Because of this nylon gossamer, I can’t use the biological nanobots I would use on a well-preserved painting, so I’m going to try using these old mechanical nanobots, but they are going to be much, much slower.
It'll be a lot easier than the old old conservation methods to remove because everything is reversible and it's all written down somewhere, despite that, 1,000,000% yes. Conservation has developed so much in these 200 years and the speed of innovation is always rapidly increasing
@@StoicTheGeek If these techniques won't be considered a well-preserved painting in 200 years then who's doing 2020s-era restoration significantly better? They need to start a RUclips channel
What Julian really wanted to say: "The painting and the sitter look wonderful, and I'd say we've cleaned up this mess. Except for that haircut. Not even I can fix that disaster."
@nikibordeaux agreed, but it's how sharp-edged and square the patch is. It makes it look intentional. If it were a little wispy and looked like natural hair loss it would be fine.
Deluding ... you shouldn't forget / ignore his attempts to appease his false gods / future [or current] employers by deluding his viewers. The heat table didn't come into it until after the foam was removed and he smelled "something familiar" ... and yet, whilst using the heat table to remove the last layer of board, he claims that he didn't use the heat table whilst the foam was still on the board because the foam is an insulator. That's when I quit the video, because I'm sick of / done being being misled by misleaders / deluded by deluders. I was seriously tempted to quit when the solvents started pumping nasty chemicals into the air without a mention.
It is always funny when you are retourching and I mentally go "way too yellow" or "way too red" or such, and then a second later you are going over it again and I just go "nevermind it's good now."
Just like watching Bob Ross and he decides to use let's say Crimson as a base for the snow, and you are like "What are you doing Bob, red for snow?" but then a few minutes later after he adds some more details you are all like "Bob, you son of a mother, you have done it again" - leaving him with a beautiful landscape ... which he grabs the dark colors and installs a HUGE tree trunk over all that lovely work and you are once again like "BOB NO you have ruined it" but then he gives his happy chonkin tree a friend (because we all need friends) and somehow it brings the whole painting together and gives it MILES of depth and all you can do is sit there in amazement realizing that you are NOT the master!
@@lerkzor I'm literally an artist and I do this. I'll watch people do oil or gouache paintings and I'm going "ew, why rust for your base?" and yet they make the most perfect winter landscape or field of grass over it.
@@lerkzor This is so accurate. Every single time I watch a Bob Ross video I'm like "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE BOB?!" and then a minute later I'm like "Oh jk nvm." 😂 You'd think I'd know better by now, but nope.
I thought the exact same thing. It seems “off” at first but within the next 1-2 strokes everything just has harmony. Just a testament to his talent and hard work!
my jaw dropped seeing the overpainting come off, showing how much of the subtle shading had been hidden. The rim light around the neck and chin, the attention to the colors of the lighting on the shirt and the details on the eyes, in an attempt to preserve the art the skill of the original artist was obscured
I agree with you completely. And what a difference between eyebrows painted by an artist and a low-grade conservator (who may have used a black marker pen) 😮😂
My dear friend who died last year used to love watching your videos whilst he was ill. We both love art and he would tell me to watch...I now have and I think it is because this young man looks a little like my friend. Wonderful and magical work. I have now subscribed.
I am slowly losing my eyesight and I have been watching his videos for a couple of years and I just wanted to say I think he should read books on tape like an audible and also I think he should do graphic novels on tape like an audible because his voice is so soothing. It's so entertaining that even though I cannot see. The artwork very well.I still watch his videos or should I say listen to his videos because they are soothing and amusing and very informative
it's pretty bad when just removing the previous touchups and grime left it looking a thousand times better than whoever worked on it prior, Cracks and all. Your restoration afterword was just phenomenal.
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 I am waiting for you doing better job then and film it the same way. Anyway, have some good wishes as people depressed and frustrated are usually less likely of spreading good energy and more likely to leave hating comments. May your live be full of love, joy and satisfaction. May your relations with yourself and others be healthy. May you have a peace in your heart so even if things are heavy and difficult to bear, you still feel good inside.
@@kolejnytrup He's bitter cuz he's the guy who filled in with tape and glued on foam-board, according to another comment of his. Not sure whether I believe the claim or not, but hoooboy.... is he delusional if he thinks his work is up to par. Just because he didn't use wood glue to attach the foam board doesn't make it right, even if the foam board is acid free (which I doubt). And the man clearly doesn't know how to varnish a painting. That was ridiculously thick. And the nail in the coffin.... He did NOT clean the painting before retouching/varnishing. Wtf. Basic principle in ANY trade. At the very LEAST, the owners of the painting were so dissatisfied with the work that they had it reconserved at considerable cost, because all this overpaint probably glowed under UV and thus seriously devalued the painting. Not to mention that the face looked disturbingly smoothed over - it was just creepy without the shading from the original artist.
@@RochelleHasTooManyHobbiesEven in a completely unrelated field (soldering and repairing electronics) the first thing you do before doing anything is clean it! It's insane to me that somebody wouldn't think to clean something before trying to fix it...
Great rescue job! You know, this artist was not what you'd call an 'Old Master', but you treated the painting with the same respect and care that you'd give a Rembrandt.
I had my classic "reveal" look, 😯 but with an addition of a hand pressed to the center of my chest. The eyes! Oh I wish Julian would paint something, anything. He truly has a master's touch. 😘🤌🏻
The fact that he thinks of the next person who will have the privilege of conserving this painting in the future speaks volumes of his character. He takes the time to not only appreciate the painting and to make it whole again, but he also takes the time to make sure that with each painting, the next conservator has an easier time conserving each and every piece
he’s thinking of the next guy because he’s someone else’s next guy. it’s righting the wrongs of the previous restorer’s work both in their craft and possible lack of empathy for the next restorer
@@kettleworks He's also properly looking after the painting itself past his own limited window of experience: if the painting is preserved in a way that makes the next person's job less of a mare, it stands a better chance not to be damaged in the process in the future.
