Overview

For over three generations the Boyd family have contributed to the Australian arts in the fields of painting, sculpture, pottery, ceramics, literature, architecture, poetry and music.

Penleigh Boyd (1890-1923) was well-known for his landscape paintings, which skilfully capture the transient effects of light. He often painted en plein air and was particularly influenced by the work of J. M. W. Turner, and fellow Australian artists Frederick McCubbin and E. Phillips Fox.

Port Hacking from Moombara captures this area of Southern Sydney as it would have been in the early 1920s. Painted using oils on canvas, it was then fitted into an ornate, bronze patinated frame.

Condition

Over the years, the paint layer and primer had cracked extensively as a result of rapid changes in temperature and humidity. This left a network of fine lines across the surface, as well as blanching, losses and lifting of the paint layer. Upon arrival at ICS, a small tear and dent were also found in the lower right side of the canvas.

The frame was also in poor condition, with losses to the moulding and a piece of ornamentation missing.

Treatment

To address the issues affecting both the painting and the frame, an extensive and thorough treatment was carried out, which included:

• A preliminary consolidation treatment to stabilise the paint
• Removal of the painting from the frame and the canvas from the stretcher
• Cleaning of the front and back of the canvas as much as possible
• Application of consolidant and adhesive from the back
• Relocating the flaking paint into original position with the use of suction hot table
• Application of a strip lining
• Flattening the deformation around the tear and repairing the tear itself
• Cleaning the back of the canvas and removing excess adhesive
• Reinstalling the canvas onto the original stretcher
• Applying an isolating varnish to further consolidate the paint layer and correct blanching
• Infilling and retouching losses
• Application of a final coat of varnish to adjust the surface sheen
• Surface cleaning the frame; consolidation of the moulding; reproducing the missing sections of ornamentation; infilling and inpainting losses; application of a final polish.
• Reinstalling the painting into the frame