Painting protection has a history of hundreds of years in Europe, and has experienced a long exploration and slow development. In the early days, people's understanding of restoration methods and materials was limited, and some painting protection techniques and measures are very primitive and incredible today. For example, until the early 20th century, many museums still used water and soap to scrub oil paintings, dipped oil paintings in linseed oil, or smeared pictures with butter, lard, industrial engine oil, beer and vaseline. , trying to restore the lost color. However, without the continuous efforts of predecessors for hundreds of years, many early oil paintings are difficult to spread to this day. Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece Mona Lisa has been restored more than 70 times. Obviously, everyone who repaired the painting is not satisfied with the work done by his predecessor. Looking back, I have been engaged in the restoration of oil paintings and paper artworks in the United States since 1985. Up to now, more than 200 oil paintings of/kloc-0 have been repaired, and more than 60% of them have traces of previous repairs. During World War II, a large number of oil paintings flowed into the United States, and a large number of experienced restoration workers also moved to the United States, which made the American art restoration industry develop rapidly. With the progress of science and the application of scientific instruments, people have an unprecedented understanding of the material and chemical structure of oil paintings through chemical analysis and with the help of new observation methods such as microscope, X-ray, ultraviolet ray, infrared ray and photography. Special equipment and tools, such as the hot vacuum table produced in 1950s, completely changed the traditional lining and shaping technology. The popularization and application of Beva emulsion in 1970s represented a new round of material innovation. In recent 20 years, painting protection has become a rapidly developing industry.

The establishment of international and regional professional associations has greatly promoted the exchange of technology and information. The International Association for the Protection of History, Culture and Art, including chapters in Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Austria, Spain and Japan, has more than 3,500 members. Among them, more than 800 individuals and institutions are engaged in painting protection. The American Society for the Protection of History, Culture and Art has more than 365,438+000 members, including more than 700 individual members engaged in painting protection and more than 50 members of professional organizations. There are more than 500 painting protection studios for individuals, museums, galleries and art colleges in the United States (more than 60 in new york alone), among which there are more than 40 large studios with 4 to 0 restorers. More than 40,000 oil paintings need to be repaired every year. Four institutions of higher learning offer painting protection courses and award degrees. Various professional associations and institutions hold more than 300 short-term courses, training courses and seminars every year, with more than 6,000 participants.

Compared with European and American countries, the history of oil painting in China is short, so the tradition of oil painting has not been restored. The works of the older generation of oil painters (mostly made between the Revolution of 1911 and the 1930s) are in poor condition, and some of them have reached an incredible level because they are so old that they have not been properly maintained for a long time. 100% These projects need to be repaired and rescued to varying degrees. However, from the founding of the People's Republic of China to the late Cultural Revolution, most oil paintings were destroyed because of the poor quality of the materials used. If measures are not taken to protect and repair them immediately, their life span is likely to be shorter. In addition, a considerable number of old and new oil paintings were damaged during the exhibition and transportation.

The importance and urgency of painting protection have begun to be paid attention to by all sides. Invited some foreign experts to give lectures in China and restored some oil paintings. However, it is not a long-term solution to invite experts from abroad to repair individual works. In addition to the high cost, there is also a lack of special facilities and equipment in China, which will definitely affect the quality of restoration. China needs to set up its own restoration studio and train its own restorers. Only with the talent training plan and mechanism can expert teaching receive the expected results. This is the primary task of developing painting protection in China. The national department in charge of cultural and cultural relics protection and the national education department should make long-term planning and investment, establish a systematic talent training mechanism, establish a mechanism for the development and supply of equipment and materials, establish professional research institutions including scientists, and organize fixed and regular internal and external exchanges.

The value of the works of deceased famous artists is getting higher and higher, and the number of artists and works is increasing, which determines that the demand for protection and restoration will be increasing, which is a long-term trend. Today, the absolute number of oil painters in China is probably more than any other country in the world, and more oil paintings are produced every day. The protection and restoration of oil paintings will become a permanent job. Considering that every oil painting will age sooner or later; Considering that modern oil painting uses a variety of different materials and material combinations, it is necessary to continuously develop new restoration materials and new restoration methods in the future; Considering that the manpower and time spent repairing an oil painting are often almost the same as those spent making an oil painting; Considering that it takes many years to train an experienced restorer, it is never too early to make comprehensive planning and investment from now on. Professionalism of painting protection

Painting protection has a strong professionalism. Because of its special use and performance, the materials used in painting protection, including surface coatings, adhesives, solvents, reinforcing and foil materials, fillers and auxiliary pigments, are different from traditional oil painting materials. The restoration materials shall be chemically stable, safe, effective and reversible, and shall not be mixed with the raw materials after use, which will not affect the stability of the raw materials and the original appearance of the restored oil painting. The equipment, tools and operation methods used are also different from oil painting. In the past 20 years, the technology and materials in painting protection have developed rapidly, the general trend is more and more professional and scientific, and the professional requirements for restorers in all aspects are getting higher and higher. Incorrect and unprofessional repairs often cause irreparable losses to oil paintings and bring trouble to future repairs. Therefore, the work of restoring oil paintings should be undertaken by trained professional restoration workers.

It is worth mentioning that it often happens in China that when dealing with oil paintings with peeling colors, artists are invited to fill them with oil paints. Such treatment may temporarily meet the visual requirements, but it is not desirable. The correct method first requires eliminating the causes of color peeling and fixing the loose pigment layer so that the same situation will not occur in other parts of the picture. At the same time, you should absolutely avoid using oil painting pigments to make up the color. Oil painting pigments will change hue during drying, and it is not easy to remove them after drying, which will definitely bring more difficulties to the future repair work.