Hey everyone, just to clarify; the thumbnail is most definitely a joke. Even with serious work, humor is a necessity, as this experience certainly shows.
The thumbnail was the reason I clicked, and I've since subscribed and went through a ton of your backlog. Instant fan. While humor typically isn't the focus of your vids, I think it worked very well in this case and would love to see more in the future! You're funnier than just dad-joke transitions! Amazing work.
Then, let us say it, the previous restoration was definitely a huge fail, caricature that lacked mastery. You did justice for both paintings, they're so beautiful.
The previous restauration attempt is the definition of what is called "Verschlimmbessern" in German. It is a combination of the words "Verbessern" - "to improve" and "verschlimmern" - "to worsen". So it means basically "to worsen something in an attempt to improve it." And this overpaint illustrates this term perfectly.
I'm going to figure out how to pronounce this and use it all the dang time. Someone just scratched off all the nonstick on a pan here in an attempt to clean it
There's a lot of people doing facial rejuvenation in Brazil. When it goes bad we say "rejuvelhecimento" which is a combination of the words "rejuvenescimento" - which means rejuvenation with the word "envelhecimento" - which means aging = rejuvenaging
@@ventiladordesuco That's a great one. Brazilian Portuguese has some great plays on words. English could use "rejuvenaging" to describe Botox gone Bad.
You say deyassified, but i would be willing to say she actually had a glow-up when all that 2010's heavy contour and full coverage foundation were removed lmao
@@stevvvvvvv I agree. This looks like the work of a Sephora beautician imposing Kim Kardashian type trendy "sculpting", full foundation make up and basking all lines on a poor "ugly" client. No man would go that far.
@@stevvvvvvv _He_ is a normal word to use when referring to a person with an unspecified gender. That said, I'd wager most people in this line of work are men, so if nothing else he's just placing good odds.
@@Selrisitainot really? It's often assumed, but "they" is at least as grammatically accurate and is only becoming more common in that use as English moves away from using masculine terms to refer to groups or unknown individuals.
I like to imagine a conservator, 100 years from now, making their own videos (or whatever it will be) just going through a painting you restored, "Ah yes, Baumgartner Restoration, I always enjoy when these pieces come to me it truly makes my job so much easier. See how little paint was added? How tiny the patches were? They couldn't do nano-fixtures like we can now, but this was truly a marvelous restoration in the 21st century. I'm just going to clean it, make sure everything is up to the new standards for reversable restoration and this will be done. Oh look, the owner of the painting still has the information packet on the back that contains all the work that was done and what was used. This sometimes gets lost over time so this is a nice surprise!"
I'm astounded that the person who did the work actually signed it. Like, not just placing a note with some information but actually signing it as if he is co-painter and can take part of the credit. Unbelievable!
I can not... the guy didn't even bother to paint "within the lines" of the original painting. The amount of delusional self-confidence is frankly astounding!
Рік тому+181
People who feel like doing this is fine suffer from a severe case of self inflated ego, so signing it is perfectly in line with that.
@@spacehootle309 Exactly, i was going to say it's not even Paint by Numbers because they just freehanded outside of the original cloak like it was optional.
They used a Sharpie directly on the canvas. That tells you everything you need to know about that person's idea of 'conservation'. I hope they see this video and feel embarrassed at the travesty they created.
I was in denial, told myself “maybe it’s a stylistic choice…”, but when he started removing the full pancake face treatment and you could see what was underneath I gasped.
You can't know how bad anything is until you compare it to what's below. Just because someone over-painted it doesn't mean the original artist might have been even less talented. For all we knew, the original painting was just as devoid of nuance or even less so as the re-touched one.
To be fair I have seen worse art if the overpaint was a painting that was done from the ground up on its own canvas you could enjoy it for what it was, but because it was overpainted on actual art its of course going to grant a negative disposition no matter how good the "artist" was who overpainted it like that.
The cleaning on this one is like the painting equivalent of pulling up your crappy linoleum and finding beautiful hardwood floors underneath. Just astounding.
That's exactly what happened in my mom's house. A few years after I moved out, she had the ghastly brown shag carpeting that ran through almost the entire house (except for the kitchen, which was high-traffic short-pile stuff) removed. Underneath was some of the most exquisite oak flooring you could imagine. The kitchen had beautiful rich brown-and-gold granite tiles that carried the same coloration as the oak. There were only a few areas that needed repairs, and all of it needed some degree of refinishing, but it was incredible to see. (But then my mother passed away in 2022, and the house was sold to someone who turned out to apparently be a flipper, because the next set of pictures I saw had all the floors covered with gray-toned wood-patterned laminate, all the walls and trim were painted flat gray and white, and the whole house looked absolutely empty and soulless. I cried when I saw those pictures... aside from the first-floor bathroom, which HAD been a time capsule from the 1970s with horrible avocado-green and orange tiles and an orange sink to match; it was actually improved by the gray-and-white treatment. Then again, it would have been improved by a flamethrower, too.)
Ours was dirty nasty avocado green shagg carpet with stains of unknown origin. The hardwood needed maybe two/three boards replaced and at least one of those was from the carpet nails rusting...
I signed in humored delight on the bleeps. The bleeps were what was going thru my head. I am unsure who to applaud more, the person that found it or the brilliance or the true conservator said bleepit bleep bleep
Which piece by him? I always go crazy hearing it because its so familiar. This is also why I think more youtubers need to look at imslp for public domain recordings of really beautiful classical music to use as bg.
It reminded me of copying masterpieces in high school. Like it would technically look like the original, but things would be very off because it hadn't been mastered yet. That same color white line around the bonnet dropped my jaw, and not in a good way 😭
@@eponawarrior7492 weirdly it shows someone who can paint and possesses natural ability...yeh like a high school student, but hasn't mastered it the tonality and expression or even understanding how to look at the painting, which is the problem
Yea holy shit... that was an extreme change... just to take away that layer.. and if you look at her shoulder area... it wasen't even painted over the right lines... but over where the background was... my mouth was gaping the whole time of dissbelive of why anyone would do this shit to a painting. @baumgartner I am glad you got the job to restore it :)
The whole face and cap with lace did look like someone who knew nothing about period makeup or the cap and lace. The lace would have been handmade and very filmy looking. I am sure that the word 'Idiot' was said several times, along with much stronger words!
I don’t know who remembers me, but about a year ago I left a comment under one of those videos, saying that this inspired me to pursue a career in conservation. A few people asked me to update, so here it is: I’ve recently started my internship at a paper restauration workshop and I’m currently restoring my first ever book! Next year I will take up studies at uni. I’m so incredibly happy that I found my way into this awesome job!!
The way my jaw dropped when you just removed the first square overpainting of overpainting on the chin. They not only flattened but didn’t even get the skin tone anywhere near right! Great job as always, Julian!
I kind of see why the mouth chin area was overpainted - after J's restoration it looks like the woman had blemishes around that area maybe acne or rosacea.
I was almost in tears to see the variation in skin tone, shading, shadowing and micro-freckles revealed, that were previously smoothed out and almost erased from time. I have done Fine Arts Packaging, foundational repair and am slowly venturing toward preservation/restoration. This channel is a treasure!
If I can be brutally honest: the restored painting is really not a terribly good one anyway. Naturally, Julian’s work is first rate, but the painting underneath wasn’t a lot better than the awful paint-by-numbers restoration TBH.
Seeing both paintings together at the end warms my heart a bit. Regardless of what the actual marriage was like, the two paintings have been together for years, decades, even under harsh repainting, and now they get to be together again, renewed and whole. :,)
"Overpaint" doesn't even begin to describe this, that was _obscene,_ but it was so unimaginably satisfying to see it all undone and watch the original painting come back 😍
Fear of bad restoration is why it took a decade for me to convince my late mother to get a family painting restored. I had her call our local fine arts museum and ask them to recommend a restorer. They gave her the name of a local lady they use and she did a fabulous job. You can’t even tell where it was touched up or where the tiny tear was.
On a serious note, how much does it cost to restore a painting? Like...i know it's very diverse (based on damage and size, or even the expertise), but is there any way to point where the price is cheap or too expensive?