@@kettleworks I was the previous guy. Nothing wrong with my work this guy is over dramatic and adds many "problems" for views and effect. I'm one of the best restoeres in the US
Not character as much as craftsmanship - that is the duty of EVERY conservator. Everything they do should be easily reversible, so as not to stress the painting when their work inevitably fails in 200 years (because adhesive always fails eventually).
I'm a wood and furniture conservator in training, and I have found that this only has served to increase my appreciation for the paintings folk. All that time we spend practicing joinery and our plethora of other skills, all that time the paintings students down the hall are focusing on things like these. The apparent ease with which you perform your craft speaks volumes: you are a master at work. My hat's off to you sir.
Do you mind if I ask which state you're in? I've really wanted to get into furniture restoration, but finding a place with an open apprenticeship has been... uh... Well, I haven't found any. I think I must be looking in the wrong place.
@@RochelleHasTooManyHobbies I don't mind the question at all! Unfortunately I'm not based in the US, as is implied from your question, but rather halfway across the world where I'm attending the University of Amsterdam's Conservation and Restoration programme. I'm not sure if you have the prerequisite background for a university conservator training, but I'll ask around for places that actually offer this degree in the US. I don't think I can be of much help in finding an apprenticeship position, but I would nevertheless like to wish you all the luck in the world in getting one. I hope you'll be able to realise the dream of becoming a fine furniture conservator.
You appear to have the 5 things an true art restorer needs: patience, knowledge of materials and equipment, a meticulous attention to detail, an innate ability to see what a painting was meant to be, and the talent to bring it all together as if you were the original artist. After the much publicized fiascos of some restorations, you have opened my eyes to how true artists in their field are able to bring a painting back to its original form. Kudos!
I was looking for this I’m glad I’m not alone 😂 I heard that and I’m also like “they had the audacity to disgrace such a painting by putting on FOAMBOARD!?!?!1!!1!,” 💀
Seeing this restored to a simple but dignified portrait from what was basically a cartoon is honestly more satisfying than some of the restorations you do on master works.
It’s truly frustrating to see people not respect a intricate skill/craft like this, this is my first time watching your videos but I’m so happy to see you giving true love to what once was and bringing life back into it with such careful consideration and tedious work. Bravo my friend, subscribed 🤍🔒
and a bit discusting at first! He seemed to have gotten the habg of it fairly quick tho with scrapers and by going rectangular to maximize the use of the right tool, scraper. Imagine if the foam board had only been foam, without the board to protect the canvas...
@b0rd3n I see how it can look gross too. Personally, I enjoy slightly messy things, so I loved it! I'm sure if there was exposed canvas without the second board, he would have considered that in the approach.
something i think is really neat is that in this video in particular, when julian applies the final varnish, because of the way the light is shining on the painting in the shot you can really see the way that the light hitting the painting changes as he brushes out the varnish and the varnish dries!
just after the cleaning alone his face looked so much brighter..once you filled in all those spots he was one again with the canvas...thank you for having the ability to refreshen these paintings and to make them viewable again for further generations....
Wow! I couldn’t have matched those colors so well with Photoshop!!! What an astounding job. I really appreciate the respect you have for the original artist. I can feel you saying “this is how he/she wanted it to look” instead of just painting over it quickly the way “you” might want it to look. You are a true master. Bravo. I am absolutely floored.
@@markclans3284 my first as well. I'm not interested in art but do like learning how things get fixed which I'm guessing is why the algorithm decided to take a chance on me.
And it works! If you watch Julien's work for the first time, it's live wow thanks for explaining. If you watch 100 video, you know evactly what to expect. I have the same fun every time Julien explains how to use hot table, and why does he put extra layer between paint and retouch. It makes watching every next restoration live some kind of ceremony and I'm all for that ❤
@@fionafiona1146 Yet it's the only reason one would not question his process in this video. *The result is proper* but this is not how you're taught to do such a restoration these days (here in france at least, it differs a little from region to region of europe). I'm lacking in vocabulary to explain it in detail since most terms wouldn't translate literally but this is not how my teachers would handle it.
@@nilspochat8665 makes sense, given the USA lacks the integrated trade school apprenticeship system and is a lot slower to reach certain professional outcomes. As daughter to an electrician I was disturbed to learn about wire nuts and their widespread use
@danemclaren5678 depends on how well you train the crafts people installing them in cardboard houses (Even twisting wires and dipping them in liquid tar had better statistical outcomes)
First time viewer here. I just wanted to say thank you for your professional and expert restoration/fixing work. I’m amazed at the various skills and knowledge you must have to be a fine art restoration artist.
It's like an antique cast iron NY City fire alarm pedestal I owned that I sold back in the 1980s, I happened to see it again on a vintage vending machine outfit's web page, they had it up as a proud "restoration" they did... OMG what a disaster! they took this 100 year old antique, sand blasted it and then took BONDO and smeared it all over the entire surface and sanded it all smooth. The cast iron was sand cast, so it had texture and some minor defects, but these clowns wanted a new car in the showroom kind of bright, I mean BRIGHT red like the worst lipstick color you can imagine, super high gloss paint job on it. Then they painted ALL the raised lettering gold , it looked like a cheap plastic reproduction from China when they finished it, it was horrid! None of those pedestals were EVER painted like that when they were new in the 1920s, they were treated like light poles- painted with a medium, gloss red paint over primer, only the instructional lettering was painted with white paint nothing else, yet Ive seen more than a few such lousy "restorations" done on other models of these- ruining the original 100 year patina by sandblasting, applying super high gloss paints and then highlighting parts with gold paint and the like. I have an inner box some fool "restored" with powder coat paint, wrong shade of red, the brass was polished, some original screws were lost and replaced with the wrong kind, rivets on the hinges were removed to poish the brass and they put the hinges back on with machine screws. I wound up stripping all that powder coat paint off, repainting it, painting over the brass as was done originally, replacing the phillips head screws with the correct ones, and the missing rivets installed again. It's not perfect, but it's 100% better!
