Graphic Artwork Restoration

About the Workshop

The workshop was founded at the Grabar Art Conservation Centre in the mid-1940s. Its specialists perform restoration work on graphic artwork produced on various bases (paper, cardboard, parchment, silk, canvas) and using a wide variety of techniques. The art restorers, most of whom are of the highest class, work with charcoal, sanguine, emulsion, sepia, pencil, ink and Indian ink, as well as with graphic artwork, posters, geographical maps, and Eastern art produced on silk and paper. They have significant experience in working with techniques such as pastel, gouache, water colour and even tempera and oil, if they have been used on paper or cardboard. The workshop also carries out restoration works on contemporary art produced using non-standard techniques and on non-woven materials.

Approximately 500 works of art exhibits are restored every year

Every year, the workshop's experts restore around 500 graphic prints, including exhibits from Russia's leading museums in various spheres – art, regional, literary, historical and memorial museums. The workshop also performs restoration works on documents from the archives of rare publications that can be found in Russian libraries.

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The Grabar Art Conservation Centre has been restoring graphic works for over 60 years

The earliest mention of restoration works being carried on graphic art at the Grabar Art Conservation Centre was during the Second World War. The workshop's experts have made a significant contribution to the formation and development of the Russian school of graphic art restoration. Its dedicated staff have taken part in the establishment and restoration work of studios affiliated with the most prestigious museums in Russia.

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The Restorers

The workshop for restoring graphic artwork is run by Yulia Savkova, restorer of the highest class. A total of 15 art restorers and two researchers are employed by the workshop. Six of the workshop's staff are restorers of the highest class.

Scientific Research

В мастерской реставрации графики также ведется активная научно-исследовательская и экспериментальная работа. Химики, физики, биологи ГЦХРМ вместе с реставраторами занимаются исследованиями по составу разных бумаг, проклеек, разрабатывают рецептуру химических реактивов, ставят опыты по изучению поведения клеевых составов в разных климатических условиях. Одновременно ведутся поиски оптимальных способов химической обработки графических листов, необходимых растворителей для удаления пятен различного происхождения, закрепления нестойких красок, чернильных надписей и т.д. Осваиваемые новые методики, механизмы и оборудование обсуждаются и утверждаются на реставрационных советах мастерской и Центра.

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Another aspect of the workshop's activities is the ongoing and meticulous training of interns and apprentices, many of whom are students in faculties of restoration at Russian universities or employees at the restoration workshops of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Hermitage Museum and other museums.

04 August 2020

После того как лютеранскую Псалтырь XVII века подняли из воды, реставратор Центра имени Грабаря Евгения Мымрина провела с ней уникальную процедуру — восстановила, не расшивая книжный блок

31 July 2020

В Ивангородский музей после реставрации вернулись 25 графических работ художника Ивана Билибина. В основном это эскизы театральных костюмов и декораций. Реставрационные работы проводились при участии специалистов центр им. Грабаря. 

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It is here that the most difficult and destroyed works of art – those that were seemingly doomed to be lost forever – were sent for restoration. And they continue to be sent here to this day

08 November 2018

Разработан проект профессионального стандарта в области реставрации движимых памятников по специальности «Специалист по реставрации (художник-реставратор) архивных, библиотечных материалов и произведений графики». 

10 September 2018

В рамках Форума «Университетская библиотека: точки роста» с 10 по 13 сентября 2018 г. в Научной библиотеке работала Международная школа реставрации. Тема Школы в 2018 г. «Научная реставрация документов, выполненных на бумажной основе: формирование базового уровня знаний и практических навыков».

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