@@MoridaFanadier Honestly it's near impossible to give you a price range like this. The work a conservator will have to do on a pice can vary widly from a few touch-ups to saving the entire structure that is rotting away. Some things that would take a long time to restore aren't even flagrantly visible to the untrained eye so if the conservator doesn't explain it to the client (which they should), they might feel like they've been ripped off. Keeping in mind that I work on books and not on paintings, but I imagine it's quite similar in that aspect. What I can only recommend is to do a bit of research on the conservators in your area. Look up where they studied on their websites or LinkedIn to make sure they're properly qualified. And then bring them your artwork and ask them what price range they might charge you for this specific case. I sometimes only do emergency treatments like stopping an infestation of insects or mold or create conditioning for the book if the client can't spend more/doesn't want more done. And obviously this will cost way less than if I have to reattach some pages or do a leather graft.
With fairness to your successful outcome, recommendations from strangers are lubricated by lack of accountability. "The local lady they used" was also the well-meaning granny who destroyed Ecce Homo and had no idea why people were upset. Certifications. Ask for them always, and before leaving the artwork in their hands. Real art restorers have pedigrees, they aren't word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth is how you get somebody's cousin who's a real whiz with a paintbrush.
i can't fathom how much over paint was done for such a little repaint. you can see the face before was soooo smooth and at the time of cleaning all the details like dimple in chin ,the face shape and the shading around the nose.. i thank the lord that they send this painting to you.
Well technically.... if you hide absolutely all of the original painting, it is your painting. I'm wondering if he was trying to trace the painting, and didn't notice the baking paper blew away.
Holy cow, that was one of the best overpaint removals I've ever seen. It was like she was wearing a full face of makeup before, so satisfying to see it all come off.
The comparison between a botched restoration by an ego-driven amateur and a proper restoration by a professional that respects the artwork is night and day. Bravo sir.
The amateur restoration broke all the principles of conservation. Thats why its being mocked. You DO NOT paint over the whole damn thing because of minor damage. You DO NOT sign your fucking name as a conservator. You DO NOT use those non conservation materials. That you think otherwise screams of either ignorance or flatly that you do the same thing.@@acmhfmggru
The granny who destroyed Ecce Homo is actually quite rich now. Sacred art is not exactly highly valued in Spain these days... the government was delighted to see they could monetize the whole thing.
As someone who does none-professional retouching to paintings (for a low-price on inexpensive art), while I cringe and cry for this poor painting, I feel more comfortable with my work after seeing this abomination, knowing that I do much better jobs with much more reversible paint, more experience, more detail and more love than whatever this was Edit: just posted this comment and I realize some people may hate me for my previous statement… fear not! I’ve gone to a proper art school and learned the basics of conservation!
I was actually personally offended when you started cleaning and I saw the beautiful painting hidden under all that overpaint. I would be embarrassed to put my signature on that piece if I was the last conservator. You brought it back to life!
I'm sorry but I'm curious why you feel offended seeing a restoration of a botched restoration? For The first time he started to clean the previous restoration I feel hopeful to see the original art got a proper treatment.
this definitely was not done by an art restorer but probably just a regular artist. You said it was restored in 2013 and that makes sense because the eyebrows and eyes (not to mention the super sculpted nose) really reflect the makeup trends of the 2010s. The fact that they painted over the entire thing must have meant that they realised that they werent sure they picked the right colors for the face and tried to conceal it by matching the rest with their own brush work. I’m just happy they didnt use acrylic paint lol
Good hypothesis. What I noticed was the change in expression. The repainted version had these almost-smile we use today on a family-photo. The original was much more ... distant and ernest. Like the expression you had when you were sitting for hours to have your portrait done.
It being an artist makes it that much worse imo. What artist has the audacity to sign another artists work with permanent marker. Everything else I can let slide as in they did a terrible job restoring a painting but the permanent marker signature just pisses me off.
I love how you always focus on the fact that conservation isn't about recreating the painting, but it's about honouring the artist by preserving their work. The previous "conservator" definitely got way into their head, by not only being heavy handed with their retouching, but also defacing the back of canvas by signing on it. Thank you for your professionalism and your talent, that brought it back to life!
To sign it, though, they must have thought they'd performed a wonderful service. Personally, I wouldn't have thought it worth even trying. Historically, perhaps, these are important but not exactly well painted in the first place. As the only remaining record of what a real person might have looked like - great. It's good that they've now been restored and can go back into family storage where, ironically, they will probably remain in better original condition than many a decently rendered portrait that is hung up and looked at. The reason why somebody wanted to obliterate them with overpainting, in the first place, is because they were seen. It's good that Baumgartner could resist the urge to fix the originals as that's the devil that probably took hold of the previous 'restorer'.
@@batintheattic7293haha yes I had the same conclusion. The person who did that attempt at conservation must have truly thought they did something ! They had to think they provided a good service, and they must have felt proud of themselves - cuz otherwise they wouldn’t have signed it. Like let’s say I tried to restore a painting but severely messed it up in the process. I would feel terrible! I’d be devastated, mortified, and feel super guilty for my actions and resulting failures. I definitely would not sign my name on the back of the original canvas, immortalizing myself and my mistakes for the rest of this paintings life and now for this massive online audience to view and further admonish my shoddy work. Plus it feels disrespectful to sign my own name on an artists work, glorifying myself alongside the artist, as if I were the one who created this art - when in reality, I was the one who made this artwork worse. that’s a terrible legacy. I could not do that to myself, I have high standards and take pride in my work. I care about what I do, so anything with my name on it MUST be quality!
Exactly. If I wanted to recreate a painting, I would have gotten a separate canvas, and recreated it on the blank one. Not desecrate the original and ruin it for anybody else who would want to see it.
The audacity of the previous restorer to completely repaint the whole thing... And then sign it in the back as if they were the creator of the original painting! It smells of jealousy to me, they want to steal the glory for themselves and pretend they are a prestigious painter, it just feels like absolute sabotage like they want to erase the original artist and pretend they created it instead. I would slap a bitch if I personally knew who did that. You don't fuck with art. Art is an expression of the artists soul. This is just as disrespectful as if they had smeared dogshit all over the painting. But in a way I'm kinda glad they did sign it because then there was proof of what clown did that, and proof of what a talentless sabotaging idiot they are too. No denying it.
The initial painting itself wasnt so appealing to begin with and the restoration just turned it into comedy. You did a good job to bring it back. Im a great admirer of your work.
@@NavidIsANoob You should be able to support your claims, but also, even if that's so, my apologies to art restoration academia, but as you might understand, and this might shock you immensely... but in all aspects of life, academia isn't everything. A lot of it is a circle jerk of confirmation bias and academics agreeing with each other and recycling their own ideas without a single one of them questioning their own claims or thinking outside of their own little circles. As much as I respect academia in some aspects, sometimes academia needs to be a little more self aware, and I'm being nice with that "sometimes". If you don't bring non-academia views into these circles, you will end up yielding the same results over and over and becoming obsolete because you will be stuck in your own ways. Academia, like all areas of life, needs change, a breath of fresh air. I'm not saying art restoration academia has no authority, but it's not the end of the world if academics don't approve of something. All respect to specialists who study subjects for years, but a lot of them can get stuck in their own ways without questioning their own theories, or putting them into practice? And as a person who has known circle jerks, especially academia related all too well, I suppose they'll survive being put into question once in a while. As well as, in some aspects I do agree and even respect, even if their opinions differ, as long as their argument makes sense, is based on proof and on scientifically questioning their own claims once in a while with new information (which, most of the time, they don't, hence the circle jerk and getting stuck). So, like I said, all due respect to academia, but they aren't really the only opinion that counts.
@@s.8137 It's the scientific and academic communities that are pushing the art of restoration to the next level. The reason Julian gets much criticism from those circles is because he was taught by his father who applied now outdated restoration techniques which Julians keeps pushing as the "correct" way to restore art pieces. There is of course no objective way to look at art restoration, but the closest thing we have to objectivity is to approach the subject through the scientific method. And according to science, Julian is doing things that are no longer considered scientifically correct. Julian is good, but he applies outdated techniques. That in itself is not a dealbreaker, it's not like he's restoring masterpieces like the Mona Lisa. But he gets flack because of the way he presents these techniques as the "right" way to do art restoration.
@@NavidIsANoobBut he... doesn't? He literally goes on in his videos about how different people do things differently and how he is trying his best to make sure everything is in place for another potential future conservator to make their own calls. The only times he's ever dissed someone else's restoration as being incorrect is when it's something like in this video where it's so obviously not good it borders on a joke. Even if the way he does things is behind the times--which I admit I have no idea one way or the other if that's true--he definitely doesn't push it on anybody or claim that his way of doing things is correct above all others.