@@HobbyOrganist I am SO sorry you had to see your old piece in that condition. I hope restoring the inner box gave you some piece sort of proxy peace... Maybe someone will fix the alarm pedestal in the future?
Hi Julian, it's been a min since I've last commented. I've been watching your videos for the better part of 3 years. Every time I see your videos, it's like I'm watching for the first time. You do such amazing work.
To call the “conservator” before you SLOPPY is an UNDERSTATEMENT…. What you gave this painting, the artist and the sitter, Julian, can only be described as a “GLOW UP” / “RESPECT”
@@Benintende1952 Exactly. So for it to fail SO quickly (the orange line down the entire face definitely being evidence of failure)... Yikes. I hope the owner succeeded at getting a refund.
I found myself holding my breath when you began removing the facing, dissolving the foam and then pulling the painting up from the board. The correct tools in the hands of a skilled artisan - amazing work!
I’m gradually getting a fuller appreciation of portrait paintings. Something about this medium discloses a deeper sense of the soul of the sitter, even if it’s not photographic perfection of the actual person. I could spend hours viewing these fine portraits.
Your color matching and blending skills are remarkable. The close up of the camera lens testifies of your skill to recreate the image the artist painted before time and misfortune damaged it.
I really enjoy watching the removal process of the old restoration on this channel. The removal of the old retouch of poor restoration on portraits on this channel, reveals how many of the restorers flatten the portraits and nuanced details in faces that lose the character and personality of the person. On a technical level, it also demonstrates the restorers lack of understanding of basic painting or art . It’s refreshing and rewarding to see the new touch up done by Julian.
Im a physician/Surgeon. We often say "if you don't have surgical complications, you arent operating enough." That is to say, every surgeon has complications. The reason i say this, I'm curious if you could speak to or show any of the "mishaps" that you've had or pieces that have come back to you that have broken down differently or earlier than expected. fixes that didn't hold up that you did and how you handled them.
I don't think he would talk or do a video about it, after all we saw in the last video (the one restoring the portrait of one of his relatives) how his channel works as his marketing, I doubt he would talk about the times he failed, aside from a couple humorous mentions like the one with the hot table. But I agree it would be pretty interesting
@@gabrielaguzman1176 I definitely get that, i would feel the same way. I wouldnt want to show careless mistakes. i know even experienced plumbers have leaky pipes sometimes despite being very careful and doing it the exact same way every time. My patients occasionally (luckily very rarely) get infections after surgery despite me being meticulous and using abx etc. For this field im curious where the usual fail points are if there are any.
@@coopertrost3816 Well, you've really seen a bunch of them if you watch my videos... poor materials, wrong approaches and lousy technique are all to blame...
This is probably not the best forum for that discussion as it might convey the wrong impression to potiental clients who are not well informed. They (conservators) probably do that on coservators private forums for learning.
Wow, that previous conservator made a mess of things. Incredible transformation! Throughout most of it, I couldn't even tell that there was anything other than flat black for his jacket, waistcoat and bowtie. I thought it might just be a result of the overpaint, but I see from the comparison at the end that it might have just been the lighting. Great stuff!
how many of us are comforted by the segment where he applies isolation layer?...and again, explains sweetly how it more accurately matches the colors he is about to use? oh my soul is at rest at this point. Why does this comfort me so?
Because there is no ego, no yelling, no belittling. Just a man with a soothing voice fixing a mess while lovely music plays in the background. Paradise indeed 😊
@nmt2893 Before he retouches the damaged areas of the painting he brushes on a thin coat clear water based medium. It brightens the paints colors and allows a better matching retouch job. Any mistakes made can be washed off with water. When done he applies a layer of varnish over everything.
Julian Baumgartner you are the maestro, a cognoscente and a genius of restorations. It is like magic that you can restore these art works without a trace. I am stunned every time a watch your videos ... your skill knows no limit!!!!
I wonder if anything I’ll get to create in my lifetime will ever get afforded this amount of care, dedication, and precision. It’s really wonderful and sweet how much we, as a species, work to protect what mattered to those who came before.
Excellent video demonstrating all the hard work that goes into restoration. Easy to show to a potential employer that doesn't understand just how difficult and tedious and skillful this work is. Well put together, well written, well shot. Nice job mate, that's some sharp work.
First video I've been shown from you. Your are quite skilled, I am very impressed! Fantastic work and presentation! Removing the old paint from the face was my personal highlight.
The horrific damage that had been done to that painting, only to find as you were cleaning off all of their overpainted layer to discover they had not even cleaned the original painting properly 🤦🏽♀️ My mind wonders at how many other paintings this person has mutilated in their quest of restoration. Seeing the eyes come alive as you were cleaning off the over painting was one thing but when you realised the portrait had not even been cleaned and you set to cleaning the grime away his eyes suddenly began to show a life of their own and the person he once was could be seen again. I have always loved seeing the before and after restoration and love the fact you only replace what was missing never replacing what is already there.
Truly a master of his craft. Being able to identify an adhesive just by smelling it, and quickly working around it is an impressive level of skill. Whether it's familiarity or just a unique smell is still astounding.
Ooh, beautiful restoration as usual. Recalled that one "Restorer trying to fixed that poor woman's face! Glad they're all back to what they're intended to look like originally
I adore your work and get impressed with your skills every time. Your content is immaculate from start to finish. Thank you for sharing your hard work.
Your work, in restoring Artwork, is a work of Art, in and of itself! Kudos! You are a Master in your field of work! I am astonished at all of the things that you must know about, to do a restoration! Thank you so much for sharing!
I agree, the cleaning made the paint pop! Removing the varnish and over paint left me sceptical about the idea of doing the work at all, the painting didn't look anything extraordinary but as you said... knowing and seeing it hadn't been cleaned was the ticket. Oh and i guess i can't judge for what is 'worth' to restore or not but i'm sure you understand what i meant.
The touching in, getting the colours and hue correct, is the hardest part. Years of painting experience required. Very difficult to do yet the creator is modest enough to not mention that. Plaudits. 👍👏
Legit watched every second of this. Piano music makes it nice to watch as well. You do expect the end result but the journey to get to it as much fun as seeing the result of hard work he did. Huge respect.
