Retouching the past

Conservator Kayan Pandole gives new life to old masterpieces, allowing their owners to rediscover them.

At any point of time Kayan Pandole, conservator of oils, has at least 35 paintings around her. Some are million-dollar babies, others have immeasurable sentimental value. Her job is to render them even more precious. She keeps esteemed company "" (M F) Husain, Tyeb Mehta, (S H) Raza et al. "It used to be terrifying to work with these; it's second nature now."

A lot of collector preferences are revealed to her from the works that find their way into her atelier. The Progressive Artists Group is clearly the current darling. At one point it was Ganesh Pyne. "Five or six years ago, I was restoring a lot of Raja Ravi Varma oleographs, most in serious disrepair, some having been kept folded for years, others torn; it's almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle." Most clients, luckily, have realistic expectations of the salvage operation. "Most are really surprised when they see the colours revived," says Pundole.

Art conservators usually specialise in one specific area of conservation. Pandole services oils and acrylics on canvas and board. The ailments are standard: flaking paint, discolouration, tears and fungus. Mumbai's humid weather and air pollution don't help either. "At least," adds Pundole, "with framers getting more proficient, improper stretching of canvas and problems associated with crude framing techniques are less of an issue."

Pandole's restoration techniques were learned from the Lorenzo de' Medici, a traditional Italian art school in Florence, where she practised on frescos in ageing churches and monasteries. Later she apprenticed under a reputed restorer and museum professional from Bucharest, who still visits regularly to lend a hand.

The question begs to be asked: does restoration enhance or detract from the value of the work? "I work by a simple rule. As a conservator anything I do to the painting must be entirely reversible. The easiest thing to do is to rework or paint over, but it's unethical," she replies. Too many self-proclaimed restorers are self-taught, and specialists like Pandole are in tremendous demand. Her biggest clients are galleries and auction houses. "Did you know that when you purchase a work of art at an auction, the auction house is not liable to release a condition report? It's the buyer's prerogative to ask for it," she explains. Pandole herself always prepares a detailed condition report that she makes available to all her clients. Her father unsuspectingly bought a (F N) Souza from an auction, which he later found had tiny holes in it. Lucky for him, then, that Kayan's services were a phone call away.

Pandole, incidentally, gets her abiding interest in contemporary art from her collector father, who hoards old snuff bottles and carpets besides (V S) Gaitondes and Souzas. "Collecting is like a disease that runs in the family," says Pandole, who has been bitten by the bug. Her purchases include some Souza drawings, (Akbar) Padamsee watercolours, even a small erotic Husain that she says everybody loves to hate.

Pandole slips easily into her multiple roles "" buyer, restorer and, more recently, even seller. She has started her own gallery that she opens only by appointment. Often, Pandole's clients will ask her to restore a painting and then sell it for them. "They ask me to assess value post the restoration, but that isn't my area of expertise," she says.

A couple of oils on canvas have arrived from the Petit charitable trust. The trust owns a sizeable art collection that they house in their schools and fire temples (agiaries). "I have some amusing Parsi clients who love to haggle, saying they can't spend Rs 20,000 on restoring a painting they bought for Rs 2,000 in the 1970s. Never mind that the same painting is worth two crore today," laughs Pandole.

Pandole condemns the arbitrary inflationary movement in art prices. "Senior artists who aren't that prolific anymore raise their prices just to keep demand in check," says Pandole. She also speaks of certain established artists "" that go unnamed for reasons of propriety "" whose works are prone to early deterioration for being either rushed through with or stored inappropriately.

Could she, perhaps, share a few guiding principles for proper painting care? "The best place for your painting is on the wall, not in storage. The environment should be as well-ventilated and dust- free as possible.

Keep the painting away from direct sunlight, although exposing the painting's underneath to the 10 a.m. sunlight will help clean up fungus. And always hang a painting at a slight tilt." Now you've been told.