You know what that "restoration" reminded me of? It's like choosing full coverage foundation in a wrong colour and undertone. When the paint (makeup) was coming of the face you can see that painted person has pink/cool undertone and the person gave it warm/golden undertone full coverage foundation. It's like a painting went to a one star review makeup artist, asked for natural look and came out with full glam😂 that needed to be washed right away. It's nice that it got the proper restoration.😊
No wonder he signed it.... he "painted" the entire thing! I really appreciate how you obscured the previous "restorers" name it tells me they are still active and you are not trying to throw them under the bus. That is a testament to your character. Thanks for the video! Have a great week.
When you were removing the overpaint from her face, I felt deeply touched to see the original art resurface in all of its beauty. You saved her, quite literally.
Yes, the soul came back to the painting. I was wondering if the massive overpaint was to disguise an overly aggressive cleaning. I noticed some very abraided areas.
Don't have to look closely to see how the painting doesn't look alive. It's literally flat and lifeless. The painting is now alive after your restoration works. Thank goodness! Looked beautiful
As you removed that overpaint, I found myself fearing how bad the face MUST be to justify even a fraction of that much overpaint but then... just wow. So much work to fix, but well done and well worth it.
The colours are literally different in this 'restoration'. I'm a writer. To me it would be like my editor would butcher half of my text instead of touching up the grammar AND posted/published as their own AND got money for it. Like, what the hell? The original colours are so soft. The eyebrows are so detailed. I'm so glad you were able to remove all that nonsense. The signature... It's beyond my understanding.
This was astounding. As a non-painter, it made me appreciate the line between bad and good painting in a new way. It's not as though the original painter here was some great master. I wouldn't necessarily be blown away by that thing if I saw it hanging in a gallery. And yet, when you compare the original artist's work with the overpaint monstrosity, it's the difference between life and death. Expression and a void. With the training and practice it takes to model variations in skin tone, or capture the look in someone's eye, a portrait artist, even just a decently good one, is doing magic.
I believe these paintings may not be for a gallery, but privately owned and are known ancestors. This is maybe the only way they have to know what their ancestors looked like, and the over-painting completely ruined that experience.
A lot of it was that awful skin tone. They just did a flat yellowish tone across the entire face, there was no pink in it, and no variation across where it should have blended into shadow. Bleh
I'm in awe of the sheer amount of detailing and depth the previous person just painted over and essentially erased, the painting came to life when you started cleaning the face.
The fact that the previous "conservator" used staples makes it feel personal. As if they watched your videos and did the exact opposite just to spite you.
Stapling the canvas to the stretcher might be forgiven. It's not optimal, but it gets the canvas on with the least amount of fuzz. But the weirdly bend staples to hold the stretcher to the frame? That's pure malevolence.
I’m a visual artist for 24 years now and just found this channel and I love this. And what a shanda. This piece is an example of an ego. Permanent marker?! A signature to proudly show their shoddy work is incredible honestly. This was incredible to watch and I learned so much.
Seeing how awful that paint job was and seeing it being swiftly removed almost brough this artist to tears. The lack of care from the previous work was so hurtful, and it wasn't even my art this was done to. Bravo on restoring this painting to its former glory! I'm sure the original artist would be relieved if they could see.
wow, that face when the overpaint was removed just came to life. So much depth. I feel bad for the previous "conservator". It seems they were given a task that they really weren't up for. Luckily they used removable paints. May the world guide them to learn true archival restoration.
It was mentioned that oil paint was used by the amateur and that because the work had been done relatively lately (2013) that the oil paint had not had time to reach the polymer stage. That's why it came up so easily.
They used oil paints which can be irreversible. It was just fortunate that it was relatively recently. Thus truly was a paint by number rather than a restoration.
the overpaint WAS the damage. at first i thought this was just some sorta pop art, like a quick painting done on a street or something... i had no idea that when julian says "it looks flat" he meant in comparison to the actual original he expected, which was far more of a classical painting.
There were cracks in the paint surface, especially visible on the face. Such cracks are entirely normal for anything of age. My guess is that it was these cracks that the original restorer had been asked to remove by an owner who didn’t know better.
What struck me was that the woman's eyes were hardly altered. Removing the restauration attempt was like lifting a thick plaster mask off her face: you revealed a human being behind this mask.
The eyeballs themselves were hardly altered, but all the tiny details on the eye skin had been erased. Quite impressive to realize how important these are
Hey Julian, I just wanted to say thanks so much. By your videos, I was able to pass an art class I took over the summer. Just some of the terms you have gone over, the professor did an awful job explaining things but I passed the exam because you explained things so well in your videos. It was things like “explain how to stretch a canvas properly”, “how would you explain different painting techniques (referring to patching loss)” and a few other things I can’t remember at the moment. Only five of us passed that exam with passing scores. So thank you. I would likely have failed if it hadn’t been for your videos.
What a wonderful post. Perfect acknowledgment of Julian's ability to effectively convey important information with passion and caring. Education is everything!! Congrats on passing your class and best of luck with whatever you do.
I hope everyone else asked for their money back. A teacher who fails almost a whole class because they neglect to teach the syllabus is a terrible teacher.
My jaw dropped for this one. The best example ever of amateur restorer/painter vs professional artist and restorer. The LIFE in the eyes of the original vs the cover-up is just wow. The final restoration is even more astounding. Absolutely amazing job!
07:50 I GASPED. I thought the overpaint would be amateur but this is on another level!! They didn't even stay true to the shape of the original!! I feel like it's a crime against humanity not to name the person responsible for this so they never get work like this again. Thankfully, Julian's calmer demeanor prevails, and you show once again that you're a professional.
As you were cleaning off all that overpaint I kept getting more and more upset that someone actually painted over the entire painting. Absolutely insane! I felt like you, continuously cursing throughout the process 😂
She was modernized with features more desired today. The nose contouring and loss of chin cleft were most noteable. The eyebrows, well, enough said. Great restoration. You really outdid yourself with this one.
@@Valsorayu Their opinion is just that, but this comment is as pretentious as it gets, even if it is true. But this is a really sad projection, a projection is a form of wish for someone to be below your standards so you can ridicule them and each has it's own tad of malice. You'd wish for someone to have no friends so you can attack them and try to come out on top as having some form of pseudo-prestige? You even hedge your bet with classic sophistry.
It's hard to believe how human the shading on the skin became after the retouching. Bravo, my friend. It's always such a treat when I stumble across your videos.
It is rare for me to catch myself with my mouth wide open in shock. When the over paint was pulled off the shawl I was shocked. When you unveiled her face I was frozen in time in utter disbelief. Thank goodness you were able to restore such a nice painting. Hopefully whoever did this work sees this video and stops what they are doing. This was a crime and yet they had the gall to sign it. Keep up the great work! Edit: Grammar
Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like if Julian criticises a previous conservator's retouches, only to remove their work and find that the original artist had done the exact same thing.
"as you can see, the previous conservator painted over this baby, making him look like a middle aged ma- Oh...no, never mind... that's just an ugly baby..."
The UA-cam algorithm is truly a mystery. I’m fully invested in watching a 30 minute video in a subject I’ve never searched for. This is so cool so far.
The author portrayed a beautiful person in a moment in time. The "restorer" turner her into a porcelain doll by putting on a layer of what they imagined women meant when they said "natural makeup"... So glad you brought her back to life, she deserved it
When you cleaned the eyebrow is where I lost it, so much finesse and control was lost under that paint over. It looked three times better before the last restoration attempt. Amazing work you did there!
Great video, as always😊 The permanent marker signature reminds me of a home inspector/renovator’s show where he inspected a terrible fire hazard of incompetent work in a home’s basement. He found a culprit’s signature “My first basement”.
I could not believe that someone thought what they had done in 2013 was a restoration. It was horrible. When you uncovered her eye, it was astonishing. You could see Her. Her life, her being. It was beautiful. You are so wonderful to watch. The paintings you work on, you bring to life. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.😊
The fact that you could see individual hairs in the brow only after removing the failed restoration, speaks volumes to how much of a difference there was.
This once again shows the big difference between conservation and recreating art. I dont believe the first person who 'fixed it' is a bad artist per say but they should probably sitck to making their own art and not 'fixing' other peoples. Absolutely beautiful results im happy to see the peice repaired and looking the way the original artist intended it to look.
In terms of keeping your hands away from solvents - many nitrile gloves have very light texture on them, and I suspect they'd give enough friction to remove the kind of goop you were using your fingers for. Maybe something to look into and experiment with for the future - we all want you to keep those hands safe and sound for all the art that will need you in the future! Thank you for another wonderful piece of art brought back to life the way it should be.
