The conservation work with paintings stored on rollers are currently being carried out in the museum's lecture hall.

By Eva Storevik Tveit, Project Coordinator

Project commenced: March 2006

 Introduction

The conservation project "paintings stored on rollers" encompasses 32 sketches that Munch painted in connection with the decoration of the University of Oslo's Aula, plus 15 other sketches, which are kept on rollers in the storage rooms of the museum. Munch painted 8 of these 15 sketches for The Human Mountain during the period 1909-1930. Three more were painted for the decoration of the City Hall in Oslo, and the last 4 sketches are of other motifs. The sketches are working drafts that were most likely not meant to be mounted on stretchers. The drafts measure from 142 x 130 cm. to 450 x 1100 cm.

Scetch of The History (M960) in  Munch's open-air studio at Skrubben in Kragerø. 1910 (Photo: A.F. Johansen).

Munch's choice of materials, his working method and how he treated, transported and  stored the sketches have affected their general condition. Munch painted several of the sketches in his outdoor studios. The main explanation for this is most likely the large format of the works. Photographs reveal for example that The History  (M960) hung in Munch's outdoor studio in Kragerø.

There are few documented descriptions of how all of the sketches were stored from the time of Munchs death until 1971, yet we know that some of the sketches have been stored rolled up for over 50 years. The manner of storing the sketces on rollers has more than likely also contributed to the deterioration of the sketches.

Since 1971, up to 6 canvases have been mounted on top of each other on the rollers. The sketches were rolled with the paint layer facing inward. Seven of a total of ten rollers were placed directly on the shelves in the museum's storage rooms. The three remaining rollers contain three skeches that were lined in 1977 and were stored, as opposed to all of the other sketches, on individual rollers, which were raised above the floor.

The sketches as they were stored on shelves in the Munch Museum's storage rooms. The sketches were packed in unsuitable materials, such as acidic brown paper and tape.

The aim of the project

Due to lack of space many of the sketches will have to be rolled up again after treatment. The aim of the project is first and foremost to improve storage conditions for the sketches. The intention is to use packing materials that are safe for conservation, to change the way the paintings are rolled, and to create a suspension system that allows the new rollers to hang "freely" on poles in the storage rooms. This time the sketches will be rolled with the painting layer facing outward.

Treatment strategy and ethics

We treat 2-3 sketches at a time depending on the format of the sketches and the availablitity of funds. The position of the sketches on the rollers determines which sketches are treated first. The most important part of the conservation work consists in stabilising the canvases and consolidating the paint layers. In evaluating the extent of the treatment one has to consider whether the sketch can stand the handling necessary to unroll it, and how much treatment the materials can tolerate without causing changes in the surface. The treatment methods are continuously reconsidered as it becomes apparent how the canvas and the paint layer behave when unrolled.

Examination techniques

Exept for 5 sketches the materials of the sketches, and their condition, have never been examined before. Documenting the sketches is thus an important part of the project.  Visual techniques, with and without binocular microscope, will be used under normal light conditions, raking light and with UV-lamps. Fibre tests of all of the canvases will be made. The degree of deterioration of the canvases will be determined by measuring pH-values and simple strech tests. In addition, samples will be taken from the paint layers to examine the pigment type with the help of a polarisation microscope. The binding agent in the samples will be examined with chemical analyses methods.

Materials and Condition

M 960 Detail. Under treatment. Brittle and crackled Prussian blue pigment layer.

The sketches are painted on linen and cotton canvases. Most of the canvases consist of several pieces. The examined sketches on cotton, with few exceptions, do not have any layers of adhesive or ground, while the linen canvases are treated with both adhesive and ground. The paint layers in the cotton sketches are matt, while the layers of paint on linen range from matt to semi-glossy. Prelimanary analyses of the binding agent in the samples of paint from the cotton sketches reveal that Munch had used different binding agents in the different sketches as well as in one and the same sketch. Several observations and analyses suggest that there is a minimum of binding agent in the paint layers on the cotton sketches as well as in a couple of the linen canvases.

The canvases have many tears, holes creases and deformations. There are liquid stains and tidelines caused by water, dirt and rust. The paint is brittle, porous and pulverised with weak adhesion within its structure and is loosely connected to the canvas: i.e. crackling, flaking, lifting and paint loss. Many paint layers are only mechanically  fastened to the threads of the canvas.

Treatment

Treating such large unmounted works represents a great challenge and it has been necessary in some cases to build large bridges in order to be able to reach the entire area of the sketches. To date (March 2009) 15 sketches have been unrolled, examined and documented. So far, fourteen of them have been compleatly treated (from Mar. 2006 to Dec. 2008). Treatment of the sketches consists for the most part in evening out folds and deformations, consolidating loose paint, repairing tears and adding reinforcemnet lining to weak areas of the canvas.

Consolidation of loose paint with aerosol generator from a bridge.

Sixteen conservators have participated in the project from March 2006 to 2010:

Anna Bernkopf, Ida Antonia Tank Bronken, Jin Ferrer, Lina Flogstad, Inger Grimstad, Carina Otilie Igelstad, Kristin Kausland, Hanne Moltubakk Kempton, Nina Ryder Kjølsen, Karen Mengshoel, Mie Mustad, Gunn Pöllnitz, Erika Gohde Sandbakken, Eva Storevik Tveit, Anne Apalnes Ørnhøi and Terje Syvertsen.