Conservation Insights by Jenny Williamson BA(Hons) ACR FIIC

Conservation is an opportunity to get closer to a painting and may enable insights into its creation.

The first part of this lecture describes how key facts were established about an oil painting, dubiously catalogued as “Queen Anne as Princess” by Sir Peter Lely. The investigation began with the cleaning and restoration of the painting which provided an opportunity to take paint samples for analysis and to carry out art historical research, to help establish the identity of the artist and the sitter. A grant enabled this conservation project and the partnership of science and art to be showcased by telling the story of the work in a film, an exhibition and outreach material.

The second part will focus on the eight paintings by Sir Kyffin Williams in the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery which were restored for an exhibition on the occasion of the centenary of his birth. The paintings span his whole career and were all examined during the restoration process. Studying the materials used, his techniques, and the application of the paint gives insight into the development of his technique throughout his life.