What Lies Beneath

The Wondering Eye

Rupika Chawla

THE accumulation of dirt on a painting is not the only factor that undermines the visual quality of the painted surface. Varnish and overpaint also contribute to the visual distortion of the image, though in a manner far more complex than dirt.

Varnish is a near transparent liquid that is applied on the surface of an oil canvas in order to increase the intensity of colours and to provide some measure of protection. Western realistic paintings have always been varnished, a practice that is almost 600 years old. The technique of oil on canvas paintings and the tradition of academic realism was brought to India by the British and other Europeans about 200 years ago. Realistic paintings made in India were naturally coated with varnish as they followed the same tradition.

Detail of a painting being rid of its brown varnish

Dirt being removed from a Manjit Bawa oil canvas

Contemporary paintings, on the other hand, with their bright colours, diverse paint applications and a completely different system of doing things, are generally not varnished. Varnish gradually changes colour over time, altering from a pale yellow to a brownish tone, depending, of course, on the age of a painting. The result is a total colour shift in the entire work. White becomes a dark yellow, blue appears green, pink a dirty orange and so on. Subtleties of paint application, the thickness of brushstrokes and other delicate details get eclipsed. I remember a picture where an enraged but grief-stricken Sita is being taken away by her mother Bhumidevi. The dark varnish had hidden the tears on Sita’s cheeks and the redness of her eyes — so necessary to depict her emotional state — and destroyed the drama in the painting.

Since the image suffers such a visual distortion, an art historical analysis of such paintings can also be incorrect as the darkened varnish interferes with the original work as conceived by the artist. Before the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the entire expanse gave the impression of being painted in different shades of brown. But after the centuries of soot, varnish and overpaint were removed the ceiling emerged fresh and jewel-like. There were many who objected, insisting that the ceiling had been overcleaned.

And there are unscrupulous art dealers and curio sellers who take advantage of this `mellow’ look and give newly made paintings the feeling of age by covering them with tinted varnish. In other words, this means varnish that has not yellowed over time but that which is artificially and deliberately yellowed with colour. There are dealers who varnish watercolours and prints and sell them as oil paintings. They also give paintings with holes and cracks.

The term overpaint is used when thick paint, generally of a dark colour, is indiscriminately applied over cracks and holes in order to hide them without any attempt to conserve them correctly. Overpaint also implies that original areas of paint get covered in the general sweep of the brush that is coating the dark colour on. Dealers hide damaged paintings in this manner, reinforced by framing them with a glass in front and a board behind. Large collections in stately homes in India, where paintings have been hanging for a century or more, are known to receive the varnish and overpaint treatment by an artist when paintings are damaged. Here the idea is not of sale but the belief that this is the only method of taking care of pictures. Many original paintings exist behind darkened surface exteriors.