It is absolutely INCREDIBLE how, even with that crack still visible down the center of the face, just removing the previous overpainting and cleaning it makes the painting look 1000% better. I’m really glad the algorithm recommended me this video-it’s fascinating watching you work and to see how these paintings are repaired and restored. Can’t wait to finish the video and see the final product. 😊 New fan here!
I am an engineer, I design incredible machines. I know nothing of art. But holy smokes, you took garbage and made it look original again. I sit here wondering what the painting looked like when it was just finished?
That's interesting. I used to work at a national photo lab/services company and mounted quite a number of photos to that black foam board. If I recall it has an adhesive layer on top of a thin plastic-ky layer. Nice work getting that off!
These videos are awesome. I always wanted to work with visual art and paintings, but I’m colorblind, so it wasn’t meant to be. Thank you for giving us insight into your craft.
I'm doing a painting involving some book spines, and trying to match a bright light teal with acrylics is WAY harder than you make it seem with archival paints! Plus, I figured out 3 tries in that acrylics dry darker 😢 finally got it on the 6th attempt!
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm reminded of when I had a heavily obscured portrait of my great grandfather restored. It turned out to be my great grandmother. 😌
That's amazing
😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂
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In 200 years "Someone trying to conserve this painting used nylon gossamer. Now my job is harder than it should've been."
lol I was thinking the same thing! 😂
Because of this nylon gossamer, I can’t use the biological nanobots I would use on a well-preserved painting, so I’m going to try using these old mechanical nanobots, but they are going to be much, much slower.
It'll be a lot easier than the old old conservation methods to remove because everything is reversible and it's all written down somewhere, despite that, 1,000,000% yes. Conservation has developed so much in these 200 years and the speed of innovation is always rapidly increasing
@@StoicTheGeek If these techniques won't be considered a well-preserved painting in 200 years then who's doing 2020s-era restoration significantly better? They need to start a RUclips channel
@@nowandaround312 I think you're missing the joke.
What Julian really wanted to say: "The painting and the sitter look wonderful, and I'd say we've cleaned up this mess. Except for that haircut. Not even I can fix that disaster."
It's not a haircut, it's called getting bald. Only thing you could do is to shave all hair off.
Lmao..my eyes go right to that hair.
@nikibordeaux agreed, but it's how sharp-edged and square the patch is. It makes it look intentional. If it were a little wispy and looked like natural hair loss it would be fine.
the only time I allow Julian to overpaint an original :D whats killing me more than the megawidows peak is the frilly ends :D
They covered up the maleness of his face, the 5 oclock shadow.
Bro unlock almost all skill tree. Woodworking, painting, restoring, storytelling.
also videography!
Deluding ... you shouldn't forget / ignore his attempts to appease his false gods / future [or current] employers by deluding his viewers.
The heat table didn't come into it until after the foam was removed and he smelled "something familiar" ... and yet, whilst using the heat table to remove the last layer of board, he claims that he didn't use the heat table whilst the foam was still on the board because the foam is an insulator.
That's when I quit the video, because I'm sick of / done being being misled by misleaders / deluded by deluders.
I was seriously tempted to quit when the solvents started pumping nasty chemicals into the air without a mention.
Mostly impressive. As someone good with metalworking and woodworking, I wondered why he wasted so much of the (diagonal) bracing wood in the corners.
@@alasdairblackmore2592 buh bye
@@alasdairblackmore2592 Maybe you are too smart for watching youtube videos?
I'm not an art person, but watching someone who is really good at their job is something special.
I call it 'competence porn.'
@@peglamphier4745 the best kind of porn lol
@@peglamphier4745 lol well now so do I
You don’t like art?
@@Jake-uf6githat's not what he said
It is always funny when you are retourching and I mentally go "way too yellow" or "way too red" or such, and then a second later you are going over it again and I just go "nevermind it's good now."
Just like watching Bob Ross and he decides to use let's say Crimson as a base for the snow, and you are like "What are you doing Bob, red for snow?" but then a few minutes later after he adds some more details you are all like "Bob, you son of a mother, you have done it again" - leaving him with a beautiful landscape ... which he grabs the dark colors and installs a HUGE tree trunk over all that lovely work and you are once again like "BOB NO you have ruined it" but then he gives his happy chonkin tree a friend (because we all need friends) and somehow it brings the whole painting together and gives it MILES of depth and all you can do is sit there in amazement realizing that you are NOT the master!
@@lerkzor I'm literally an artist and I do this. I'll watch people do oil or gouache paintings and I'm going "ew, why rust for your base?" and yet they make the most perfect winter landscape or field of grass over it.
@@lerkzor This is so accurate. Every single time I watch a Bob Ross video I'm like "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE BOB?!" and then a minute later I'm like "Oh jk nvm." 😂 You'd think I'd know better by now, but nope.
I thought the exact same thing. It seems “off” at first but within the next 1-2 strokes everything just has harmony. Just a testament to his talent and hard work!
@@lerkzor they stream Bob Ross on Twitch and the channel has "RUINED" and "SAVED" emotes so chat can react the exact same way. lol
my jaw dropped seeing the overpainting come off, showing how much of the subtle shading had been hidden. The rim light around the neck and chin, the attention to the colors of the lighting on the shirt and the details on the eyes, in an attempt to preserve the art the skill of the original artist was obscured
I thought it was a super crude folk painting! I had no idea is was such a serviceable portrait.
I agree with you completely. And what a difference between eyebrows painted by an artist and a low-grade conservator (who may have used a black marker pen) 😮😂
Even the silky sheen of the shirt.
My dear friend who died last year used to love watching your videos whilst he was ill. We both love art and he would tell me to watch...I now have and I think it is because this young man looks a little like my friend. Wonderful and magical work. I have now subscribed.
