Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises

Ronald by Franz West.
Conservation of a Three - Dimensional Painted Papier Mâché Object
Andreas Hartl
Austrian National Library, Conservation Department, Vienna, Austria
Fig. 1: Ronald, recto view
Introduction 1
Entitled Ronald, the object is shaped like a three
dimensional guitar (Fig. 1). It was created in the
late 1970´s by the Austrian artist Franz West (16
February 1947 – 25 July 2012), and is part of a category
of works which he labelled as Namensbilder.
These objects are dedicated to particular persons
and could be described as a kind of portrait.
Ronald is one of a group of 17 artworks subtitled
Our Railroad Workers and their Union (Fig.
2). The associated pieces are works on paper
including collages, drawings or overpaintings of
newspapers or photographs, and are presented in
frames, most of which were created by the artist.
All the pieces were made as independent works
of art over a period of 20 years.
In 1996, the group in question evolved from
a selection of works for the exhibition Collagen
Passstücke Werke 1972-1990 in the Viennese gallery
Kalb. It was very common for Franz West to
combine works from different periods, and so he
also included furniture or sculpture as well as
works by other artists. Following this 1996 show,
the Essl Museum of Contemporary Art in Klosterneuburg,
bought Our Railroad Workers and their Union.
The technical study and conservation of Ronald
was subject of a diploma thesis at the Institute
for Conservation at the Academy of Fine Arts
Vienna in 2011.
Construction
The whole object is made of papier mâché and is
shaped as a relief. The lettering Ronald is formed
as three-dimensional characters in a different,
unidentified material.
Papier mâché is a material very commonly used
by West. In early years of his career, he used
telephone book pages for his raw material. Later,
he used mainly newspaper because telephone
books were no longer available in the amounts
he needed.
The recto view of the guitar shows several
layers of paint. Very similar structures of these
layers can be found in many comparable papier
mâché objects. The first layer consists of a grey
undercoat followed by layers in yellow and pink,
onto which the lettering Ronald is applied. A
layer of white coats, the name as well as the pink
colour was probably the initial surface. This strata
can be found on the entire recto of the guitar.
The verso is not painted, leaving the papier mâché
exposed. For improving the stability of the
form, a wooden broomstick was worked into the
material from the middle of the body, over the
neck to the head of the guitar.
Damage
Due to a massive infestation by biscuit beetles,
the papier mâché body was almost completely hollowed
out and the stability of the object drastically
decreased. Because of insect holes, the surface
was painted over in extensive areas, using
the same material as the initial surface. Afterwards,
some of the insect tunnels on the recto’s
surface were partially overworked with different
types of gypsum.
As a result of further structural damage of unknown
origin, numerous additional repairs had
been undertaken. A fracture runs the length of
the body from the bottom to the top edge, at the
beginning of the broomstick. Despite previous
attempts to repair the crack, it remains a risk.
Because of the extensive degree of damage,
Ronald was classified as not available for loans.
However, for an exhibition in the USA, the group
should be shown in its entirety, so the museum
and West’s atelier agreed to produce a full-size
model.
ICOM-CC Graphic Documents Working Group Interim Meeting | Vienna 17 – 19 April 2013
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