Conservation Of Reverse Painting On Glass

Reverse Painting on glass is a wonderful painting technique that creates a striking visual impact. Unfortunately a common issue with this technique is delamination and loss of the paint layer. The thin layers of paint peel up like egg shells and break off with the lightest touch.

We began by softening the paint with a light airbrushing of alcohol. This relaxes the paint so it will lay flat without cracking. All the areas of lifting paint were re-attached to the glass using acryloid B72. After curing, missing areas of paint were re-touched to match the original design using acryloid B72 and powdered pigments.