I am slowly losing my eyesight and I have been watching his videos for a couple of years and I just wanted to say I think he should read books on tape like an audible and also I think he should do graphic novels on tape like an audible because his voice is so soothing. It's so entertaining that even though I cannot see. The artwork very well.I still watch his videos or should I say listen to his videos because they are soothing and amusing and very informative
it's pretty bad when just removing the previous touchups and grime left it looking a thousand times better than whoever worked on it prior, Cracks and all. Your restoration afterword was just phenomenal.
Ok for an amature job
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 I am waiting for you doing better job then and film it the same way. Anyway, have some good wishes as people depressed and frustrated are usually less likely of spreading good energy and more likely to leave hating comments. May your live be full of love, joy and satisfaction. May your relations with yourself and others be healthy. May you have a peace in your heart so even if things are heavy and difficult to bear, you still feel good inside.
@@kolejnytrup He's bitter cuz he's the guy who filled in with tape and glued on foam-board, according to another comment of his.
Not sure whether I believe the claim or not, but hoooboy.... is he delusional if he thinks his work is up to par.
Just because he didn't use wood glue to attach the foam board doesn't make it right, even if the foam board is acid free (which I doubt).
And the man clearly doesn't know how to varnish a painting. That was ridiculously thick.
And the nail in the coffin.... He did NOT clean the painting before retouching/varnishing. Wtf. Basic principle in ANY trade.
At the very LEAST, the owners of the painting were so dissatisfied with the work that they had it reconserved at considerable cost, because all this overpaint probably glowed under UV and thus seriously devalued the painting. Not to mention that the face looked disturbingly smoothed over - it was just creepy without the shading from the original artist.
@@RochelleHasTooManyHobbiesEven in a completely unrelated field (soldering and repairing electronics) the first thing you do before doing anything is clean it! It's insane to me that somebody wouldn't think to clean something before trying to fix it...
Great rescue job! You know, this artist was not what you'd call an 'Old Master', but you treated the painting with the same respect and care that you'd give a Rembrandt.
Maybe not technically an Old Master but to someone this was and is a very important piece and it's not my job to judge... just to fix
@@BaumgartnerRestoration which is why we love and respect the skill you use in your work.
@@BaumgartnerRestorationIt's a healthy outlook on art in general and I'm happy to see such an influential figure preach it.
❤@@BaumgartnerRestoration
@@BaumgartnerRestoration Do you know who it was?
Wow, watching the heavy handed overpaint removed to reveal a delicate touch just absolutely transformed the image.
I had my classic "reveal" look, 😯 but with an addition of a hand pressed to the center of my chest. The eyes! Oh I wish Julian would paint something, anything. He truly has a master's touch. 😘🤌🏻
The eyes have so much more nuance and humanity. Looked like he was wearing makeup before, lol.
I always love seeing how vibrant and alive everything is when he is done cleaning!
The fact that he thinks of the next person who will have the privilege of conserving this painting in the future speaks volumes of his character. He takes the time to not only appreciate the painting and to make it whole again, but he also takes the time to make sure that with each painting, the next conservator has an easier time conserving each and every piece
he’s thinking of the next guy because he’s someone else’s next guy. it’s righting the wrongs of the previous restorer’s work both in their craft and possible lack of empathy for the next restorer
@@kettleworks He's also properly looking after the painting itself past his own limited window of experience: if the painting is preserved in a way that makes the next person's job less of a mare, it stands a better chance not to be damaged in the process in the future.
@@kettleworks I was the previous guy. Nothing wrong with my work this guy is over dramatic and adds many "problems" for views and effect. I'm one of the best restoeres in the US
Not character as much as craftsmanship - that is the duty of EVERY conservator. Everything they do should be easily reversible, so as not to stress the painting when their work inevitably fails in 200 years (because adhesive always fails eventually).
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24you must be joking…
I'm a wood and furniture conservator in training, and I have found that this only has served to increase my appreciation for the paintings folk. All that time we spend practicing joinery and our plethora of other skills, all that time the paintings students down the hall are focusing on things like these. The apparent ease with which you perform your craft speaks volumes: you are a master at work. My hat's off to you sir.
Do you mind if I ask which state you're in? I've really wanted to get into furniture restoration, but finding a place with an open apprenticeship has been... uh... Well, I haven't found any.
I think I must be looking in the wrong place.
@@RochelleHasTooManyHobbies I don't mind the question at all! Unfortunately I'm not based in the US, as is implied from your question, but rather halfway across the world where I'm attending the University of Amsterdam's Conservation and Restoration programme.
I'm not sure if you have the prerequisite background for a university conservator training, but I'll ask around for places that actually offer this degree in the US. I don't think I can be of much help in finding an apprenticeship position, but I would nevertheless like to wish you all the luck in the world in getting one. I hope you'll be able to realise the dream of becoming a fine furniture conservator.
You appear to have the 5 things an true art restorer needs: patience, knowledge of materials and equipment, a meticulous attention to detail, an innate ability to see what a painting was meant to be, and the talent to bring it all together as if you were the original artist. After the much publicized fiascos of some restorations, you have opened my eyes to how true artists in their field are able to bring a painting back to its original form. Kudos!
I simply cannot get over what a difference getting rid of that overpaint made -- he looks like a completely different person!
Kinda like a normal person... kinda ;)
@@BaumgartnerRestoration he looks so much better post all the cleaning
@@BaumgartnerRestorationmuch better, but still quite an odd looking person 😂
🎉Even your genius can't change the hairstyle!
These overpaints always change the subject’s physical appearance and features.
1:08 This is about where my brain got stuck at...and for good 15 minutes was able to think only: "FOAMboard?!?!" 😯😱 😄
I was looking for this I’m glad I’m not alone 😂 I heard that and I’m also like “they had the audacity to disgrace such a painting by putting on FOAMBOARD!?!?!1!!1!,” 💀
Seeing this restored to a simple but dignified portrait from what was basically a cartoon is honestly more satisfying than some of the restorations you do on master works.
He brought out the person underneath the cartoon.