It’s impressive that the person who “restored” this painting before, was actually happy enough with what they did, that they put their name on the back! At least you can try to find them, pay them a visit and tell them to never touch another painting, ever again 😅
The best is when you get a hack owner who takes a hack painting to a hack restorer, who does a hack job and produces something somehow worse than the original, and the owner naturally has no idea. I have literally seen dozens of this species of "restored art", and not just paintings. Furniture, curios, etc. Stupid people seek each other out to tell them they're right.
I'll have to admit this is one of my favorite restorations. The addition of the second painting was a wonderfully pleasant surprise and a hansome couple were once again revealed to prominence by your amazing skills.
Wow...being a diesel mechanic and seeing another person use his hands to restore and fix a piece of art is simply amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this and all your other restorations. You truly are a master of your craft huge respect to you sir.
@@davesmith3023 A.) Why is that at all relevant to what he said? B.) I wonder if you'd bristle if someone reduced what you did for a living to some derisive and dismissive phrase. Let's see. "Don't you just flip burgers?"
@@davesmith3023 Being a mechanic is similar in some aspects to being an art conservator, both diligently work towards fixing something, both attempt to conserve as much of the original as possible - without being excessive. And both ultimately wish to see that their work "fixed" or "mended" what was previously in disrepair. Artists aren't only those who create spectacles for people to view and interpret, artists are also those who wholeheartedly dedicate themselves towards one passion, seeing a master at work, regardless of what the work entails; is truly captivating.
Wow she looks much younger in the original you uncovered. And the previous restoration not only gave her "full coverage makeup" but actually changed the whole painting style into something more geometrical (I'm bad with art style names), particularly around her nose
The brighter colours that the previous 'conservator' used, the fact that he erased her chin dimple, gave her defined eyebrows and painted lips, just makes me feel like he was basically applying a filter. I'm so glad it could be fixed.
I love your reaction! I can imagine that the owner cried when they saw that awful “restoration”. They made it look like a cartoon character. Great restoration!
This is one of my favourite restorations to come back to. How such a beautiful painting was underneath a bad restoration. The person probably isn’t horrible at painting, but not at conservation. It’s incredible how everything comes off and you can see exactly how it was meant to be.
Your reaction to this made my day. I’m sitting here chortling away. Edit: I can’t understand in any way how someone could think that overpaint was okay. Not only flat but the wrong colors, painting across boundaries, etc. Thank goodness you were able to remove it and bring the painting back to life
I have to say as someone who knows nothing about art this particular video really puts into perspective the finesse and precision it takes to do what you do. Thanks for the awesome showcase of talent and professional restraint to do only the necessary and do it well.
Hey everyone, just to clarify; the thumbnail is most definitely a joke. Even with serious work, humor is a necessity, as this experience certainly shows.
Hey it worked on getting it picked up by the algorithm. I hadn't seen any of your videos in my recommendations in a hot minute. 🎉
It’s a shame the algorithm works like that. I was afraid you would do this all the time. So it’s pretty funny 😂
The thumbnail was the reason I clicked, and I've since subscribed and went through a ton of your backlog.
Instant fan. While humor typically isn't the focus of your vids, I think it worked very well in this case and would love to see more in the future! You're funnier than just dad-joke transitions!
Amazing work.
Then, let us say it, the previous restoration was definitely a huge fail, caricature that lacked mastery. You did justice for both paintings, they're so beautiful.
When you revealed the cleft in her chin, I gasped! You really did reveal so much character in the painting ☺️
The previous restauration attempt is the definition of what is called "Verschlimmbessern" in German. It is a combination of the words "Verbessern" - "to improve" and "verschlimmern" - "to worsen". So it means basically "to worsen something in an attempt to improve it." And this overpaint illustrates this term perfectly.
German has the BEST words!
I love how German seems to have the word for everything, the closest English expression I can think of is 'fix it till it breaks'
I'm going to figure out how to pronounce this and use it all the dang time. Someone just scratched off all the nonstick on a pan here in an attempt to clean it
There's a lot of people doing facial rejuvenation in Brazil. When it goes bad we say "rejuvelhecimento" which is a combination of the words "rejuvenescimento" - which means rejuvenation with the word "envelhecimento" - which means aging = rejuvenaging
@@ventiladordesuco That's a great one. Brazilian Portuguese has some great plays on words.
English could use "rejuvenaging" to describe Botox gone Bad.
They gave this girl a full influencer beat from the mid 2010s, didn't they. She was deyassified before my own eyes and I'm happy for her.
You're so right, like look at the contouring of the nose that was done according to a contemporary style of makeup
So many things and people need to be deyassified 😩
You say deyassified, but i would be willing to say she actually had a glow-up when all that 2010's heavy contour and full coverage foundation were removed lmao
"deyassified" is definitely added to my vocabulary now.
Behehehe "deyassified." Nice.
Watching you remove the paint from her face was like removing my makeup circa 2018. They really put the full coverage foundation on that poor girl.
I thought the same thing about that highlighted brow.
@@verderaven and the extreme nose highlight
Matte full coverage foundation, matte lip, eyebrow highlight.... everything
Yassified
Felt like turning off the "perfect" face filter. All natural is best!
The fact that you hid the restorer’s name, despite the shoddy work he did, shows so much class on your part.
His name and his embarrassment 😂 made excuses for the imposter
"He"........interesting.
@@stevvvvvvv I agree. This looks like the work of a Sephora beautician imposing Kim Kardashian type trendy "sculpting", full foundation make up and basking all lines on a poor "ugly" client. No man would go that far.
@@stevvvvvvv _He_ is a normal word to use when referring to a person with an unspecified gender.
That said, I'd wager most people in this line of work are men, so if nothing else he's just placing good odds.
@@Selrisitainot really? It's often assumed, but "they" is at least as grammatically accurate and is only becoming more common in that use as English moves away from using masculine terms to refer to groups or unknown individuals.
I like to imagine a conservator, 100 years from now, making their own videos (or whatever it will be) just going through a painting you restored, "Ah yes, Baumgartner Restoration, I always enjoy when these pieces come to me it truly makes my job so much easier. See how little paint was added? How tiny the patches were? They couldn't do nano-fixtures like we can now, but this was truly a marvelous restoration in the 21st century. I'm just going to clean it, make sure everything is up to the new standards for reversable restoration and this will be done. Oh look, the owner of the painting still has the information packet on the back that contains all the work that was done and what was used. This sometimes gets lost over time so this is a nice surprise!"
Oh this is absolutely beautiful
Julian has rights to put on a smug face as he enters the garden of kings.
Julian's mother could not have said it better! ❤😂
:D
No, in 100 years conservation will focus solely on soup removal. They're going to be hungry.
I'm astounded that the person who did the work actually signed it. Like, not just placing a note with some information but actually signing it as if he is co-painter and can take part of the credit. Unbelievable!
With the amount of painting they did they definitely were a co-painter 😅
I can not... the guy didn't even bother to paint "within the lines" of the original painting. The amount of delusional self-confidence is frankly astounding!
People who feel like doing this is fine suffer from a severe case of self inflated ego, so signing it is perfectly in line with that.
@@spacehootle309 Exactly, i was going to say it's not even Paint by Numbers because they just freehanded outside of the original cloak like it was optional.
They used a Sharpie directly on the canvas. That tells you everything you need to know about that person's idea of 'conservation'. I hope they see this video and feel embarrassed at the travesty they created.
Watching you clean her face was like watching someone remove cakey foundation
Yes! As soon as he started cleaning the face I said "It's like a bad foundation match!"
I was looking for the foundation comment, thank you.
I was thinking the same thing. It felt like someone should be telling me a true crime story while holding up their Sephora haul. 😂
Yes those were my thoughts exactly!!
Same thing here haha
"at first glance it doesn't look that bad"
I can't be the only one that thought it really did look that bad at first glance
Yeahhh oil paint shouldn't look like a total amateur used acrylic lol
You weren’t😂
I was in denial, told myself “maybe it’s a stylistic choice…”, but when he started removing the full pancake face treatment and you could see what was underneath I gasped.
You can't know how bad anything is until you compare it to what's below. Just because someone over-painted it doesn't mean the original artist might have been even less talented. For all we knew, the original painting was just as devoid of nuance or even less so as the re-touched one.
To be fair I have seen worse art if the overpaint was a painting that was done from the ground up on its own canvas you could enjoy it for what it was, but because it was overpainted on actual art its of course going to grant a negative disposition no matter how good the "artist" was who overpainted it like that.
