Work
Paper
Letters, archives, drawings, prints, posters, maps, diplomas: paper in all its forms.
- Letters, documents and archives
- Drawings, engravings and prints
- Posters
- Maps and plans
- Diplomas and certificates
- Engraving on paper
An engraving: filling a loss
A loss had opened in the sky of this engraving. Toned paper, cut to its exact shape, closes it.
- Work on paper
A scene of soldiers: tears and losses
Tears and white losses split the image in two. Filled and retouched, they no longer show.
- Drawing, contemporary work
A contemporary portrait: losses in the background
White losses broke the background of this portrait. Filled and retouched, the background is continuous again.
- Brown line drawing on paper
A drawing crossed by a tear
A tear ran right across the sheet, through both faces. Realigned fibre by fibre and reinforced on the back, it has disappeared.
- Printed poster
A theatre poster: La Grande Kermesse
A poster for Michel de Ghelderode's La Grande Kermesse, soiled and once repaired with adhesive tape. Dry cleaning, then tape removal.
- Painted work on paper
A painting on paper: tide lines and stains
Tide lines and stains marked the margins of this figure painted on a black ground. Water treatment reduced them.
- Printed portrait on paper
A printed portrait: an adhesive stain
Old adhesive had left a stain on the face of this printed portrait. Removed and reduced, it barely shows any more.
Paper is the material I treat most often, and the most varied: a family letter, an old engraving, a theatre poster and a contemporary drawing do not age in the same way.
How paper ages
- Acidity yellows the sheet and makes it brittle. That is the chemistry I studied in my master’s thesis: the oxidation of cellulose.
- Light weakens the fibres and fades inks.
- Damp causes stains, tide lines, foxing and mould.
- Old repairs, above all adhesive tape, stain and weaken the sheet.
- Handling leaves folds, tears and losses.
What I do
Every treatment starts with an examination of the sheet, its inks and its colours. Depending on its condition, I clean, reduce stains, remove old adhesives, repair tears and fill losses, with stable and reversible materials. The treatments that apply to paper are listed below.