Conservation vs. Restoration

John Reid from OzFilm has written two excellent articles on linenbacking:

http://www.ozefilm.com/linen-backed-movie-posters/

http://www.ozefilm.com/linen-backing-movie-posters/

The first article questions the use of wheat paste as an adhesive in restoration. The second article suggests some separation between conservation and restoration.

First, I want to strongly state that wheat paste (conservation grade – highly refined) should be the preferred adhesive for any support work that is done with conservation as a priority.

Let me say it again in case you missed it:

Wheat paste should be the preferred adhesive for any support work that is done with conservation as a priority.

But for the focus of this post, I want to clarify two words that often get mixed together: conservation and restoration.

UFC 9 Gallery

Experiment with Fixatives

One of the most coveted secrets (or widely not mentioned to customers) of linenbackers/restorers from the ‘make it perfect’ school, is the application of a fixative after in-painting. Fixative allows a restorer to even out the finish across an entire poster producing a better result visually. So you may ask ‘What is the big deal?’…

Fixative is not easily reversible!

Once it is applied it can not be removed with out solvents. Which in most cases, if a removal attempt is made, the action will remove the underlying ink of the original printing as well – damaging the poster.

Here is an example of what fixative can do for a poster that has been restored.