Service

Conservation and restoration according to monument preservation and conservation aspects of:

• Canvas and panel paintings
• Monochrome and polychrome wooden sculptures
• Altars and sacred artefacts
• Icons
• Moulded surfaces
• Antique mirrors and picture frames

• Object examination, creation of UV and IR images, as well as RTG images
• Material analyses, e.g. pigments, dyes, binders
• Examination of colour settings and surfaces
• Damage mapping for the systematic and visual recording of damage, as well as restoration measures
• Untersuchung von Farbfassungen an denkmalgeschützten Bauobjekten
• Pest control in a controlled atmosphere 
• Documentation, photo documentation
• Authentication of the artworks
• Preparation of expertises and certificates of authenticity
• Inheritance counselling for estates
• Courier support, transport preparation and handling
• Making copies
• Reconstruction of historical versions

• Consultancy, valuation of works of art
• Art historical and stylistic classification
• Advice on the creation of restoration concepts
• Damage analyses, e.g. for transport or climatic damage
• Collaboration with renowned auction houses and art historians

• Personal receipt of orders placed
• Erstellung des schriftlichen Restoration concept including cost estimate
• Personal consultation in the studio or on site during the restoration process

• Training in preparation for a university degree programme

Collecting, researching, preserving and communicating - of these four tasks of a museum, the third - preservation - falls to the conservator.

Based on a wide-ranging technical and artistic education, a degree in art history and decades of experience, he makes a significant contribution to the preservation of works of art from all eras - including an Egyptian sarcophagus as well as a fat corner by Joseph Beuys. Perhaps the latter is the greater challenge.

Conservators are increasingly working in interdisciplinary teams that include art historians, chemists, architects and other specialists. This idea is well illustrated by the example of the restoration of a church encompassing all genres of art (architecture, sculpture, painting, decorative arts). Only the intermeshing of different competences ensures the greatest possible success.

In addition to preserving the substance of a work of art, the restorer is often faced with the task of compensating for losses, i.e. recreating damaged works of art. In addition to a precise knowledge of art history and works comparable to the object to be restored, this requires a high degree of empathy and craftsmanship. The greatest challenge is to put one's own design behind the creator's idea.

Faulty restorations often contribute to the accelerated deterioration of works of art. While substance destroyed in the course of such measures can only be recovered by replication, in other cases the careful reversal of the faulty restoration is the basis for the actual restoration of the art object.

Due to their versatile training and talents, many restorers also work as experts, publicists and artists.

Ludmila Henseler
Graduate restorer