It still looks like a child
@@turolretar got that 14 or 40 look
It’s truly frustrating to see people not respect a intricate skill/craft like this, this is my first time watching your videos but I’m so happy to see you giving true love to what once was and bringing life back into it with such careful consideration and tedious work. Bravo my friend, subscribed 🤍🔒
"Whacher'gon'do is getcherself a rollergeurillertape and a foam board frum da'hobby lobby..." -Previous Conservator
The foam dissolving is sooooo satisfying!
and a bit discusting at first! He seemed to have gotten the habg of it fairly quick tho with scrapers and by going rectangular to maximize the use of the right tool, scraper. Imagine if the foam board had only been foam, without the board to protect the canvas...
@b0rd3n I see how it can look gross too. Personally, I enjoy slightly messy things, so I loved it! I'm sure if there was exposed canvas without the second board, he would have considered that in the approach.
I wish he had worn a respirator….
Scared me, actually.
It looks like Venom! 🖤
God damn, what a hairstyle. You've heard of the widow's peak, but have you ever encountered the widow's mesa?
hahah
Looks more like widow's comb forward to me. Unfortunate hairstyle in either case
Now he looks human.
The ex used to have a widows peak...I called it her "Eddy Munster". She never did appreciate my humor ha ha..
😂😂😂
something i think is really neat is that in this video in particular, when julian applies the final varnish, because of the way the light is shining on the painting in the shot you can really see the way that the light hitting the painting changes as he brushes out the varnish and the varnish dries!
Julian can make watching the varnish dry an interesting experience :)
Yep - I spotted that, too. It really showed why and how he was doing it.
just after the cleaning alone his face looked so much brighter..once you filled in all those spots he was one again with the canvas...thank you for having the ability to refreshen these paintings and to make them viewable again for further generations....
Wow! I couldn’t have matched those colors so well with Photoshop!!! What an astounding job. I really appreciate the respect you have for the original artist. I can feel you saying “this is how he/she wanted it to look” instead of just painting over it quickly the way “you” might want it to look. You are a true master. Bravo. I am absolutely floored.
I just love that Julian knows we’ve all seen every single one of his videos yet still treats us as if it’s our first time watching ❤
This was my first. Not sure why it appeared but engrossing.
I thought that too when he explained the hot table procedure!
@@markclans3284 my first as well. I'm not interested in art but do like learning how things get fixed which I'm guessing is why the algorithm decided to take a chance on me.
And it works! If you watch Julien's work for the first time, it's live wow thanks for explaining. If you watch 100 video, you know evactly what to expect. I have the same fun every time Julien explains how to use hot table, and why does he put extra layer between paint and retouch. It makes watching every next restoration live some kind of ceremony and I'm all for that ❤
"...and I remember back to my crafting days, back when i was a kid..." this guy was born to do archival restoration!
Given that he practically lived in his dad's workshop during childhood holidays, that rings true
@@fionafiona1146 Yet it's the only reason one would not question his process in this video. *The result is proper* but this is not how you're taught to do such a restoration these days (here in france at least, it differs a little from region to region of europe). I'm lacking in vocabulary to explain it in detail since most terms wouldn't translate literally but this is not how my teachers would handle it.
@@nilspochat8665 makes sense, given the USA lacks the integrated trade school apprenticeship system and is a lot slower to reach certain professional outcomes.
As daughter to an electrician I was disturbed to learn about wire nuts and their widespread use
What’s wrong with the widespread use of wirenuts?
@danemclaren5678 depends on how well you train the crafts people installing them in cardboard houses
(Even twisting wires and dipping them in liquid tar had better statistical outcomes)
It's great to start my week with a new Baumgartner restoration!
First time viewer here. I just wanted to say thank you for your professional and expert restoration/fixing work. I’m amazed at the various skills and knowledge you must have to be a fine art restoration artist.
I don't think I've ever said "why??" so many times in one of your videos, what was the previous 'conservator' thinking? TAPE?? Foam?? Amazing
It's like an antique cast iron NY City fire alarm pedestal I owned that I sold back in the 1980s, I happened to see it again on a vintage vending machine outfit's web page, they had it up as a proud "restoration" they did...
OMG what a disaster! they took this 100 year old antique, sand blasted it and then took BONDO and smeared it all over the entire surface and sanded it all smooth. The cast iron was sand cast, so it had texture and some minor defects, but these clowns wanted a new car in the showroom kind of bright, I mean BRIGHT red like the worst lipstick color you can imagine, super high gloss paint job on it.
Then they painted ALL the raised lettering gold , it looked like a cheap plastic reproduction from China when they finished it, it was horrid!
None of those pedestals were EVER painted like that when they were new in the 1920s, they were treated like light poles- painted with a medium, gloss red paint over primer, only the instructional lettering was painted with white paint nothing else, yet Ive seen more than a few such lousy "restorations" done on other models of these- ruining the original 100 year patina by sandblasting, applying super high gloss paints and then highlighting parts with gold paint and the like.
I have an inner box some fool "restored" with powder coat paint, wrong shade of red, the brass was polished, some original screws were lost and replaced with the wrong kind, rivets on the hinges were removed to poish the brass and they put the hinges back on with machine screws.
I wound up stripping all that powder coat paint off, repainting it, painting over the brass as was done originally, replacing the phillips head screws with the correct ones, and the missing rivets installed again. It's not perfect, but it's 100% better!
@@HobbyOrganist I am SO sorry you had to see your old piece in that condition. I hope restoring the inner box gave you some piece sort of proxy peace... Maybe someone will fix the alarm pedestal in the future?
4:01 The restoration label he removes is his own.
Hi Julian, it's been a min since I've last commented. I've been watching your videos for the better part of 3 years. Every time I see your videos, it's like I'm watching for the first time. You do such amazing work.
Thanks, that's a really nice thing to say.
To call the “conservator” before you SLOPPY is an UNDERSTATEMENT…. What you gave this painting, the artist and the sitter, Julian, can only be described as a “GLOW UP” / “RESPECT”
And the use of foam board makes me think it was relatively recent?
Excuse my language, but the previous conservator's work was ass. Literally.
