Early Bengal Oils

Arc studio received a few paintings of the Early Bengal style in 2018. The Early Bengal style of paintings flourished in Bengal in the colonial era by artists trained under Europeans using oil on canvas. Distinct from the Company style paintings of this time, the Early Bengal oils were Indian in spirit, character and themes.

The team got the opportunity to work on four such paintings. They had been heavily restored previously, which over the years had altered its appearance. There was accumulation of dust and dirt and cracks all over. The losses appeared to have been reintegrated before and over- painting was evident. The paintings were lined using wax and there were formation of air bubbles in places wherever it lacked adhesion. There were losses in the paint layer and support, the edges were weak and had tears.

Major part of the treatment was deciding how much of the previous intervention was to be removed. Partially removing the intervened areas, the dust and dirt was cleaned. Cracks were consolidated and some of the artworks were either given full lining or strip lining. Mending and inlays were given to losses and tears and filling material was applied to level any depths present. After an application of protective coating, reintegration was done using pigments.