Une oeuvre flambant neuve: la restauration d'une Toile brûlée, empreinte polychrome (1975) de Christian Jaccard

This work by Christian Jaccard created through the process of partially burning the pre-painted canvas to alter the colours through heat and the deposit of soot represents a characteristic example of the diversified materials and techniques used in contemporary painting. The treatment of this work, recently donated by the artist to the Val-de-Marne Contemporary Art Museum due to open at the end of 2005 in Vitry-sur-Seine, raised numerous questions about the technical and ethical possibility of its safe-keeping as well as the best means for its display. Following the examination of the work's state of conservation, it was estimated that 50% of the surface was stable, and 50% was in an extremely fragile state, susceptible to breakage and loss from degradation caused by the burning. The restoration was developed using a teamwork approach that called for the personal involvement of the artist. Viewing the work as an 'archaeological' relic to be preserved as an exemplification of the extreme limits of combustion, the decision was made to conserve it as a textile in a completely reversible manner with the following steps: fixing it to a canvas support with a regular network of stitches, local consolidation of the 'archaeological' parts, and mounting and tensioning of the support canvas on a rigid display panel.