painting restorations for the reopening of the neue

Painting Restorations for the Reopening of the Neue Nationalgalerie

The relocation and exhibition of the art works in the Neue Nationalgalerie’s presentation The Art of

Society provided the initiative for the conservation and restoration of some 34 paintings and one

piece of sculpture currently on display. This work was undertaken not only to best present the works

in a pristine condition but above all, to conservationally secure some of the most important and

unique works of art.

From both art historical and art technological perspectives, the versatility of art at the beginning of

20th century was unlike that of any other epoch of our time. The transition from traditional methods

and workshop practices to a freer working style, with artists employing the most diverse of

techniques, materials and styles, pose particular challenges for contemporary conservators.

Undertaking such a task demands both a well-trained eye and meticulous investigative research. The

boundaries between an artist’s work and alterations by the artist or others are often blurred or

cannot be immediately discerned.

Painting in this period was characterised by abstract compositions, multistage creation processes, the

use of new, commercially available products, the joy in experimentation as well as the employment

of unusual material combinations. Consequently, it cannot be ruled out that phenomena related to

painting techniques may already have led to changes or damage in the art works, not to mention

improper handling and/or later revisions, reworkings and restorations. An in-depth analysis of the

various components of a work is essential for its conservation and restoration.

The Conservation Department at the Neue Nationalgalerie ‒ Hana Streicher, Ina Hausmann and Ella

Dudew ‒ used current art technological methods to analyse the works and devise appropriate

conservation measures. In the execution, the Conservation Department was assisted in part by

freelance restorers. Three of the restorations were made possible through the generous support of

the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung (Natalia Goncharova and Sascha Wiederhold) and the Herman

Reemtsma Stiftung (Wilhelm Lehmbruck).

All of the restored paintings and Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s sculpture can be viewed in the exhibition,

where they shine once again in their former/new-found glory.

A small selection of works conserved and restored for the exhibition The Art of Society:

Erich Buchholz, Blutgesang (Ströme) (Blood Song), 1920, oil on canvas, 148 x 148 cm

Conservation treatment: Catherina Blohm

Consolidation, surface cleaning, filling, retouching, reframing

Robert Delaunay, Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower), 1928, oil on canvas, 364 x 266.5 cm

Conservation treatment: Hana Streicher, Ina Hausmann

Detailed art technological examination, consolidation, surface cleaning, regeneration of the

finish, retouching; (see separate summary)

Natalia Goncharova, Die Uhr (The Clock), 1910, oil on canvas, 105 x 79 cm

Conservation treatment: Anke Klusmeier, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung

Consolidation, surface cleaning, filling, retouching, reframing

George Grosz, Stützen der Gesellschaft (Pillars of Society), 1926, oil on canvas, 200 x108 cm

Conservation treatment: Barbara Hausmann

Consolidation, surface cleaning, filling, retouching

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Atelierecke (Studio Corner), 1919‒20, oil on canvas, 126 x 121 cm

Conservation treatment: Felicitas Klein


Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Porträt Erna Schilling (Portrait of Erna Schilling), 1913, oil on canvas,

71.5 x 60.5 cm

Conservation treatment: Hana Streicher


Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Der Belle-Alliance-Platz in Berlin (The Belle-Alliance-Platz in Berlin),

1914, oil on canvas, 96 x 85 cm

Conservation treatment: Anke Klusmeier


Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Rheinbrücke in Köln (Bridge Over the Rhine in Cologne), 1914, oil on

canvas, 120.5 x 91 cm


Painting on the backside of the canvas, partial restreching, consolidation, surface cleaning,

filling, retouching

Max Pechstein, Am Strand von Nidden (On the Beach at Nidden), 1911, oil on canvas,

50 x 65 cm

Conservation treatment: Catherina Blohm


Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Selbstbildnis mit Einglas (Self-Portrait with Monocle), 1910, oil on

canvas, 84 x 76.5 cm



Sascha Wiederhold, Bogenschützen (Archers), 1928, oil on cardboard on canvas, 204 x 240 cm

Conservation treatment: Roeck Restaurierung, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung

Consolidation, surface cleaning, filling, retouching, installation of oscillation protection

Emil Nolde, Papua-Jünglinge (Papuan Boys), 1914, oil on canvas, 70 x 103.5 cm



Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Torso der Knienden (Torso of the Kneeling Woman), 1911‒13, plaster on

cement, 156 x 71 x 23 cm

Conservation treatment: Wolfgang Maßmann, Nina Wegen, funded by the Hermann

Reemtsma Stiftung

Reassembly of this sculpture severely damaged by a fall; (see separate summary)

© Photo: Germaine Krull © SMB, Nationalgalerie. Photo: Ina Hausmann © SMB, Nationalgalerie. Photo: Hana Streicher

© SMB, Nationalgalerie, Foto: Ina Hausmann

CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION

Robert Delaunay, Eiffel Tower, 1928, oil on canvas

Summary

Robert Delaunay created the large-format painting Eiffel Tower, the last in a series, in Paris in 1928.

