Conservation of "The Crown" by David Boyd,1974

The conservation of ‚The Crown II’ by David Boyd was a fascinating encounter with a powerfully expressive and energetically painted work of art, combined with the challenge of addressing material instability. The impasto areas containing brown pigment were particularly fragile, with extensive cracking and flaking. It appears that the addition of the specific brown pigment may have contributed to this.
Previous „restoration” attempts involving epoxy adhesives had furthert complicated the condition. At the owner’s request, the canvas remained on its original stretcher, which precluded the use of certain techniques such as vacuum table lining. Despite these constraints, the treatment was successful: the paint layer was stabilised, ground losses carefully filled, and visually integrated using watercolour & gamblin paints for retouches indistinguishable from the original. #davidboyd