Océanie, la mer by Henri Matisse

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CCI Newsletter, No. 24, November 1999

Océanie, la mer by Henri Matisse

by Jan Vuori, Textile Conservator, Treatment and Development Division

A large (169 cm by 372 cm) silk-screen printed in white on beige linen, Océanie, la mer depicts various forms of sea life such as coral and starfish. Matisse created the composition by pinning paper cutouts directly onto the walls of his Paris studio. The composition was then reproduced as a limited edition silk-screen in 1946, and represents Matisse's first use of paper cutouts to create a large-scale work of art. The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) acquired Océanie, la mer in 1966, but it has been in storage for many years due to a disfiguring line of brown stains running across most of its width. Exactly how it came to be stained is unknown, but probably there was a colourless substance on the work when it was received which, over time, oxidized and darkened.

Océanie, la mer was transported to CCI in the spring of 1998 to determine the feasibility of removing the stains. Analyses conducted in CCI's Analytical Research Laboratory identified the constituents of the white paint but, as is often the case, it was not possible to identify the stains. The challenge was to remove or significantly reduce the stains from the unprimed linen without creating new tidelines. After consulting textile, paintings, and paper conservators, as well as conservation scientists, it was decided that a textile suction disk (designed and fabricated at CCI), which enables liquids to be applied to precise areas of fabrics without spreading laterally, offered the best means for removing the stains locally.

After extensive testing in CCI's Textile Laboratory, a technique was developed to treat the stains with sodium borohydride (a reducing bleach that is not harmful to cellulose) using an ultrasonic mister. When used in conjunction with the textile suction disk, this allowed even very small stains to be treated with precision. During the course of the treatment, a wedge-shaped suction device as well as a supporting armature were made in the Furniture Laboratory to enable otherwise inaccessible areas of the work to be treated. Conservators from both CCI and NGC participated in the actual stain removal treatment, which was undertaken in CCI's Textile Lab. After the stain removal/reduction treatment was finished, Océanie, la mer was returned to NGC where their staff surface cleaned, humidified, and restretched it onto a new support. Once completed, it was immediately put on display.

As a result of this collaborative effort, not only can this important work be displayed, but the tools and techniques that were developed may assist others in the treatment of similar works of art. "Treatment and Development" is indeed an apt name for this division of CCI.