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Worth restoring this? Horrible over-painting?
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Posted
Hi guys, I bought this rather large and very heavy painting last year dirt-cheap at a flea market. If genuine it is by German artist Heinrich Christoph Kolbe (1771-1836). It has clearly seen much better days as has the frame and I am wondering if it is worth getting it restored, or whether being so large it just wouldn't be financially viable. I say this because from what little I have found on google, his paintings seem to vary in value between $200 at a small auction house to $100,000 at Sotherbys!
There are some really thick areas of paint which with my limited knowledge I assume are some bad over-painting from a previous restore? Does that look like the case from these images, I have tried to highlight the worst bits.
There are also a few very dark splodges of something, which I have been too scared to touch even with a cotton bud, does anyone know what these could be or if it'd be possible to clean them off without smudging a dark stain all over the surrounding areas?! I realise it must be pretty impossible to tell from photos but wondered if anyone had seen anything similar before.
Thanks for any advice on the painting or restoration of it and apologies for the quality of the phone images. On first glance it doesn't look like an especially pleasant image but when you look deeper in to it there is a surprising amount of detail and no doubt far more hidden behind 200+ years of dust smoke and varnish, if indeed it is genuine.
Posted
It looks to be by the German artist, but it needs authentication by an expert, and we aren’t experts.
It’s impossible for anyone to make an informed judgment from photographs, apart from the obvious fact that it’s in poor condition and needs cleaning and restoration work.
Take it to an auction house, first step would be to send some photos and any history including where it was purchased etc, and take it from there.
There’s often good clues on the reverse of old paintings, auction house labels and the like, have a close look for them.
Posted
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your reply, I imagined it'd be pretty impossible to judge it's authenticity so agree with your thoughts. I have taken it off the wall to look at the back (and God knows I will struggle to ever get it back on the wall hanging properly again now so instantly regretting that haha), but was worth a look as I found a label I hadn't noticed before but it offers at least a past sellers explanation of it, and sadly seems it was once a pair of paintings. The valuation was interesting though considering I paid less than £200 for it.
The tacks, wood and look of the canvas seem to authenticate it's age am I right in thinking that? I realise again it may be impossible to tell without seeing in person.
I also then noticed with a torch a feint number and some initials but no idea what if anything either might mean. Pictures are attached just for the sake of showing everything that I can see might be worth looking at. No auction labels or signs of them sadly.
Can anyone make out the bottom wording on the side of the label with the measurements on it? The letters on the wood appear to be M H and number 22969 (possibly an auction number?)
Posted
Well James, the reverse is showing all the right signs and construction methods that I would expect to see.
These are good signs and having labels etc is a great advantage. I’m becoming more confident that this is indeed an original Kolbe.
You definitely need a professional valuation, I would start with Sotheby’s and work down!
It’s worth mentioning at this stage that cleaning and restoration work doesn’t come cheap, but you need a valuation to determine if that’s going to be viable.
Good luck and keep us informed.
Posted
Will certainly keep you informed if I find anything more, could be a bargain buy hopefully but it seems his portrait work is what fetches the big money so maybe not! Will have to work out if its cost effective to get it restored and possible sell on (though I am more a collector than trader so would probably keep it either way and hope it picks up value).
Posted
Just to chip in - haven't much to add to Alan's comments, but it has all the hallmarks of a genuinely old painting - and Kolbe looks right. The snag is the state of it: at the moment, you have a noble ruin, and my advice would be either - leave it alone; don't attempt to repair or clean it yourself; OR take it to a picture conservator. It needs more than a clean - I agree with you that there has been a ham-fisted restoration attempt before, with inappropriate over-painting (hard though it is to tell). This could be removed - although you'd then find out why it had been over-painted in the first place - but this is a highly-skilled job, and comes with a high price. So - contact Sotheby's or Christie's; not a local house, because bringing this back to life is going to cost a lot more than the £200 you might get in a local auction. There's hours of work to be done here, and only you can say if it's worth doing or not - a professional valuation will help to make your mind up.
The frame could also be repaired, by the way - but again, that'll be a bit on the pricey side.
Posted
Just to chip in - haven't much to add to Alan's comments, but it has all the hallmarks of a genuinely old painting - and Kolbe looks right. The snag is the state of it: at the moment, you have a noble ruin, and my advice would be either - leave it alone; don't attempt to repair or clean it yourself; OR take it to a picture conservator. It needs more than a clean - I agree with you that there has been a ham-fisted restoration attempt before, with inappropriate over-painting (hard though it is to tell). This could be removed - although you'd then find out why it had been over-painted in the first place - but this is a highly-skilled job, and comes with a high price. So - contact Sotheby's or Christie's; not a local house, because bringing this back to life is going to cost a lot more than the £200 you might get in a local auction. There's hours of work to be done here, and only you can say if it's worth doing or not - a professional valuation will help to make your mind up. The frame could also be repaired, by the way - but again, that'll be a bit on the pricey side.Thanks too, Robert. I suppose one of the questions I'd have for a restorer is can they do a tiny sample to see how much could be recovered. It's a dark, gothic looking moon-lit scene so it may turn out it's not even missing that much color info etc, though there must be a certain richness to them that could be found once again you would imagine. There is someone locally who does do repairs so I may well give him a call and see what he suggests, will also try the bigger auction houses then, even if they could give me a very rough ball park for pre/post restoration it'll help work out if it's worth it (even though as I say I'm likely to keep it either way!)