The public of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris will be able to follow the complete restoration of a monumental painting by the painter Gustave Courbet, A burial in Ornans made between 1849 and 1850. A extremely rare fact.
Presented Monday, May 5 in the temple of impressionism, the restoration of the monumental work of Courbet will take place within a closed space specially fitted out on the ground floor of the Musée d’Orsay where the painting is usually hooked. She intervenes ten years after that of The painter’s workshop another major work by Courbet.
Opacified colors
The site was isolated by a palisade with bay windows to allow the public to follow the work of restaurateurs live. Commented visits will also be offered free of charge by reservation.
A burial in Ornans is a “major picture of the collections of the Musée d’Orsay”. He “has never been the subject of a fundamental restoration and is no longer readable today at the height of the shock he aroused” when the public of the 19th century discovered it, explained Sylvain AMIC, president of the public establishment of the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangery.
Its chassis is distorted and caused a relaxation of the linen canvas formed by four injuries whose seams are weakened. The successive layers of varnish also opacified colors and details, according to restaurateurs.
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Win on the surface?
The painting “does not suffer from deep alterations but it is covered with a yellow filter due to the layers of successive varnish which covered it. Certain parts of the original canvas have been folded on the edges and one of the challenges is whether it will be able to win or not on the surface, “explained Bruno Mottin, specialist in Courbet and former study manager at C2RMF, the laboratory of the Museums of France.
A burial in Ornans was offered in 1881 to the Louvre museum by the painter’s family after his death. He joined the Orsay collections at its opening in 1986.
Restoration must last between 12 and 18 months. Its funding, the cost of which has not been specified, is ensured by a patronage of Bank of America.
