He knows every crack in the skin of the painting. He knows the “wrinkles”. He spent hours “communicating” with him, until the moment when he saw him hanging on the wall. The points of joy in the eyes are different from all the others. It is both visible and hidden, because he knows all the “secrets” and knows what others cannot know. When a painting exhibition opens, especially a retrospective, the visitors adore the artist, congratulate the curator for the concept and the work done, but very little occurs to them that behind the “spectacle” are several people, who have worked for months, for the works to come in the standard, to face the public. The exhibition opened a few days ago, at the National Art Gallery, with the works of the painter and photographer, Kola Idromeno, encouraged us to look beyond the appearance. Anyone who knows the work of Idromenos, knows very well that time has left deep traces on the works, even many eyes were surprised at the opening of the exhibition. Thanks to the work of the Restoration Sector, the works have taken on a new dimension for the public. All have undergone aesthetic intervention, while some of them, a restoration and consolidation work. A job that has lasted for months, to prolong the life of some works, which presented serious problems. Restaurateur Olsi Laska, Head of the Conservation and Restoration Sector, at the GKA, tells us the “hints” of the Kola Idromenos exhibition, the interventions made by the restoration specialists, the difficulties encountered along the way, the satisfaction when you see a finished work, but also the next challenges. Let’s reveal some crafting secrets….

 

What is the work that has tired you the most?

For the restorer, every work of art has its values and importance. The work “When the devil enters the house” took us more time, due to the many problems it had and its large size. This work, when it came to the Gallery in 1994, was folded, almost the size of an A4 format. In those years, a conservation intervention was made with the conditions and materials of the time, which saved the work from the fall of the color pellicle. This was a work like a “puzzle”. We had to pick up the pieces, put them together. It was a challenge for us and we are proud to have achieved this result.

Where did your intervention consist?

First, the remnants of the Japanese paper and adhesives used from the previous interventions were removed, the canvas (doubler) that was attached to the back, the adhesives, the adhesives, the stitches with the cloth were removed… Then the work was placed on a temporary frame and the entire surface it was covered with Japanese paper and “rabbit” glue. The back of the work was painted with red paint, which kept the canvas stiff and wrinkled. The paint did not allow the canvas to stretch and also prevented a good, strong bond with the new canvas, which made our job even more difficult. We decided to remove the paint manually, with a scalpel and sandpaper. It was a very delicate job, as we had to be very careful not to damage the primer and the paint film. After the back of the work was cleaned of paint and various impurities, the canvas was completely loosened and all wrinkles were ironed out. Then the work was placed on the new canvas, which was pre-treated and stretched on the aluminum chassis, which serves for duplicating the works. All the work was done manually by the three specialists of our sector, without the help of the vacuum table, which is used in these procedures. The scope of the work is made of iron. We worked together to iron it out, taking turns. In the end, we managed to successfully close the conservation part of the painting, since for the size of the work and for the conditions of the GKA, it was a challenge for our sector.

What other works presented similar problems?

The same process happened with the “Portrait of Mati Kodheli” and the work “Portrait of the Old Man”, which we have not yet identified. We expect that these days, there may be some reaction to identify him. Both of these works presented more or less the same problems. Even in Mikel Prenushi’s book from 1984, these damages are found, which have continued until today.

When do these works date?

According to Idromeno publications, “Portret Plaku” is a 100-year-old work. “Portrait of Mati Kodheli” belongs to the year 1881, while the year of the work “When the devil enters the house” was not known, as it was covered with paint, but it came out during the restoration process. It is a work of 1899.

For a restorer, where is the most difficulty, when handling a portrait or a landscape, composition…?

In portraits, the difficulty is related to the restoration technique itself, since in them, the restorer does not have to express himself. If you do not know the image, you cannot create according to your imagination. In these cases, it is always done with dashes (rigatino), or with neutral tones. The work is read from a distance, but if you get closer, the intervention is noticeable. The restorer should not come to the point of imitating the artist and inserting himself. In the two works I mentioned above, we managed to bring them to a good state. It is true that there is loss and falling of the film, but they are not a problem for the condition, the work is conserved. Even for another 50 or 100 years, these works will not have problems if they are stored in good conditions against humidity, temperature and thermal agents. As for the aesthetic part, we have to decide what attitude we will take. At this point we will see the reaction of the public, colleagues and art researchers and at the end of the exhibition, see if we will intervene on the aesthetic side or if we will leave Idromeno with the marks left by time, which are already part of of the history of the work.

Have all the works of this exhibition passed into your hands?

Most of these works have gone through the aesthetic process, that of making them accessible. We have thought that even next year, the works of Idromeno will continue the restoration process. We have some works, such as “View from Ulqin” or “Shkodra Wedding”, which have been left for later, as they present other problems. When a work has been previously interfered with, the responsibility is greater than with intact works, because the materials used must be evaluated and tested, whether these interventions should be removed or not. So we also left them for a second moment.

How many years have you been involved in restoration?

It’s been 10 years already. I was fortunate to attend the School of Restoration, developed by UNESCO, at the Institute of Cultural Monuments, in 2009-2010. I call it luck, because we worked with specialists selected by UNESCO and with the techniques and materials of the time.

It must be a profession that requires a lot of patience and time…

Patience in our profession is part of the work, which begins with preliminary research, photographing all stages, consolidation, cleaning and the aesthetic stage. Each of these stages has its own importance. Cleaning is very delicate, as you have to be careful in removing layers of varnish, veils and dirt on the work. The manual part that is performed with a scalpel requires a lot of care, using a lens and microscope depending on the intervention, also the chemical-physical part requires knowledge and care. Everything is in moderation. The aesthetic part is as beautiful as it is delicate, because it is the last stage of the restoration and what is there will be seen by the public. Every 15-20 minutes you have to rest your eyes and come back and see the work with a fresh eye, but we also have to check and take care of our colleagues.

It’s a piece of work, but when you bring a work to light there should be a lot of fun, right?

The cool part is when you show people the finished work. Of course, when a visitor comes to the exhibition, he does not know how the work was before. For example, in the case of the painting “Portrait of the Old Man”, the visitors will surely deal with the “dots” in the painting, but if they knew how it was before, they certainly would not deal with them. In the case of “When the devil enters the house”, we did not manage to enter the aesthetic part, as it requires perhaps a year of work to fill the cracks. We decided that the stucco would be colored dark brown, almost black, so that the light of the painting would stand out and the image of the work would be read. This is the technique used in such cases. It is an attitude held by restaurateurs. The public has the opportunity to read the work, the artist, while the work of the restorer is separate from the work. Now we have to decide if we should leave the work as it is, or if the restorer will come in and complete it with a lower tone or with dashes. This technique allows the whole picture to be read, but up close they are visible.

A little while ago you said that the works, in which it was intervened earlier, present more difficulties, especially in the absence of the relevant files. How important is documenting the restoration process?

For conservation and restoration, photographic documentation and intervention diary is a process that is as beautiful as it is important. Beautiful, because along it, a comparison is made between photographs, how it was and how it is. While the documentation in the conservation-restoration cards, where all problems and interventions are noted, is equally necessary, since and after many years, other restorers will not waste time doing tests like us, but they will have to documented all interventions, materials, in the works cards. The restoration materials are reversible, which can be removed even after many years, just as they were applied.

What is the next challenge for your sector?

The work “Two roads” is the next challenge for our sector, a painting that came from the “Oso Kuka” Museum and will undergo restoration together with the painting “Shkodrane Wedding”.