@@Benintende1952 Exactly. So for it to fail SO quickly (the orange line down the entire face definitely being evidence of failure)... Yikes. I hope the owner succeeded at getting a refund.
4:02 The conservator label he removes is his own...
I found myself holding my breath when you began removing the facing, dissolving the foam and then pulling the painting up from the board. The correct tools in the hands of a skilled artisan - amazing work!
I’m gradually getting a fuller appreciation of portrait paintings. Something about this medium discloses a deeper sense of the soul of the sitter, even if it’s not photographic perfection of the actual person. I could spend hours viewing these fine portraits.
Astounding. Just when I think I've seen it all...foam board! Cut outs! And then beauty, miraculous restoration, amazement. Thank you!
Now I understand Julian, you're the one to say to any of us with quiet sorrow "I'm so disappointed in you". And we will cry for DAYS.
Your color matching and blending skills are remarkable. The close up of the camera lens testifies of your skill to recreate the image the artist painted before time and misfortune damaged it.
Very, very impressive indeed. Thank you for the informative no-nonsense narrative.
A very skilled person makes what they do look easy but in reality it very difficult . You are a master in the art of restoration.
This channel is a bastion of calm in an ever more terrible world. I needed this video.
I really enjoy watching the removal process of the old restoration on this channel.
The removal of the old retouch of poor restoration on portraits on this channel, reveals how many of the restorers flatten the portraits and nuanced details in faces that lose the character and personality of the person.
On a technical level, it also demonstrates the restorers lack of understanding of basic painting or art .
It’s refreshing and rewarding to see the new touch up done by Julian.
I know people focused on the hair but the artist talent in the facial skin tone amazing and Julian again you dont disappoint
Well, unless the sitter asked for it, you can't exactly NOT copy his haircut as it is. I'm sure it was fashionable at the time.
A true master at work. Mr. Baumgartner makes it look easy, the sign of a highly skilled conservator. Bravo! I take my hat off to him.
I love watching you work. Your skills to take a piece of damage art and restore it to its original state or better is amazing.
Im a physician/Surgeon. We often say "if you don't have surgical complications, you arent operating enough." That is to say, every surgeon has complications. The reason i say this, I'm curious if you could speak to or show any of the "mishaps" that you've had or pieces that have come back to you that have broken down differently or earlier than expected. fixes that didn't hold up that you did and how you handled them.
in another video, julien has mentioned how he once glued a painting to the hot table because he didnt use any release film lol
I don't think he would talk or do a video about it, after all we saw in the last video (the one restoring the portrait of one of his relatives) how his channel works as his marketing, I doubt he would talk about the times he failed, aside from a couple humorous mentions like the one with the hot table. But I agree it would be pretty interesting
@@gabrielaguzman1176 I definitely get that, i would feel the same way. I wouldnt want to show careless mistakes. i know even experienced plumbers have leaky pipes sometimes despite being very careful and doing it the exact same way every time. My patients occasionally (luckily very rarely) get infections after surgery despite me being meticulous and using abx etc. For this field im curious where the usual fail points are if there are any.
@@coopertrost3816 Well, you've really seen a bunch of them if you watch my videos... poor materials, wrong approaches and lousy technique are all to blame...
This is probably not the best forum for that discussion as it might convey the wrong impression to potiental clients who are not well informed. They (conservators) probably do that on coservators private forums for learning.
There are Master painters,and then there are absolute Master restorers!🥇
Wow, that previous conservator made a mess of things. Incredible transformation!
Throughout most of it, I couldn't even tell that there was anything other than flat black for his jacket, waistcoat and bowtie. I thought it might just be a result of the overpaint, but I see from the comparison at the end that it might have just been the lighting. Great stuff!
Always amazed at what an incredible job he does on all the retouching. Perfection.
It's a completely different painting without the overpaint!!! Seeing the eyes as they were intended is always my favorite part ❤
how many of us are comforted by the segment where he applies isolation layer?...and again, explains sweetly how it more accurately matches the colors he is about to use? oh my soul is at rest at this point. Why does this comfort me so?
Because there is no ego, no yelling, no belittling. Just a man with a soothing voice fixing a mess while lovely music plays in the background. Paradise indeed 😊
The colors just brighten and pop. We know he's on the home stretch and retouching is about to start. Such comfort and satisfaction.
I’m ALWAYS comforted by Julian’s voice.
I need more detail. I want to know what the isolation layer is. I'm here for the learning.
@nmt2893 Before he retouches the damaged areas of the painting he brushes on a thin coat clear water based medium. It brightens the paints colors and allows a better matching retouch job. Any mistakes made can be washed off with water. When done he applies a layer of varnish over everything.
Watching your videos brings me PEACE in this argument/negative world.
Watching your process start to finish never gets old. Thank you for the extra effort to bring us along.
Julian Baumgartner you are the maestro, a cognoscente and a genius of restorations.
It is like magic that you can restore these art works without a trace.
I am stunned every time a watch your videos ... your skill knows no limit!!!!
I wonder if anything I’ll get to create in my lifetime will ever get afforded this amount of care, dedication, and precision. It’s really wonderful and sweet how much we, as a species, work to protect what mattered to those who came before.
How you filled in the holes / missing pieces amazes me. That looks so difficult! Your work is ASTOUNDING. SUPERB.
I love how he is always keeping his shirts perfectly clean, no matter what.
Excellent video demonstrating all the hard work that goes into restoration. Easy to show to a potential employer that doesn't understand just how difficult and tedious and skillful this work is. Well put together, well written, well shot. Nice job mate, that's some sharp work.
First video I've been shown from you.
Your are quite skilled, I am very impressed! Fantastic work and presentation! Removing the old paint from the face was my personal highlight.
With this restoration, you have outdone yourself! Complete mastery of colorimetry! 👋👋👋👋👋
The horrific damage that had been done to that painting, only to find as you were cleaning off all of their overpainted layer to discover they had not even cleaned the original painting properly 🤦🏽♀️
My mind wonders at how many other paintings this person has mutilated in their quest of restoration.