The cleaning on this one is like the painting equivalent of pulling up your crappy linoleum and finding beautiful hardwood floors underneath. Just astounding.
That's exactly what happened in my mom's house. A few years after I moved out, she had the ghastly brown shag carpeting that ran through almost the entire house (except for the kitchen, which was high-traffic short-pile stuff) removed. Underneath was some of the most exquisite oak flooring you could imagine. The kitchen had beautiful rich brown-and-gold granite tiles that carried the same coloration as the oak. There were only a few areas that needed repairs, and all of it needed some degree of refinishing, but it was incredible to see.
(But then my mother passed away in 2022, and the house was sold to someone who turned out to apparently be a flipper, because the next set of pictures I saw had all the floors covered with gray-toned wood-patterned laminate, all the walls and trim were painted flat gray and white, and the whole house looked absolutely empty and soulless. I cried when I saw those pictures... aside from the first-floor bathroom, which HAD been a time capsule from the 1970s with horrible avocado-green and orange tiles and an orange sink to match; it was actually improved by the gray-and-white treatment. Then again, it would have been improved by a flamethrower, too.)
@@redwitch12 Same thing in my house growing up, but previous owners had used lime green shag.
Linoleum and wood are both terrible for floors. Wood is for walls, you walk on floors, wood gets cold.
@@John_Doe974 What are you even saying? Wooden floors feel nice and are warm.
Ours was dirty nasty avocado green shagg carpet with stains of unknown origin. The hardwood needed maybe two/three boards replaced and at least one of those was from the carpet nails rusting...
I've always wondered how you'd react when you see a terrible restoration and you did not disappoint.
Julian: Bleep! Bleep! Bleep! Bleeeeeep!
Reminds me of “monkey Jesus”
I signed in humored delight on the bleeps. The bleeps were what was going thru my head. I am unsure who to applaud more, the person that found it or the brilliance or the true conservator said bleepit bleep bleep
A solid 3 minutes of eloquent shade being thrown is about what you’d expect, isn’t it? 😅
I replayed the whole bleep part to my husband to show him my delight, he now knows he has definitely married an interesting woman😂
Julian calmly swearing up a storm is a mood.
It scared me. Lol
I thought It was hilarious but rightly justified. :)
Beware the wrath of a calm man
8:32 You know it's gonna be a good video when the painting spontaneously starts playing Schubert when the solvent is applied.
AHA! I thought it was Schubert!
Which piece by him? I always go crazy hearing it because its so familiar. This is also why I think more youtubers need to look at imslp for public domain recordings of really beautiful classical music to use as bg.
Any chance you recall what piece?
@@sixfootsev3nlate, but it's "Impromptu No. 3, Op. 90" of Schubert
That previous conservation looked like an Instagram filter devoid of subtle humanity. I was shocked. Brilliant work as always
Perfectly worded!
Should have made the guys name known as a warning to others to avoid.
It reminded me of copying masterpieces in high school. Like it would technically look like the original, but things would be very off because it hadn't been mastered yet. That same color white line around the bonnet dropped my jaw, and not in a good way 😭
It made me think of the visual style of "Archer" too, which is obviously unsuitable for a painting like that.
@@eponawarrior7492 weirdly it shows someone who can paint and possesses natural ability...yeh like a high school student, but hasn't mastered it the tonality and expression or even understanding how to look at the painting, which is the problem
Wow you did say the overpaint was flat but wow. This might be one of your most drastic cleaning reveals yet.
I know right!? it's the first time I said "Wow! the white is less white!"
@@ShruikanKillerthat’s because the overpainting was blue. Holy ****
They couldn't even follow the lines on the collar either, a 4 year old can do better with a colouring book...
@@njoshua3265 Yeah, that part blew me away. Him cleaning up that gray and the actual shoulder proved to be seriously that far away...
Yea holy shit... that was an extreme change... just to take away that layer.. and if you look at her shoulder area... it wasen't even painted over the right lines... but over where the background was... my mouth was gaping the whole time of dissbelive of why anyone would do this shit to a painting. @baumgartner I am glad you got the job to restore it :)
I am amazed that the person who "restored" this previously was happy enough with their work to sign their name on the back of it
in permanent marker, too!
with the job they did, i doubt it was happiness with their work as much as it was sheer arrogance!
Can't have been a professional, surely. They couldn't even stay inside the lines of the original
Literally
The whole face and cap with lace did look like someone who knew nothing about period makeup or the cap and lace. The lace would have been handmade and very filmy looking. I am sure that the word 'Idiot' was said several times, along with much stronger words!
This is the most soft spoken, gentle, and vicious roast I've ever heard. I _love_ it.
I don’t know who remembers me, but about a year ago I left a comment under one of those videos, saying that this inspired me to pursue a career in conservation. A few people asked me to update, so here it is:
I’ve recently started my internship at a paper restauration workshop and I’m currently restoring my first ever book! Next year I will take up studies at uni. I’m so incredibly happy that I found my way into this awesome job!!
been waiting for this conclusion, good luck! :)
@@ghostiesoba9958conclusion? This is just the beginning good luck @linelesscolour
Congratulations!!
I wish you generous blessings and success Dear🥰
blessings and i yearn better things come along after 👋
The way my jaw dropped when you just removed the first square overpainting of overpainting on the chin. They not only flattened but didn’t even get the skin tone anywhere near right!
Great job as always, Julian!
I kind of see why the mouth chin area was overpainted - after J's restoration it looks like the woman had blemishes around that area maybe acne or rosacea.
@@gurucarcarsmallpox in those days.
@@robertfarrow5853Smallpox has different symptoms. It doesn't discolour so much as it leaves tiny little scars
Yes she is nolonger lady in grey.
I almost yelled out "Dude! She was already white!! What was that!?!?"
The way her skin & eyes came to life when you removed that paint layer was both beautiful & satisfying
It felt like her humanity was slowly restored as that horrible mask was removed. Her eyes softened significantly!
It was like watching a stage actor take off cake make-up and become a real person again.
ah, just like wearing makeup!
I was almost in tears to see the variation in skin tone, shading, shadowing and micro-freckles revealed, that were previously smoothed out and almost erased from time. I have done Fine Arts Packaging, foundational repair and am slowly venturing toward preservation/restoration. This channel is a treasure!
If I can be brutally honest: the restored painting is really not a terribly good one anyway. Naturally, Julian’s work is first rate, but the painting underneath wasn’t a lot better than the awful paint-by-numbers restoration TBH.
Seeing both paintings together at the end warms my heart a bit. Regardless of what the actual marriage was like, the two paintings have been together for years, decades, even under harsh repainting, and now they get to be together again, renewed and whole. :,)
The fact that they signed it is particularly hilarious.
Right! Just announce who did this!
The "job well done" of the incompetent.
In permanent marker no less.
You can nearly see what it says when he removes it.
Clearly, it was a collab in their mind 😌
"Overpaint" doesn't even begin to describe this, that was _obscene,_ but it was so unimaginably satisfying to see it all undone and watch the original painting come back 😍
at least wasnt like "ecce mono", poor paing
At 09:40 starting you can see the shoulder lowering for a good 2 cm. That was overpainted quite generously on the contours.
Nah that aint overpaint, thats RE-paint
Fear of bad restoration is why it took a decade for me to convince my late mother to get a family painting restored. I had her call our local fine arts museum and ask them to recommend a restorer. They gave her the name of a local lady they use and she did a fabulous job. You can’t even tell where it was touched up or where the tiny tear was.
Plot twist : "this painting ain't damaged. I'll do nothing and charge $500"
On a serious note, how much does it cost to restore a painting?
Like...i know it's very diverse (based on damage and size, or even the expertise), but is there any way to point where the price is cheap or too expensive?
@@MoridaFanadier Honestly it's near impossible to give you a price range like this. The work a conservator will have to do on a pice can vary widly from a few touch-ups to saving the entire structure that is rotting away. Some things that would take a long time to restore aren't even flagrantly visible to the untrained eye so if the conservator doesn't explain it to the client (which they should), they might feel like they've been ripped off. Keeping in mind that I work on books and not on paintings, but I imagine it's quite similar in that aspect.
What I can only recommend is to do a bit of research on the conservators in your area. Look up where they studied on their websites or LinkedIn to make sure they're properly qualified. And then bring them your artwork and ask them what price range they might charge you for this specific case. I sometimes only do emergency treatments like stopping an infestation of insects or mold or create conditioning for the book if the client can't spend more/doesn't want more done. And obviously this will cost way less than if I have to reattach some pages or do a leather graft.
