Focus on this artwork and explain the Restorations.
Before its purchase by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The Swimming Hole appears to have undergone seven different conservatory treatments. It may have been restored prior to its inclusion in Eakins' memorial exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1917. A photograph from that time reveals cracks in the glazes and a drip mark, possibly caused by the splash of a caustic liquid. After the painting was acquired by the Fort Worth Art Association, it was often lent out for exhibitions and was damaged as a result. In 1937 it was relined by a private gallery in New York City and the drip was painted out. In 1944 it was relined and restored and in 1947 it was restored again, both times by a private New York dealer. The Brooklyn Museum performed two minor restorations in 1954 and 1957. Although it continued to travel frequently, The Swimming Hole received no comprehensive treatment until 1993.
Following its purchase by the Amon Carter, in June 1993, Claire M. Barry and staff from the Amon Carter and the Kimbell Art Museums began a major restoration of the painting. According to Barry, "The restoration revealed relatively little significant damage or deterioration not previously visible. Several layers of discolored varnish and overpaint were removed, exposing a rich and varied surface with brushwork ranging from the controlled, almost miniaturistic strokes forming the figures to the freer treatment of the landscape elements."Much effort went into distinguishing the original glazes from those added during subsequent restorations. Previous retouches were removed and a natural resin varnish was applied. The painting's original frame, long missing, was located in 1992. It too was cleaned, restored, and reinstalled to the painting.During the restoration, it was discovered that a long-standing ascription of the painting's date to 1883 was the result of a misinterpretation: the artist's original inscription of 1885 was painted in a fugitive red-lake pigment that had faded, and was mistakenly repainted by a conservator to the earlier date.
Amon Carter Museum of American Art Amon Carter Museum Brooklyn Museum fugitive glazes conservatory treatments relined Kimbell Art Museum Metropolitan Museum of Art