Smoke Damaged Oil Paintings, Antiques and Treasured Memorabilia Require

An Expert– Carmel, Monterey

Get An Expert’s Advice and Professional Support

By Annia Bonifaz, Guest Blogger

The disaster response company or

restoration company may be good

with your patio furniture but they know nothing

nor are they trained to handle valuable, fragile,

old items like paintings, collectibles and

antiques. Tip #1 As soon as you can think

clearly, you should ask them who is the expert

that is going to clean up these types of items!

Restoration of smoke damaged art, antiques

and paintings is an important job with which

you will require expert, professional advice and help.

Photo- Badly smoked office with artwork

This article tells about a couple of recent true-life stories designed to save you tons of $

and distress. Take the coaching to heart and plan ahead to avoid bigger problems if

you have the misfortune to have to deal with this situation (act... don’t react!).

The problem is aggravated, especially, if you have in your possession the property of

others (artwork on consignment, for example). Actually, both of these stories tell of

a fire NEXT door that affected the art collection in question.

1st Story (Take note if you live in a condo or have art located in a business)

After the fire, a new roof on the old building was required. This obviously affected

everyone under the roof. Even though the artwork in question next door to the fire

was not damaged in the fire, the clean up and repairs were going to impact the art

gallery. As the landlord and roofing company planned the work, it was clear they

had no idea about protecting artwork or the value... and therefore the potential

liability. (1st tip) It was the responsibility of the lessee to inform them of the

precautions that needed to be taken!! In this case, the gallery owner had an art

conservator that he knew and he related the detailed instructions and precautions

to the roofing company... who ignored him. The response was, “This isn’t our first

rodeo, we’ve done this before and know what we are doing.” Fortunately, the gallery

owner did not back down and read the “riot act” to him, let him know he was going

to be liable and related the dialog to the landlord. This up front dialog with all

concerned (and a threatened law suit up front), saved the gallery owner the cost of a

massive clean up when the roofing project “didn’t go the way the roofing company

thought” which was a $25K bill plus reimbursement for downtime. (2nd tip) A

specialized professional in the gallery owner’s pocket gave him credibility.

2nd Story

Just this morning, as I was writing this article, I got a phone call from a gallery in

New York (I’m in CA). The fire next door to him smoked his inventory badly. He got

lucky and was being assisted by the disaster response company, ServPro who had

declined to handle and clean the artwork admitting that the liability was too high

and that artwork is not within their training. Interestingly, when a company says

this to a client, it inspires the client to believe that the contractor tells him the truth

and can be trusted! (Tips #3) The gallery owner was doing exactly the right thing

by searching out a professional art conservator with disaster response

experience. The art conservator that he knew didn’t know anything about disaster

response (handling lots of objects (possibly damaged) all at once which includes

packing, safe handling, safe storage practices and may include handling items

exposed to toxic materials). In our phone conversation I referred him to the website

for the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC)

which has a referral program for someone closest to him.

Left photo – During removal of smoke damage...

Right photo – After cleaning, it regained 100% of its original value and is in perfect condition.

As an example of the capabilities of a high quality art conservation lab, the above

photo shows a painting that was written off by the insurance company as a total

loss, but was beloved by the owner. Fortunately, the disaster response company

(ServPro) realized that they did not have the expertise to clean the artwork and

didn’t muck around with futile attempts. Fine Art Conservation Laboratories is

specialized in the handling, evaluating, testing and cleaning of artwork. This photo is

a during cleaning shot. The final result was perfect with little or no inpainting

(retouching) required. Obviously, the painting conservators were heroes for the

clients and ServPro!

Here is an article from an Insurance Broker who specializes in Fine Art and Antiques

policies with tips in filing a claim:

http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/insurance/smoke-damage-on-collectibles-

heirlooms-and-antiques-tips-for-making-an-insurance-claim/

Left - After the fire and smoked damaged oil painting was cleaned by a restorer who

didn’t know anything about the proper techniques of removing smoke damage from

valuable and sensitive art.

Right - After it was cleaned a second time by Fine Art Conservation Laboratories.