Restoration

Restauratorin Katrin Radermacher reinigt Édouard Manets "Die Erschießung Kaiser Maximilians"
Marc Chagalls "Die Braut mit dem Blumenstrauß" vor und nach der Restaurierung (Marc Chagall, Die Braut mit dem Blumenstrauß, 1924-1925, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2022)

Project Picture Patrons

Around 2,300 paintings, 860 sculptures and installations, 34,000 graphical works and 800 objects of applied art - the current holdings of Kunsthalle Mannheim’s collection are as extensive as this. To ensure that the art treasures are preserved for future generations, elaborate and cost-intensive restorations are necessary.

For this reason, the Kunsthalle, together with the Förderkreis für die Kunsthalle Mannheim e. V., launched the BildPaten (Picture Patrons) project in 2009 to finance urgently needed restoration work with private donations. So far, thanks to this support, around 40 paintings, several sculptures and graphics as well as around 60 frames have been restored at a cost of over 300,000 euros. Nevertheless, numerous other works are still waiting for conservation treatment.

Those who are interested can find out more about the project Picture Patrons here.

Research: Vibration Measurements

Art - whether painting or sculpture - is permanently exposed to vibrations and impacts. But what mechanical stresses damage the works of art? What part does natural vibration behaviour play? During the restoration of Max Beckmann's painting "Carnival" (1925) in 2017 and 2018, a research team consisting of restorers from the Kunsthalle Mannheim and Dr. Kerstin Kracht, engineer for vibration technology, addressed these very questions.

The project was continued in 2021. For this purpose, the research team examined artificially aged painting dummies with specific picture support, painting layer structure and damage in various configurations using vibration measurement technology. Among other things, the aim was to find out what vibration protection is best for a painting and what it means for the mechanical stability of a painting when cracks are sewn or glued in the course of restoration work.