With fairness to your successful outcome, recommendations from strangers are lubricated by lack of accountability. "The local lady they used" was also the well-meaning granny who destroyed Ecce Homo and had no idea why people were upset.
Certifications. Ask for them always, and before leaving the artwork in their hands. Real art restorers have pedigrees, they aren't word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth is how you get somebody's cousin who's a real whiz with a paintbrush.
@@jasoncarswell7458 I think you're being a little too harsh. It's not like they were calling around the neighborhood. They contacted a museum.
i can't fathom how much over paint was done for such a little repaint. you can see the face before was soooo smooth and at the time of cleaning all the details like dimple in chin ,the face shape and the shading around the nose.. i thank the lord that they send this painting to you.
I don’t understand why any conservator would sign directly on a painting that is not theirs, especially not with a permanent marker.
Well technically.... if you hide absolutely all of the original painting, it is your painting.
I'm wondering if he was trying to trace the painting, and didn't notice the baking paper blew away.
sheer arrogance
That's the point
the person who defaced this painting was not a conservator.
Well they essentially repainted the whole thing ._.
Damn this painting touch up look like a girls from 2023 with apps filter😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.
Holy cow, that was one of the best overpaint removals I've ever seen. It was like she was wearing a full face of makeup before, so satisfying to see it all come off.
Yeah the before looked like if the painting had an instagram filter applied to it.
@@primodragoneitalianoi was just thinking that
Always a chance the owner may like the other version better than the originals and want him to put it back.
@@fefferryerr1818 Were you, by any chance, the one who did the overpainting? 😂
@@raerohan4241You caught me
The comparison between a botched restoration by an ego-driven amateur and a proper restoration by a professional that respects the artwork is night and day. Bravo sir.
@@acmhfmggru Could we need a bit of that Kool Aid ourselves? Or maybe we found our original amateur 😌
The amateur restoration broke all the principles of conservation. Thats why its being mocked. You DO NOT paint over the whole damn thing because of minor damage. You DO NOT sign your fucking name as a conservator. You DO NOT use those non conservation materials.
That you think otherwise screams of either ignorance or flatly that you do the same thing.@@acmhfmggru
🤣Almost identical lol
🤡
The granny who destroyed Ecce Homo is actually quite rich now. Sacred art is not exactly highly valued in Spain these days... the government was delighted to see they could monetize the whole thing.
As someone who does none-professional retouching to paintings (for a low-price on inexpensive art), while I cringe and cry for this poor painting, I feel more comfortable with my work after seeing this abomination, knowing that I do much better jobs with much more reversible paint, more experience, more detail and more love than whatever this was
Edit: just posted this comment and I realize some people may hate me for my previous statement… fear not! I’ve gone to a proper art school and learned the basics of conservation!
I was actually personally offended when you started cleaning and I saw the beautiful painting hidden under all that overpaint. I would be embarrassed to put my signature on that piece if I was the last conservator. You brought it back to life!
I'm sorry but I'm curious why you feel offended seeing a restoration of a botched restoration? For The first time he started to clean the previous restoration I feel hopeful to see the original art got a proper treatment.
@@yokhawanhaI think they meant they were offended on behalf of the original painting that the old conservator would dare to do such a thing
@@iMishi0219 aaah so they offended by the previous conservator restoration?
@@yokhawanhayep that! they were offended by how bad that first restoration was
I think the notion of your being personally offended is silly.
this definitely was not done by an art restorer but probably just a regular artist. You said it was restored in 2013 and that makes sense because the eyebrows and eyes (not to mention the super sculpted nose) really reflect the makeup trends of the 2010s. The fact that they painted over the entire thing must have meant that they realised that they werent sure they picked the right colors for the face and tried to conceal it by matching the rest with their own brush work. I’m just happy they didnt use acrylic paint lol
Good hypothesis. What I noticed was the change in expression. The repainted version had these almost-smile we use today on a family-photo. The original was much more ... distant and ernest. Like the expression you had when you were sitting for hours to have your portrait done.
they tried to yassify her xD I do prefer the older version as it seems more natural. The ``new´´face gave it a more modern feel but it felt unnatural.
I was wondering the same thing about it being done by an artist rather than restorer
Actually doing at the nose contour 💀
It being an artist makes it that much worse imo. What artist has the audacity to sign another artists work with permanent marker. Everything else I can let slide as in they did a terrible job restoring a painting but the permanent marker signature just pisses me off.
I love how you always focus on the fact that conservation isn't about recreating the painting, but it's about honouring the artist by preserving their work. The previous "conservator" definitely got way into their head, by not only being heavy handed with their retouching, but also defacing the back of canvas by signing on it. Thank you for your professionalism and your talent, that brought it back to life!
To sign it, though, they must have thought they'd performed a wonderful service. Personally, I wouldn't have thought it worth even trying. Historically, perhaps, these are important but not exactly well painted in the first place. As the only remaining record of what a real person might have looked like - great. It's good that they've now been restored and can go back into family storage where, ironically, they will probably remain in better original condition than many a decently rendered portrait that is hung up and looked at. The reason why somebody wanted to obliterate them with overpainting, in the first place, is because they were seen. It's good that Baumgartner could resist the urge to fix the originals as that's the devil that probably took hold of the previous 'restorer'.
@@batintheattic7293haha yes I had the same conclusion. The person who did that attempt at conservation must have truly thought they did something ! They had to think they provided a good service, and they must have felt proud of themselves - cuz otherwise they wouldn’t have signed it. Like let’s say I tried to restore a painting but severely messed it up in the process. I would feel terrible! I’d be devastated, mortified, and feel super guilty for my actions and resulting failures. I definitely would not sign my name on the back of the original canvas, immortalizing myself and my mistakes for the rest of this paintings life and now for this massive online audience to view and further admonish my shoddy work. Plus it feels disrespectful to sign my own name on an artists work, glorifying myself alongside the artist, as if I were the one who created this art - when in reality, I was the one who made this artwork worse. that’s a terrible legacy. I could not do that to myself, I have high standards and take pride in my work. I care about what I do, so anything with my name on it MUST be quality!
Exactly. If I wanted to recreate a painting, I would have gotten a separate canvas, and recreated it on the blank one. Not desecrate the original and ruin it for anybody else who would want to see it.
The audacity of the previous restorer to completely repaint the whole thing... And then sign it in the back as if they were the creator of the original painting! It smells of jealousy to me, they want to steal the glory for themselves and pretend they are a prestigious painter, it just feels like absolute sabotage like they want to erase the original artist and pretend they created it instead. I would slap a bitch if I personally knew who did that. You don't fuck with art. Art is an expression of the artists soul. This is just as disrespectful as if they had smeared dogshit all over the painting. But in a way I'm kinda glad they did sign it because then there was proof of what clown did that, and proof of what a talentless sabotaging idiot they are too. No denying it.
The initial painting itself wasnt so appealing to begin with and the restoration just turned it into comedy. You did a good job to bring it back. Im a great admirer of your work.
This video should be shown to all art restoration students with a disclaimer saying 'if you won't study hard - someday, Julian will roast you' 😂
Julian is considered a hack in art restoration academia.
@@NavidIsANoobproof
@@NavidIsANoob You should be able to support your claims, but also, even if that's so, my apologies to art restoration academia, but as you might understand, and this might shock you immensely... but in all aspects of life, academia isn't everything. A lot of it is a circle jerk of confirmation bias and academics agreeing with each other and recycling their own ideas without a single one of them questioning their own claims or thinking outside of their own little circles. As much as I respect academia in some aspects, sometimes academia needs to be a little more self aware, and I'm being nice with that "sometimes". If you don't bring non-academia views into these circles, you will end up yielding the same results over and over and becoming obsolete because you will be stuck in your own ways. Academia, like all areas of life, needs change, a breath of fresh air. I'm not saying art restoration academia has no authority, but it's not the end of the world if academics don't approve of something. All respect to specialists who study subjects for years, but a lot of them can get stuck in their own ways without questioning their own theories, or putting them into practice? And as a person who has known circle jerks, especially academia related all too well, I suppose they'll survive being put into question once in a while. As well as, in some aspects I do agree and even respect, even if their opinions differ, as long as their argument makes sense, is based on proof and on scientifically questioning their own claims once in a while with new information (which, most of the time, they don't, hence the circle jerk and getting stuck). So, like I said, all due respect to academia, but they aren't really the only opinion that counts.
