Gratz
by Mary Beth Schwartz
You discovered a rare oil painting in your family’s attic and it is rather dusty and torn. Perhaps you are interested in a painting in an upcoming art auction but do not know if the condition matches the price tag. Maybe your Great Aunt Gertie left you a painting that has been in the family for generations and the frame desperately needs new gilding. All of these situations require the help of an art conservator with years of experience. Many clients in the area call upon Paul Gratz, owner and president of Doylestown’s Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio.
At Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio, their motto is “Investment is a Fine Art.” The full-service art investment firm has a gallery, along with a conservation studio. The gallery buys and sells 19th and 20th century American paintings, emphasizing the New Hope School, the Philadelphia Ten, and artists from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. “We specialize in American art, but will cover anything from the Old Masters to Abstract Expressionists,” Gratz adds. In business for over 35 years, the gallery also offers fine art framing services, including custom chop frames and hand carved 22-karat yellow or white gold or metal leaf gilded frames.
Over at the studio, you’ll find Gratz busy at work with his team of conservators. His formal training started at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was developed through apprenticeships with some of the nation’s most respected art conservators. Since 1982, he has provided his services to museums, historical societies, government institutions, universities, churches, and private collectors. In addition, Gratz is a founding member of the Society of Gilders. The Conservation Studio handles oil paintings, gold leaf objects, and architectural gilding. The experienced staff can do complex repairs to frames. They can even provide detailed treatment plans for fine art that has been damaged by fire, smoke, or flooding.
What about appraisals? According to Gratz, there is a staff of accredited appraisers who can appraise fine art. “We offer free appraisals. I stress that you should not try to clean or restore a painting yourself. Instead, get a professional’s opinion. I have had customers in the past who have tried to clean a painting and they ruin it. A lot of the time, the value of the painting is sentimental. It is not about money, but family heirlooms, things that have been passed down through the generations,” Gratz says. At your appointment, you will get the details on what needs to be done. Gratz notes that most treatments take between four to six weeks for painting conservation. Each painting is different. There are many variables. What is the size of the painting? Does the painting need to be cleaned? Is the painting torn? Is there flaking paint? “Upon approval of the appraisal, we begin the packing, removal, and transportation of your collection to our conservation studio, where we will expertly restore your art to its original condition in a timely manner. We will provide full insurance coverage for your art throughout the process as well as full treatment reports upon its completion. Return delivery and installation also is provided.”
Another service Gratz provides is auction assistance. “I will attend art auctions with clients. They will ask my opinion before they buy. Auctions will not always tell you the condition of a painting. You could be bidding on a painting that has had a 50 percent over paint, which totally destroys the value of the painting. It is really important to know everything about the condition of the painting before you purchase it.”
Over the years, Gratz has come across some unique finds in his conservation. “I have worked on paintings that were not signed. When the painting was cleaned, it ended up with a signature from a major American artist. I have had Andrew Wyeth paintings where he changed the figures and he added different signatures. He changed the way that he signed his paintings.
Originally, he would sign in a block lettering like his father N.C., and then he changed to the script signature that is his trademark. I have worked on many paintings that have had painting over top, and the painting underneath is totally different. I found a 19th-century English portrait of a woman that turned out to be from 1640 as a fragment from a very large canvas, an Old Masters painting.”
Gratz has all kinds of interesting tools to examine paintings. “You want a professional that has the proper tools and equipment. I have an infrared video camera that shows paintings not visible to the naked eye. It shows you the original composition. We can go a step further with an X-ray. I also have a stereo microscope when I do cleaning tests at the edge of the canvas to make sure that we are not removing the paint just the dirt from the varnish layers. This is important. There are people that do restoration but they do not use a microscope. They can skin a painting and remove layers rather than just the varnish itself. We also perform pigment analysis and offer the latest methods in linings. Our goal is to honor the original intention of the artist.”
To protect your paintings at home, the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute offers some reminders. First, keep paintings away from dirt and heat. Heat dries out the material of the painting, speeding up the process of natural aging. As hot air rises, it carries dirt with it. Heat sources also can soften paint. Dirt and debris are easily trapped in the softened paint and varnish. Second, keep paintings away from water. Moisture will weaken the paint layers and eventually cause paint loss. The support and ground are the most sensitive components of the painting to water damage. If damage to these is pervasive, further damage to the paint and varnish may occur. Third, keep paintings away from humidity. Last but not least, keep paintings away from ultraviolet light. Fugitive dyes and colorants used in the paints will eventually discolor under exposure to ultraviolet light. The fading of pigments and dyes in paintings will affect the color balance of the image. The intensity and wavelengths of light used in displaying graphic art is generally safe for paintings.
If you are looking for a new painting for your collection, mark your calendars for an upcoming special exhibition at Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio, The Love of Impressionism: The Beauty of Bucks County. It will be open from October through December. It will feature Pennsylvania Impressionist painters such as Daniel Garber and Edward Redfield. The gallery and studio are open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Sunday hours are from 12 to 6 p.m. The direct line is 215-348-2500. Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio is located at 5230 Silo Hill Road in Doylestown. You can visit the art firm online through Facebook or www.gratz gallery.com. For more information on art conservation, you can contact Paul Gratz directly at 215-527-3632 or send an email to pgratz@gratzgallery.com.
Mary Beth Schwartz is a freelance writer who frequently contributes to regional publications.