Potato Jesus
I received a very damaged, heavily overpainted John the Baptist, and went to work to make him right… but I also reflected on a disastrous “restoration” that never should have happened. Here, I’m interviewed about the Spanish “Potato Jesus” by online magazine Urbo. An interview with Jill Pratzon: https://www.urbo.com/content/there-can-only-be-one-potato-jesus-and-other-works-of-art-that-were-destroyed/
Trash? Or Restore?
When Pastel Is Damaged Fire… water damage… even a heavy layer of dirt can obscure a painting’s color, details – and sometimes, your judgement. “It’s ruined!” might be a collector’s first reaction, but read on for an example of art that was rescued Decades ago, pastels were frequently categorized as paintings, but the powdery medium feels […]
Restoring a portrait of Jesus
You saw the Huffington Post article, right? At least fifteen people sent me a link to a story about an unfortunate incident regarding a different portrait of Jesus. Read on for that story, and to see the “after” photo of the poor, shredded deity pictured here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/octogenarians-hilarious-f_n_182… According to the article, an elderly woman in […]
Hudson River School painting for $40?
A brand new client walked into my studio and declared, “My wife bought this little painting for $40 at a tag sale. It isn’t worth anything!” “Hmmm,” I thought, “Even under the grime, I can see it’s painted well…” After a small test in the sky area, he agreed to let me clean it. As […]
30 feet high in a Harlem Church
I’m not afraid of heights – a good thing when the scaffold places me thirty feet above a marble floor. Recently, I supervised the cleaning of a large Crucifixion painting in a Harlem church. The accumulated soot and grime was heavy, obscuring the painting’s details and color. While removing the dirt, I saw that the artist changed his or her mind during its […]
Dramatic cleaning of a painting by Annie Taylor Burt
This is an excellent example of the difference that quality restoration can make in the enjoyment of a painting. When my client brought in this lovely painting by Annie Taylor Burt, I tested a small area at the edge. Finding bright white under the dirt, we were both excited to see how the piece would look once […]
Is your art smoking?
A client recently brought me this amazing photograph (above); he had visited a friend who was taking his art collection off the walls. The collector smoked cigarettes for many years, and that was evident from the empty walls. Nicotine residue, being inherently sticky, stays on objects long after the cigarette is extinguished. If the smoker […]
About Jill Pratzon
Formed by Jill Pratzon in 1990, Pratzon Art Restoration is dedicated to restoring the beauty and the value of original illustration art and fine art. We specialize in the care and repair of paintings on canvas and board. Located in the Flatiron/Chelsea district of Manhattan, Pratzon Art Restoration has restored a full range of original […]
Restoring an Enoch Bolles painting for Roman Coppola
Avid collector and director, screenwriter and producer Roman Coppola asked me to restore this painting by the iconic pin-up artist Enoch Bolles (1883-1976). While examining the art and comparing it to the published version, Roman and I discovered that under thick, yellow overpaint, a whole different painting was hiding… Bolles was a prolific painter, creating hundreds of images for […]
Pratzon Art Restoration hosted Entryway Gallery’s SMALL MONSTERS Exhibit (October 2013)
In 2013, I invited 18 artist-illustrators to show me the monstrous side of themselves. On October 3rd, Pratzon Art Restoration’s Entryway Gallery revealed SMALL MONSTERS, a group show and sale of original art with a decidedly dark feel to it. Some of the artists responded with playful imagery, some with classic creatures and some… well… some are […]