@@s.8137 It's the scientific and academic communities that are pushing the art of restoration to the next level. The reason Julian gets much criticism from those circles is because he was taught by his father who applied now outdated restoration techniques which Julians keeps pushing as the "correct" way to restore art pieces.
There is of course no objective way to look at art restoration, but the closest thing we have to objectivity is to approach the subject through the scientific method. And according to science, Julian is doing things that are no longer considered scientifically correct.
Julian is good, but he applies outdated techniques. That in itself is not a dealbreaker, it's not like he's restoring masterpieces like the Mona Lisa. But he gets flack because of the way he presents these techniques as the "right" way to do art restoration.
@@NavidIsANoobBut he... doesn't? He literally goes on in his videos about how different people do things differently and how he is trying his best to make sure everything is in place for another potential future conservator to make their own calls. The only times he's ever dissed someone else's restoration as being incorrect is when it's something like in this video where it's so obviously not good it borders on a joke. Even if the way he does things is behind the times--which I admit I have no idea one way or the other if that's true--he definitely doesn't push it on anybody or claim that his way of doing things is correct above all others.
I love the range of fanciness in your tools. You got specialized tables that cost an arm and a leg, and then you have cinder blocks.
Thats so true 😂 the art of chaos
If you need something heavy, flat, durable, and widely available, they're a great tool for the job!
Not only a paint was restored, also the dignity of the lady and the artist. Bravissimo!!
You know what that "restoration" reminded me of? It's like choosing full coverage foundation in a wrong colour and undertone. When the paint (makeup) was coming of the face you can see that painted person has pink/cool undertone and the person gave it warm/golden undertone full coverage foundation. It's like a painting went to a one star review makeup artist, asked for natural look and came out with full glam😂 that needed to be washed right away. It's nice that it got the proper restoration.😊
I experienced that bad make up for a professional photoshoot. What a disaster
No wonder he signed it.... he "painted" the entire thing!
I really appreciate how you obscured the previous "restorers" name it tells me they are still active and you are not trying to throw them under the bus.
That is a testament to your character.
Thanks for the video!
Have a great week.
Good on him for not calling out the other “restorer” by name, but I do hope they see this video and learn from it.
You can still kinda make out the name underneath the blur though
You can clearly see it when he cleans it though, some of it's covered but you can definitely read it
@@mutemeimscared1632 what's the name of the person? He/she should be publicly shamed!
Unfortunately the original restorer passed away in 2014.
When you were removing the overpaint from her face, I felt deeply touched to see the original art resurface in all of its beauty. You saved her, quite literally.
Yes, the soul came back to the painting. I was wondering if the massive overpaint was to disguise an overly aggressive cleaning. I noticed some very abraided areas.
Don't have to look closely to see how the painting doesn't look alive. It's literally flat and lifeless.
The painting is now alive after your restoration works. Thank goodness! Looked beautiful
All paintings are literally flat and lifeless
Ooh! That was nasty! As an embroiderer, what they did to that lace is horrific 😱
All that overpaint and they still couldn't follow the lines better than a 4 year old too
I don't think I've ever seen a painting un-painted in real life like that, that was amazing to see.
Like washing makeup from a face.
As you removed that overpaint, I found myself fearing how bad the face MUST be to justify even a fraction of that much overpaint but then... just wow. So much work to fix, but well done and well worth it.
Wow, the previous guy completely changed the original painting and basically made it his painting.
the nose contour on the original ‘restoration’ was INSANE
fr, they beat her face. painted a whole sephora spokesperson lol
@@victorbecker4802😂😂😂💀
The colours are literally different in this 'restoration'. I'm a writer. To me it would be like my editor would butcher half of my text instead of touching up the grammar AND posted/published as their own AND got money for it. Like, what the hell? The original colours are so soft. The eyebrows are so detailed. I'm so glad you were able to remove all that nonsense. The signature... It's beyond my understanding.
As a translator... It seems I am a butcher of words
/jk😂
It would be like all your inspired writing getting replaced with a bunch of 'and then he did this' passages
This was astounding. As a non-painter, it made me appreciate the line between bad and good painting in a new way. It's not as though the original painter here was some great master. I wouldn't necessarily be blown away by that thing if I saw it hanging in a gallery. And yet, when you compare the original artist's work with the overpaint monstrosity, it's the difference between life and death. Expression and a void. With the training and practice it takes to model variations in skin tone, or capture the look in someone's eye, a portrait artist, even just a decently good one, is doing magic.
Well said
I believe these paintings may not be for a gallery, but privately owned and are known ancestors. This is maybe the only way they have to know what their ancestors looked like, and the over-painting completely ruined that experience.
A lot of it was that awful skin tone. They just did a flat yellowish tone across the entire face, there was no pink in it, and no variation across where it should have blended into shadow. Bleh
12:20 - when you see the eyes side by side - all of a sudden the woman’s personality comes through. Wow.
Great take
I'm in awe of the sheer amount of detailing and depth the previous person just painted over and essentially erased, the painting came to life when you started cleaning the face.
The fact that the previous "conservator" used staples makes it feel personal. As if they watched your videos and did the exact opposite just to spite you.
I feel like previous conservators do stupid things just to annoy julian lmao
Stapling the canvas to the stretcher might be forgiven. It's not optimal, but it gets the canvas on with the least amount of fuzz. But the weirdly bend staples to hold the stretcher to the frame? That's pure malevolence.
The anti-Baumgartner, his arch-rival
I’m a visual artist for 24 years now and just found this channel and I love this. And what a shanda. This piece is an example of an ego. Permanent marker?! A signature to proudly show their shoddy work is incredible honestly. This was incredible to watch and I learned so much.
The perminent marker directly on the original canvas did make my jaw drop ngl, the audacity
The guy probably thought permanent marker is literally permanent. If he watched this Julian must have blown his goddamn mind by wiping it off lol
That was my, "WHAT?!" moment.
"They _SIGNED_ it?! Like they're PROUD of it?!!!!"
You're Jewish
I can’t imagine putting my name on this 💀
the relief I felt as you freed her from all that excessive overpaint was palpable, truly beautiful work
Seeing how awful that paint job was and seeing it being swiftly removed almost brough this artist to tears. The lack of care from the previous work was so hurtful, and it wasn't even my art this was done to. Bravo on restoring this painting to its former glory! I'm sure the original artist would be relieved if they could see.
wow, that face when the overpaint was removed just came to life. So much depth. I feel bad for the previous "conservator". It seems they were given a task that they really weren't up for. Luckily they used removable paints. May the world guide them to learn true archival restoration.
It was mentioned that oil paint was used by the amateur and that because the work had been done relatively lately (2013) that the oil paint had not had time to reach the polymer stage. That's why it came up so easily.
They used oil paints which can be irreversible. It was just fortunate that it was relatively recently.
Thus truly was a paint by number rather than a restoration.
I was so shocked by the overpaint removal that I didn't even notice the complete lack of damage to the original
the overpaint WAS the damage. at first i thought this was just some sorta pop art, like a quick painting done on a street or something... i had no idea that when julian says "it looks flat" he meant in comparison to the actual original he expected, which was far more of a classical painting.
There were cracks in the paint surface, especially visible on the face. Such cracks are entirely normal for anything of age. My guess is that it was these cracks that the original restorer had been asked to remove by an owner who didn’t know better.
What struck me was that the woman's eyes were hardly altered. Removing the restauration attempt was like lifting a thick plaster mask off her face: you revealed a human being behind this mask.
The eyeballs themselves were hardly altered, but all the tiny details on the eye skin had been erased. Quite impressive to realize how important these are
What a difference! These pictures look so much better. She looked unreal before. After your attention, she regained her humanity. Excellent work.
Good to see that the damage was so easily removed and the previous "work" was not permanent.
Hey Julian, I just wanted to say thanks so much. By your videos, I was able to pass an art class I took over the summer. Just some of the terms you have gone over, the professor did an awful job explaining things but I passed the exam because you explained things so well in your videos. It was things like “explain how to stretch a canvas properly”, “how would you explain different painting techniques (referring to patching loss)” and a few other things I can’t remember at the moment. Only five of us passed that exam with passing scores. So thank you. I would likely have failed if it hadn’t been for your videos.
What a wonderful post. Perfect acknowledgment of Julian's ability to effectively convey important information with passion and caring.
Education is everything!! Congrats on passing your class and best of luck with whatever you do.
+
I hope everyone else asked for their money back. A teacher who fails almost a whole class because they neglect to teach the syllabus is a terrible teacher.
