AIC's 41st Annual Meeting

In the summer of 1946, Henri Matisse (1869-1954) lay bedridden as he directed his assistant, Lydia Delectorskaya, to pin a series of white paper cut-outs he had made on to the walls of his Paris studio. The motifs, inspired by memories of French Polynesia, included starfish, algae, leaves, and birds. Two years later, upon being approached by Zika Ascher, a London-based textile printer known for his innovative techniques, he agreed to turn the wall designs into two large serigraphs, known as Oceanie, la mer and Oceanie, le ciel. Made with oil bound pigments for the cut-out shapes, on dyed, un-primed linen representing the studio walls, each measures approximately five and a half feet high by twelve feet wide.

This presentation will discuss the conservation treatment and preparation for display of one of the editions of the Oceanie, le ciel. This particular serigraph had never been mounted before and was pristine save creases incurred in rolled storage. Unlike many of its counterparts, which had been stretched taught on strainers or stretchers in the same manner as paintings are traditionally displayed, sometimes apparently resulting in cracks and lifting of the pigment surface. Since stitching the body of the work to a support would have permanently altered the surface and been visually obtrusive, a system was developed to make the serigraph appear taught, while at the same time protecting the fabric edges and honoring the different surface characteristics of the paint and dyed linen. Working with a fine wood worker, a strainer with rounded edges was made to reduce distortions along the serigraph's perimeter as it wrapped to the back of the strainer. A cotton muslin support was brushed to produce a slight nap prior to being attached to the strainer, to help increase contact and “purchase” between the support and art work. Once the art work was pinned in place with even tension, the edges were hand-stitched to the back of the support, and the mounted serigraph was placed in an acrylic-covered frame. After two years of display in a private home, the system appears to have been successful, with no distortions or other effects evident due to environmental fluctuations.