Depicting the Eiffel Tower in Paris in blazing colour and from a bird’s eye view, it was inspired by

photographs taken from aeroplanes. The Eiffel Tower becomes practically a rocket, seeming to launch

from the earth. An advanced state of ageing, numerous revisions, soiling and previous restorations, as

well as a now cloudy finish, prompted the conservation and restoration of the painting to ensure its

prominent inclusion in the Neue Nationalgalerie’s inaugural reopening exhibition.

Due to surface soiling and the

partially milky (blanched) and irregularly applied finish coating that covered this colourful work like a

grey smear, the painting exhibited an overall diffuse and noticeably uneven surface optic. There were

numerous areas with layers of lifting paint across the work’s entire surface.

The restoration objective was to secure all areas of flaking paint layers to prevent future losses and to

give the painting a cohesive and visually aesthetic overall impression.

The measures were accompanied by extensive art-technological

examinations such as macro and microscopic inspections under

visible light as well as UV excitation, sampling and analyses.

Robert Delaunay at work on Eiffel

Tower, 1928. Photo: Germaine

Krull

Hana Streicher during

restoration of Robert

Delaunay’s Eiffel Tower

The work environment for the

restoration of Robert

Delaunay’s Eiffel Tower

Cleavage and lifting paint layers before (above) and after (below)

consolidation Intermediate stage of surface cleaning

© SMB, Nationalgalerie. Photos: Hana Streicher

Overall view under ultraviolet light

The deterioration of the finishing coat or varnish (known as blanching) appears opaque white and can,

in some cases, be regenerated with the help of solvents. Such interventions must be carefully

considered to achieve the desired effect and avoid any damage to the original substance. In

Delaunay’s Eiffel Tower, the original appearance was severely distorted by soiling and blanching.

Thanks to the measures carried out by the restorer, the painting has regained its readability.

Detail, showing clear streaks in the finish

Detail with blanching before (left) and after (right) the

regeneration

Detail with blanching before (up)

and after (down) the

regeneration

Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Torso der Knienden, 1911–13

A restoration of the Wilhem Lehmbruck’s Torso der Knienden (Torso of the Kneeling Woman), which a museum visitor accidently knocked over at the Alte Nationalgalerie in July 1989, was initially considered unpromising. The fall had caused immense and presumably irreparable damage to the sculpture. The challenge lay in the complicated nature of the damage occurrence due to the artwork’s technological peculiarities and unusual combination of different materials. Nonetheless, on the basis of various preliminary investigations a concept for finding an aesthetically acceptable solution that considered the work’s production technology and corresponded to its previous sculptural condition was developed and partially implemented beginning in 1990‒91. Due to restructuring resulting from German reunification, the restoration measures could not be continued in the years that followed. It was not until 2020‒21 that it became possible to complete the restoration of this exceptional statue thanks to generous financial support from the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung.

Project management/restoration: Wolfgang Maßmann, head of the Restoration Department, Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities) Restoration: Nina Wegel, freelance conservator

1. Damage assessment immediately after the accident. Due to the sculpture’s composition consisting of an outer monochrome-coloured plaster layer supported by reinforced concrete, the impact caused deformation, with cracks in the hard substructure and fractures in the soft outer layer.

2. Using an X-ray in their efforts to realign the scupture’s skewed form, restorers were able cut into the reinforcement system, which had been distorted by compression and stretching; loosen some areas of the concrete together with the ajoining plaster layer; and divide the torso into three large parts for futher handling.

4. In addition to joining the sculpture’s three larger sections, fragments of different sizes had to be remapped, glued from the reverse, and – depending on the material thickness – stabilised or laminated with a new support layer. The base post also had to structurally renewed because of its rusted reinforced steel.

© F

oto

: K

arin M

ärz

, B

erlin

1989

© F

oto

: N

ina W

egel, B

erlin

2020

3. The condition of the lower section of the body, including new stainless-steel reinforcement bars for connecting it to the upper portion of the body, and a larger fragment of the back prior to the steps undertaken in 2020–21.

5. Cleaning the sculpture and improving its stability were accompanied by final measures that included sealing its surface, filling in missing fragments, and retouching the repairs to match the original colouration.© Photo: Karin März, Berlin, 1989

6. It was possible to restore this important sculpture by Wilhelm Lehmbruck and to make it accessible to visitors again. © Photo: Nina Wegel, Berlin

© F

oto

: W

olfgang M

aß

mann, B

erlin

1990

© F

oto

: A

ndre

s K

ilger,

Berlin

2021

© F

oto

: N

ina W

egel, B

erlin

2020

© F

oto

: N

ina W

egel, B

erlin

2020

painting restorations for the reopening of the neue

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