Questions Over Fixing Torn Picasso

Published: January 25, 2010
Since 1952 “The Actor,” a rare Rose Period Picasso, has hung prominently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with other examples of early paintings by this Spanish master. But on Monday it could be found in a new, temporary home, the Met’s conservation laboratory, where experts there are trying to determine the best course of action for this 105-year-old painting’s brand-new feature: an irregular, six-inch tear running vertically along the lower right-hand corner.

On Friday afternoon a woman taking an adult education class at the museum accidentally fell into “The Actor,” causing the tear. Officials at the museum said that since the damage did not occur “in the focal point of the composition,” they expected that the repair would be “unobtrusive,” according to a statement released on Sunday.

The accident recalled another human-canvas run-in involving a Picasso. In 2006 the Las Vegas casino owner Stephen A. Wynn put his elbow through “Le Rêve” (“The Dream”), a 1932 Picasso of the artist’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter, leaving a sizable hole that has been so artfully repaired that the untutored eye would never know such a fate had befallen it.

But it is difficult to compare a 1932 Picasso with one painted in 1904-5. The early canvases are more delicate and the oil paint is thinner than the enamel-based kind the artist was known to have used later in his career. And then there is the question of whether there’s only one image involved.

“The Actor” was painted when Picasso was only 23. “He was very poor, and these canvases were expensive,” said John Richardson, the Picasso biographer. He explained that if Picasso made a mistake, he couldn’t afford to throw out the canvas, but rather painted over it. “Nearly all these early canvases have something painted underneath,” Mr. Richardson said.

He added: “There are few major paintings from this period and” — at 4 feet by 6 feet — “this is one of the biggest. It’s very important.” Dealers say a painting of this scale and period could be worth well over $100 million.

It’s an image — a tall, gaunt actor, dressed in a commedia dell’arte costume, leaning out across the footlights — that has often been puzzling to viewers, Mr. Richardson said, adding, “People seem to miss out on the fact that the actor is on a stage, which is unusual.” Also unusual is that the prompter’s hands are visible in the right-hand corner.

Whether those hands are now torn, nobody at the Met is saying. Nor are museum officials talking about how they plan to repair the painting. They did say that since the incident happened only on Friday, it will take time to decide the most prudent and effective treatment available.

David Bull, a Manhattan conservator, has not seen “The Actor” since its tear and therefore would not talk specifically about the painting, but he said there were all kinds of things that could be done nowadays. “We have many more choices of materials than we used to and many new approaches,” he said.

Mr. Bull and several other conservators who have not seen the tear say the next steps depend on many unanswered questions. For starters, is the canvas lined?

“In the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s there was a passion for lining, but now whenever possible we try to avoid lining because there is always a chance it could destroy the original canvas or make the surface seem dull or heavy,” Mr. Bull said. “If it’s not lined, it will be easier to repair.”

Some experts also wondered whether the canvas had a depression in it from the woman’s fall, and if the tear was straight or branched. And then there was the issue of whether there is a second painting underneath “The Actor” or on the reverse side. Recent research has revealed that Picasso took an old canvas with a landscape on it, the work of another artist, flipped it over and painted “The Actor.” (He also painted out the original image.)

Like a gifted plastic surgeon, a seasoned restorer has many options these days and a host of materials and instruments at his disposal, even acupuncture needles. They are not used as they would be in Asian medicine, to puncture a surface, or to sew a canvas, but rather are applied from behind to keep a tear flat.

Such needles were used to repair “Le Rêve,” said William Acquavella, the Manhattan dealer who was involved in an attempt to sell that painting on behalf of Mr. Wynn and who has shown “Le Rêve” at his gallery since it was torn. “It’s amazing what can be done these days,” he explained, adding that when they are finished restoring “The Actor,” the tear “will probably only look like a tiny pencil line. If that.”

How Do You Fix a Torn Picasso?Conservators' methods for mending famous paintings.
By Daniel EngberPosted Monday, Jan. 25, 2010, at 2:39 PM ET
A woman lost her balance while at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last week, and fell into Picasso's The Actor. The accident resulted in a 6-inch tear in the canvas, but museum officials say the painting could be repaired by April. In the following "Explainer" column, originally posted after Steve Wynn tore a hole through his Picasso painting in 2006, Daniel Engber describes how conservators mend a damaged work.

