintings, exploring the motivations behind these acts, their impact on the art world, and the challenges of restoration.

The 20th century marked a pivotal era in the field of art conservation, presenting unprecedented challenges and spurring remarkable innovations. As artistic practices evolved rapidly and new materials emerged, conservators found themselves grappling with complex issues that demanded fresh approaches and methodologies. This article explores the key conservation challenges that arose during this transformative century and examines how the field adapted to meet these new demands.

In the world of art conservation, a groundbreaking development has emerged that promises to transform the way we approach the restoration of historic paintings. A team of researchers, in 2023, from King's College London and the University of Edinburgh has developed a novel technology that harnesses the power of fluorescence to remove the guesswork from painting conservation. This innovative approach, utilizing macroscopic fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), offers unprecedented accuracy in identifying and removing old varnish from paintings, potentially revolutionizing the field of art restoration.

Bitumen, also known as asphaltum or simply asphalt in some regions, is a naturally occurring, highly viscous form of petroleum. This complex hydrocarbon substance has been utilised by humans for millennia, with its applications ranging from construction and waterproofing to its use as a pigment in art. Bitumen's deep brown to black colouration and its ability to produce a glossy finish have made it an attractive option for artists throughout history.

The use of bitumen as a pigment dates back to prehistoric times, with evidence of its application found in cave paintings dating back tens of thousands of years. Ancient civilisations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley were among the first to exploit bitumen's versatile properties, using it not only in art but also for waterproofing, as a binding agent in construction, and even in early forms of mummification.

Art forgery involves creating and selling works of art that are falsely attributed to famous artists. This deceptive practice has profound implications for the art market, legal frameworks, cultural heritage, and scholarly research. This paper examines the dynamics of art forgery, analyzing its impact through various case studies and discussing the legal, ethical, and economic ramifications.

The restoration and conservation of celebrated works of art has always been a delicate balancing act. While the aim is to preserve and protect historical treasures for future generations, the question of how far restorers should go often leads to debate and controversy. Should the goal be to keep a work looking as close to its original state as possible, even if that means significant intervention? Or should priority be given to conserving the original materials and patina of age, even if flaws remain visible? As methods and ethics continue to evolve, many iconic restoration projects have sparked impassioned disagreement on this complex issue.

Artworks and cultural artifacts serve as a time capsule, allowing us to connect with cultures and people from the past. However, these irreplaceable objects are vulnerable to deterioration and damage over time from exposure, mishandling, disasters and more. Art conservation plays an indispensable role in preserving our shared cultural heritage by stabilizing, restoring and protecting artworks for future generations.

In this article, we’ll explore the multifaceted importance of art conservation and why it is essential for museums, collectors and the public to support conservation efforts.