Before & After Gallery
Treatment of Stranded by James Hamilton
In 1989, the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) was asked to treat the painting, Stranded, by the American artist James Hamilton (1819-1878). Hamilton arrived in the United States from Ireland at an early age. Self taught, he developed his painting skills by studying and copying paintings and engravings by the Old Masters. An early and important work of Hamilton's, Stranded, has similar features to another of his paintings, Stormy Evening, which was exhibited in 1848 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
When Stranded arrived at CCI, it exhibited signs of previous treatments. Approximately 50 years ago, the painting had been glue-lined onto a cotton canvas. At that time, any existing weaknesses, such as cupping paint and mechanical damages to the canvas, had been corrected (Figure 1).
Examination under ultraviolet light revealed that large areas of the composition, including the signature and date (Figure 2), had been overpainted during previous restorations (Figures 3 and 4). The combination of darkened varnish and discoloured overpaint greatly obscured the original tonality of the painting.
Initial cleaning tests along the margins of the paint surface showed the degree to which the tonality of the painting had changed (Figure 5). An appropriate emulsion was used to remove the embedded grime, especially in the paint hollows. After careful testing, various organic solvents, applied with cotton swabs, were used to remove a layer of yellowed varnish and to soften most of the numerous overpaints. Any overpaints that were left after cleaning were carefully removed using a scalpel.
Cleaning also uncovered earlier paint losses in the sky (Figure 6), and large paint cracks that previously had been filled with putty (Figure 7). An ultraviolet hand lamp was used at regular intervals to monitor the removal of all materials that had been added to the original painting. It was decided that only cracks that interfered with the aesthetic appearance of the painting should be filled. Gesso was applied until it was flush with the level of the surrounding paint.
Watercolours were used for inpainting in an attempt to integrate the losses as closely as possible. A thin varnish of dammar resin in mineral spirit was brushed on. Final inpainting glazes, consisting of dry pigment combined with the same varnish mixture, were then applied.
Figure 1.
Figure 2. 
Figure 3.
The most striking aspect of Hamilton's work is his free painting style in an almost impressionistic vision, a feature that is extremely rare in American art of the 1840's. Many of Hamilton's works are painted in the style of William Turner, and by the 1850's Hamilton was being called the "American Turner". The restored Stranded justifies such an attribution (Figure 8).
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