Casino mogul Steve Wynn ripped a hole through his $139 million Picasso painting while gesticulating at a cocktail party, reports the New York Post. Nora Ephron gave her own first-person account of the damage: It was "a black hole the size of a silver dollar … with two three-inch long rips coming off it in either direction." Wynn had just agreed to sell the painting; now, the deal is off. Is there any way to fix the ripped Picasso?

Yes, but it will be slow and tedious work. The torn ends of the canvas can probably be lined up, and conservators can identify matching fibers on either side of the rip by inspecting them under a microscope. In general, you can expect the wefts in the fabric—that is, the crosswise yarns of the weave—to split at the site of the impact. The lengthwise warps tend to get stretched out, but they may not break.

The rip itself can be mended in a few different ways. First, the conservator can line up the torn ends and affix them to a new piece of fabric that lines the back of the painting. She might also try to attach the torn ends to each other using a method called Rissverklebung, in which individual fibers are rewoven back into place.

To reweave the warps and wefts, you have to figure out the proper placement of each individual fiber. Bits of paint that are stuck to the fibers must be glued in place or removed until the reweaving is complete. (Conservators map out the location of each paint flake they remove so it can be replaced in precisely the right spot.) Because an accident will stretch out some fibers and fray others, you sometimes have to tie off and shorten some threads while attaching new material to lengthen others. Threads attached to the back of the canvas will reinforce the seam.

Closing the tear is only the first part of the process. An accident like Wynn's can damage the painting in other places by stretching the fabric and distorting the image. To correct for these planar distortions, the conservators try to change the lengths of individual fibers or small patches of the canvas. Applied humidity can make a fiber expand across its diameter and shrink across its length—and tighten up distended parts of the weave.

Bits of paint that have fallen off the painting must also be replaced. Wynn might have surveyed the scene of the accident and saved any stray bits of paint for the conservators in a petri dish. (Chance are he didn't strip much off the canvas—Ephron says he was wearing a golf shirt, which suggests a bare-elbow blow. An elbow covered with rough fabric would probably have done more damage.) Conservators have to touch up spots of missing paint with fresh material, color-matched to the surrounding area.

One more thing: Conservators always try to make their repairs reversible. That way, you won't cause any permanent damage to the work if you screw up, and someone can always try to improve on your work in the future.




Picasso Painting Ripped After Visitor Bumps Into Museum Exhibit

By Lindsay Pollock

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- A Picasso painting, worth more than $130 million by some estimates, was gouged on Friday at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art when a museumgoer fell into the artwork, leaving a six-inch gash.

The 1904-1905 painting, “The Actor,” depicting a graceful, gaunt male figure in a dusty pink costume on stage, was hung in a second-floor gallery among a display of early Picasso artworks.

An unidentified woman attending a museum class “lost her balance” and crashed into the artwork, according to a museum statement. The woman was not injured, said Elyse Topalian, a museum spokeswoman. The painting received a vertical tear in the lower right hand corner, the statement said. “Actor” was worth about $130 million, according to a New York art dealer.

The Picasso has been removed from the gallery and taken to the museum’s conservation studio for “assessment and treatment,” the statement said. Because the tear occurred in the lower portion of the canvas, the repair is expected to be “unobtrusive,” according to the museum.

The canvas will be included in the “Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art” exhibition, featuring 250 works, scheduled to run April 27 to August 1.

The six-feet-tall painting is crucial to the artist’s oeuvre, signaling a shift from his early blue period to the rose period, according to the statement.

Automobile heiress Thelma Chrysler Foy and daughter of Walter P. Chrysler donated the painting to the museum in 1952.

The incident recalls casino mogul Stephen Wynn’s 2006 collision with Picasso’s 1932 “Le Reve,” a portrait of the artist’s mistress, when he punctured the work with his elbow. Wynn was in the process of selling his painting to hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen and later kept the work that’s since been repaired and hangs in Wynn’s office.