- How did you become a restorer? What was your education/training path?
My training journey began with the Institute for Art and Restoration Palazzo Spinelli-Nicolini, in Florence many years ago and precisely in 1983, and then continued with the Faculty of Art History at the University of Stockholm, where I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The Master’s thesis was about the presence of the female figure in the Venetian art of the 1500s.
Today I carry out my activity within these two specializations, which are essential to each other in order to fully understand a work of art in its physical and historical context. After the initial period of study in Italy and for several years, I worked for the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, This allowed me to study and understand the art dynamics in relation to the materials used by the artists, their aesthetic expression and the philosophy of modern and contemporary art, on works such as Picasso, Magritte, Dalì, the French and Swedish Impressionists, of which the museum collection is rich.
In recent years I have also been an external teacher at the University of Uppsala in the field of diagnostics applied to art. My operational specialization is prevention, conservation and restoration in works of art damaged by fire, creating solutions that limit the extent of the damage in these cases.
- Let’s talk now about your work. There have been several collaboration opportunities with Art-Test, which one do you want to remember?
The work analyzed by Art-Test that I want to remember first and foremost is the self-portrait made by Honoré Daumier. The investigations carried out were fundamental to ascertain the attribution through the study of the materials and methods used, coeval and consistent with the manner and methods of the painter.
I add to this a work that I remember with great satisfaction: the restoration of an artwork of the XVI century, on wood, by an anonymous painter: a very beautiful painting, “The Madonna of the Apple”. The work included the conservation of the pictorial layer, the removal of old invasive retouching and oxidized paint and a new retouching, carried out following the criteria and methodology of the Florentine school.
- You have been working in this field for many years, what changes have you noticed for example in terms of customers, prices and clients?
I have been working in this field and in Stockholm for almost 40 years now, with great professional satisfaction. During the last few years the interest in classical art has given way to that sector which is defined modern antiques, therefore painting, sculpture, furniture, with particular interest in the 40s and 50s. This phenomenon has not, however, affected my work since our company collaborates above all with museums and public institutions of various kinds.