Seeing the eyes come alive as you were cleaning off the over painting was one thing but when you realised the portrait had not even been cleaned and you set to cleaning the grime away his eyes suddenly began to show a life of their own and the person he once was could be seen again.
I have always loved seeing the before and after restoration and love the fact you only replace what was missing never replacing what is already there.
I mean, if someone is going to do a terrible overpaint, at least doing it on top of the dirt makes it easy to remove!
The way just cleaning after removing the added paint - wow! The translucency of the subject's skin just glowed. Quite a difference!
I would never have the patience to do this painstaking tedious work. Thank goodness you're here to do the impossible!
Your workmanship, perfectionism by golly, is out of this world. I find such pleasure watching you work. Much respect to you!
Just love watching these, just love seeing these wonderful pieces so sympathetically and so beautifully restored, your skills are breathtaking. ❤
Truly a master of his craft. Being able to identify an adhesive just by smelling it, and quickly working around it is an impressive level of skill. Whether it's familiarity or just a unique smell is still astounding.
Your mother used to work in my old high school’s art department! So cool that someone so successful could be this close
Wow! Cool!
Ooh, beautiful restoration as usual. Recalled that one "Restorer trying to fixed that poor woman's face! Glad they're all back to what they're intended to look like originally
I adore your work and get impressed with your skills every time. Your content is immaculate from start to finish. Thank you for sharing your hard work.
Fabulous work,the hiden depth brought out,the original artists skill enhanced,a masterfull restoration.
Coffee, knitting and Baumgartner. Monday mornings can be wonderful.
What a joy to watch a consummate professional perform his magic! you are an artist in your own right- stellar job!!
I love the gentle jabs at past "conservation" efforts lol. What an amazing turn out for this one!
It’s so satisfying to watch Julian’s mastery and excellency for his work.
Its like photoshop but for a material art!
It’s beautiful!
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Your work, in restoring Artwork, is a work of Art, in and of itself! Kudos! You are a Master in your field of work! I am astonished at all of the things that you must know about, to do a restoration! Thank you so much for sharing!
Wow! Just the cleaning alone completely changed the look of the portrait. Julian you do amazing work
I agree, the cleaning made the paint pop! Removing the varnish and over paint left me sceptical about the idea of doing the work at all, the painting didn't look anything extraordinary but as you said... knowing and seeing it hadn't been cleaned was the ticket. Oh and i guess i can't judge for what is 'worth' to restore or not but i'm sure you understand what i meant.
The disdain in Julian’s voice for the *foam board* being used as a restoration material is palpable. Another excellent restoration, thank you.
It was dripping with disdain when he said "foam board"
The touching in, getting the colours and hue correct, is the hardest part. Years of painting experience required. Very difficult to do yet the creator is modest enough to not mention that. Plaudits. 👍👏
Legit watched every second of this. Piano music makes it nice to watch as well. You do expect the end result but the journey to get to it as much fun as seeing the result of hard work he did. Huge respect.
It is absolutely INCREDIBLE how, even with that crack still visible down the center of the face, just removing the previous overpainting and cleaning it makes the painting look 1000% better. I’m really glad the algorithm recommended me this video-it’s fascinating watching you work and to see how these paintings are repaired and restored. Can’t wait to finish the video and see the final product. 😊 New fan here!
Such a fascinating process you go through to restore paintings. Incredible work!
Julian, have you ever been contacted by a previous conservator defending his/her efforts on a painting you re-conserved?
If I was the guy who did this one previously, I'd cease to exist out of sheer embarrassment.
He seems to be the guy would have an answer for everything and you would feel worse at the end of the day
Judging by their previous choice of materials it would be a sharply worded, handwritten note - written on a deflated balloon with colored chalk 😂
14:06 200 years from now "who was this amateur why didn't he use ai powered nano adhesive, this gossamer is so archaic." 🤣
Never get tired of watching you retouch a painting. The matching of colors and gradations is amazing to me. Well done!
It's always a joy to watch an expert apply their craft. That was amazing.
I am an engineer, I design incredible machines. I know nothing of art. But holy smokes, you took garbage and made it look original again. I sit here wondering what the painting looked like when it was just finished?
When describing yourself, you forgot "modest"...... 🤦🏼♂️ 🤣
That's interesting. I used to work at a national photo lab/services company and mounted quite a number of photos to that black foam board. If I recall it has an adhesive layer on top of a thin plastic-ky layer. Nice work getting that off!
His haircut is killing me 💀
The haircut is me in a few years 😭
I think his mom did it
Yikes! That is one nasty haircut.
Sixhead with a random rectangle, center top? It's a classic!
I kept hoping it was the result of a backyard restoration and he'd fix it.
Absolutely fascinating. I'm in awe of the amount of processess involved. The attention to detail, your knowledge and expertise is outstanding.
What a master. Pleasure watching this guy work, takes great humility to not let one’s creativity overwrite the original art!
WoW. The work you put into this painting. Just wow
Your channel is the perfect intersection between art and science which is why I love it. Have you ever ruined a painting?
No painting so ruined that it can't be restored 🤪
This man is truly an artist in so many different ways. Just incredible.
These videos are awesome. I always wanted to work with visual art and paintings, but I’m colorblind, so it wasn’t meant to be. Thank you for giving us insight into your craft.
I was stunned when you cleaned up the grime, such beautiful colours shining through! Thank you so much for sharing your work.
I'm doing a painting involving some book spines, and trying to match a bright light teal with acrylics is WAY harder than you make it seem with archival paints! Plus, I figured out 3 tries in that acrylics dry darker 😢 finally got it on the 6th attempt!
You have rescued the painting from the “rescuers”. Beautifully done.
oh boy, this is gonna be good. bring in the popcorn!
I got it! 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
The way the piano piece is timed with the cleaning is very complementary and satisfying. Love it ❤
Wow the skill and patience you displayed in this restoration was absolutely amazing, as was the finished product!
Julian's work never gets old.
...but the paintings do. He's shown successful restorations that have come back years later with holes in them or other problems for him to correct.
Are you suggesting that his repairs don't last? 😉