On August 4, Ian Hodkinson will fly to Saskatoon for a four-day visit to study the murals. Professor Hodkinson's resume is very impressive, as former Head of the Conservation Centre for the National Trust for Scotland, Head of the Restoration and Conservation Laboratories of the National Gallery of Canada and Director of the Master of Art Conservation Program at Queen's University. His achievements include restoration of medieval and renaissance murals and painted ceilings in Scotland, transfer of the historic Croscup Room from Nova Scotia to the National Gallery of Canada, consultation on mural restoration at Trinity Church in Boston, and restoration of the Constantino Brumidi frescoes in the Senate Appropriations Committee Room in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.
We are honoured that Mr. Hodkinson has agreed to assist us with this project. We are also grateful for his generous offer to contribute the report free of charge. His report will discuss the feasibility and methodology for saving the murals. It will also provide guidance for more rudimentary preservation methods which might be employed in the event that funding is not available in time for a complete professional removal of the art. The costs for his visit have been generously underwritten by the University of Saskatchewan and his lodging provided thanks to the Delta Bessborough.
The Filipino Mural
This mural, painted in acrylic on plywood by artist David Ibarreta, had been located on the N.E. corner of 20th Street and Avenue E since 1995, until it was accidentally overpainted in 2009. We hope to recreate it and find it a new permanent home.
Past Project
Located on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 22nd Street, the 72 ft high "Founders" mural, by artist Henry van Seters, features the portraits of seven city leaders during Saskatoon's first boom period. The mural was sponsored by Heritage Canada through the Cultural Capitals program.
Perehudoff Visits Murals
We had many visitors today to see the finished murals including the press, the Mayor, City Councilors, directors of the Mendel, U of S, and Dorothy Knowles. It was a great day, capped off by a visit by William Perehudoff himself!
Attention to Detail
The restoration team is made up of (left to right) Ian Hodkinson, Angela Christie, Jillian Cyca, and Brenda Lee Smith (not in photo). They are working hard to have the murals restored and assembled for the showing scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 17. Ian often starts work as early as 5AM and continues into the late afternoon or evening.
Fish Glue
The city staff at the sign shop have been incredibly generous with their time and space. They printed the above sign (background) for the entrance of the work space.
Print #2 - Combo
Numbered silkscreen prints by artist Henry van Seters are available for sale at the Mendel Gift Shop. These 19" x 26" prints, on archival artist papers, were made with hand-cut stencils. They are available in a strictly limited edition of 200 each with all plates destroyed. All money received will go toward funding the restoration. Excess funds, if any, will be used by Mendel’s Murals to support public art in Saskatoon.
Experiments
Ian spent a great deal of time since last fall experimenting to determine the best way to mount the images. He performed his experiments on this test mural which he built from the same plaster and fresco materials as Perehudoff's murals.
The Next Critical Process
A vacuum is used to apply even pressure, then a heat blanket (red) activates the bonding agent.
Mayor Removes Last Mural
Mayor Don Atchison came to see the final mural stripped from the wall and was put to work on the scaffold.
CBC Interview
Ian does phone interview for CBC "As It Happens".
The Process - Codfish Glue
Ian and Brenda paint cod fish glue onto the wall.
Canvas Glued to Wall
Two layers of light canvas are layered into the wet glue of the last mural.
Image Peels Off
Brenda, Jillian and Ian peel a mural onto a carboard roll.
Ghost Fresco
After the image is peeled off only a ghost image remains where the pigment bled deeply into the plaster.
Scraping
Team scrapes plaster remnants off the back of the image before primer is applied.
Apply Fiberglass Resin
A tough job requires tough art conservators.
Signature Discovered
In October Ian made an important discovery when he removed the baseboards of the room. He was hoping for clues to explain how Perehudoff had once overpainted the fresco with acrylic paint. Behind one of the baseboards he found Perehudoff's original signature with two dates: 1953 and 1977. This solved the mystery of when the second paint application had occurred. The second painting was very similar to the first, however some colours were changed and some shapes were simplified. A third layer seems to also have been painted in limited areas.
Filipino Mural
This summer a mural was ruined which had been very important to the Filipino community in Saskatoon. The painting, by artist David Ibarreta, had been located on the corner of 20th Street and Avenue E. Ian spent time during November testing a sample of the mural to determine if there was an efficient method to strip off the over-paint so that their mural could be restored. Early tests seemed to indicate that it could be restored at minimal cost using a method very similar to what is being done with the Perehudoff murals (see photo). However subsequent tests have not worked as well. The panels have now been put into storage until additional tests can be performed.
Mendel's Other Gallery
Mendel created a world class gallery on the upper floor of his factory. The room which houses the murals was originally a reception room for that gallery. The murals are visible through the open door at the left. (see detailed article at bottom of this blog).