My jaw dropped for this one.
The best example ever of amateur restorer/painter vs professional artist and restorer. The LIFE in the eyes of the original vs the cover-up is just wow. The final restoration is even more astounding. Absolutely amazing job!
I thought the same thing about the eyes! What a huge difference!
The expression from the eyes was definitely my favourite part too!! What a difference!!
It brought me to tears, when you could see this woman coming out as should have looked like when alive ,almost smiling ,stunning !
07:50 I GASPED. I thought the overpaint would be amateur but this is on another level!! They didn't even stay true to the shape of the original!! I feel like it's a crime against humanity not to name the person responsible for this so they never get work like this again. Thankfully, Julian's calmer demeanor prevails, and you show once again that you're a professional.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw how far outside the original margins that "restorer" went!
I love how at first I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong with the previous restoration, but then the new paint came off and it was clear as day
As you were cleaning off all that overpaint I kept getting more and more upset that someone actually painted over the entire painting. Absolutely insane! I felt like you, continuously cursing throughout the process 😂
Watching you removing the overpaint from her face has to be one of the most satisfying thing ever.
Julian reserved all the on camera cursing of his entire UA-cam career and channeled them into this video 😂
once you become a Patreon, you can enjoy uncesored cursing😂
She was modernized with features more desired today. The nose contouring and loss of chin cleft were most noteable. The eyebrows, well, enough said.
Great restoration. You really outdid yourself with this one.
How he managed to resist setting it on fire out of mercy shows what a professional he is. When he uncovered her left eye, I gave a standing ovation.
I highly doubt you got up and started clapping over paint removal in a UA-cam video lol
@@LordVader1094damn my dude must be watching everyone in their apartments
@@LordVader1094 And I highly doubt you have many friends. See we can both be wrong or right yet never know.
@@Valsorayu Their opinion is just that, but this comment is as pretentious as it gets, even if it is true. But this is a really sad projection, a projection is a form of wish for someone to be below your standards so you can ridicule them and each has it's own tad of malice. You'd wish for someone to have no friends so you can attack them and try to come out on top as having some form of pseudo-prestige? You even hedge your bet with classic sophistry.
@@LSSTmusic How do you know they have an apartment? 0_o
It's hard to believe how human the shading on the skin became after the retouching. Bravo, my friend. It's always such a treat when I stumble across your videos.
It is rare for me to catch myself with my mouth wide open in shock. When the over paint was pulled off the shawl I was shocked. When you unveiled her face I was frozen in time in utter disbelief. Thank goodness you were able to restore such a nice painting. Hopefully whoever did this work sees this video and stops what they are doing. This was a crime and yet they had the gall to sign it. Keep up the great work!
Edit: Grammar
When he said permanent marker I actually gasped 😂
I don’t know why, but seeing the husband and the wife restored and together again gets me emotional.
Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like if Julian criticises a previous conservator's retouches, only to remove their work and find that the original artist had done the exact same thing.
"as you can see, the previous conservator painted over this baby, making him look like a middle aged ma-
Oh...no, never mind... that's just an ugly baby..."
The UA-cam algorithm is truly a mystery. I’m fully invested in watching a 30 minute video in a subject I’ve never searched for. This is so cool so far.
The author portrayed a beautiful person in a moment in time. The "restorer" turner her into a porcelain doll by putting on a layer of what they imagined women meant when they said "natural makeup"... So glad you brought her back to life, she deserved it
I was actually startled at how different the painting was literally seconds after Julian took the overpaint off.
Client: Can it be restored?
6 Year Old: Yes
When you cleaned the eyebrow is where I lost it, so much finesse and control was lost under that paint over. It looked three times better before the last restoration attempt. Amazing work you did there!
Great video, as always😊 The permanent marker signature reminds me of a home inspector/renovator’s show where he inspected a terrible fire hazard of incompetent work in a home’s basement. He found a culprit’s signature “My first basement”.
😂😂😂
I could not believe that someone thought what they had done in 2013 was a restoration. It was horrible. When you uncovered her eye, it was astonishing. You could see Her. Her life, her being. It was beautiful. You are so wonderful to watch. The paintings you work on, you bring to life. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.😊
Not only painting by numbers but he didn't even stay within the lines! Great work in bringing the artist back Julian.
The fact that you could see individual hairs in the brow only after removing the failed restoration, speaks volumes to how much of a difference there was.
This once again shows the big difference between conservation and recreating art.
I dont believe the first person who 'fixed it' is a bad artist per say but they should probably sitck to making their own art and not 'fixing' other peoples.
Absolutely beautiful results im happy to see the peice repaired and looking the way the original artist intended it to look.
In terms of keeping your hands away from solvents - many nitrile gloves have very light texture on them, and I suspect they'd give enough friction to remove the kind of goop you were using your fingers for. Maybe something to look into and experiment with for the future - we all want you to keep those hands safe and sound for all the art that will need you in the future!
Thank you for another wonderful piece of art brought back to life the way it should be.
It’s impressive that the person who “restored” this painting before, was actually happy enough with what they did, that they put their name on the back! At least you can try to find them, pay them a visit and tell them to never touch another painting, ever again 😅
The best is when you get a hack owner who takes a hack painting to a hack restorer, who does a hack job and produces something somehow worse than the original, and the owner naturally has no idea.
I have literally seen dozens of this species of "restored art", and not just paintings. Furniture, curios, etc. Stupid people seek each other out to tell them they're right.
That poor painting wasn’t just butchered, it was MASSACRED
I'll have to admit this is one of my favorite restorations. The addition of the second painting was a wonderfully pleasant surprise and a hansome couple were once again revealed to prominence by your amazing skills.
9:42 this part just pains me in demonstrating that whoever had previously “restored” this didn’t even bother painting in the lines :/
I'm not a painter, but the cleaning alone looks so rewarding that I feel the urge to learn those techniques - mind you, just the cleaning
Transformed from a bad cartoon to a beautiful, complexly executed portrait of a real human being from the past. The eyes are gorgeous.
Wow...being a diesel mechanic and seeing another person use his hands to restore and fix a piece of art is simply amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this and all your other restorations. You truly are a master of your craft huge respect to you sir.
@@davesmith3023 A.) Why is that at all relevant to what he said? B.) I wonder if you'd bristle if someone reduced what you did for a living to some derisive and dismissive phrase.
Let's see.
"Don't you just flip burgers?"
@@davesmith3023 Being a mechanic is similar in some aspects to being an art conservator, both diligently work towards fixing something, both attempt to conserve as much of the original as possible - without being excessive. And both ultimately wish to see that their work "fixed" or "mended" what was previously in disrepair.
Artists aren't only those who create spectacles for people to view and interpret, artists are also those who wholeheartedly dedicate themselves towards one passion, seeing a master at work, regardless of what the work entails; is truly captivating.
After the weekend I've had, I too am devoid of sensitivity and artistic expression.
Thank goodness for Julian; he'll fix it!
So satisfying to watch the solvent eat away at the overpaint layer, and the way the original is still intact. You’re so skilled!
Wow she looks much younger in the original you uncovered. And the previous restoration not only gave her "full coverage makeup" but actually changed the whole painting style into something more geometrical (I'm bad with art style names), particularly around her nose
This is a perfect case of "I got a brush so I'm an artist" or "I got a wrench now I'm a mechanic" which is downright dangerous thinking.
The brighter colours that the previous 'conservator' used, the fact that he erased her chin dimple, gave her defined eyebrows and painted lips, just makes me feel like he was basically applying a filter. I'm so glad it could be fixed.
I love your reaction! I can imagine that the owner cried when they saw that awful “restoration”. They made it look like a cartoon character. Great restoration!
This is one of my favourite restorations to come back to. How such a beautiful painting was underneath a bad restoration. The person probably isn’t horrible at painting, but not at conservation. It’s incredible how everything comes off and you can see exactly how it was meant to be.
Your reaction to this made my day. I’m sitting here chortling away. Edit: I can’t understand in any way how someone could think that overpaint was okay. Not only flat but the wrong colors, painting across boundaries, etc. Thank goodness you were able to remove it and bring the painting back to life
It's amazing how much detail came out of the painting after removing the overpaint. So much depth and life came out after removing all the flatness.
I have to say as someone who knows nothing about art this particular video really puts into perspective the finesse and precision it takes to do what you do. Thanks for the awesome showcase of talent and professional restraint to do only the necessary and do it well.
This is the fourth one of yours I've watched... your voice is the CALMINGEST THING I've ever listened to. For this alone, thanks.