The Graham Sutherland Tapestry Design for Coventry Cathedral

Conservation of the Working Drawing

Sutherland’s large mixed media drawing was conserved in-situ, working below the enormous tapestry (the size of a tennis court) in Coventry cathedral in the winter of 2022.

Of utmost importance when working on anything of this nature, is to retain all aspects of its use by the tapestry weavers, such as graphite annotations and numbering, pin holes and other key elements required to copy and transfer detail for the large tapestry.

It is executed onto 2 sections of compact fibrous board and painted in gouache watercolour, body colour, charcoal, oils, and acrylic over a graphite under drawing. Additionally, there is other mixed media such as paper over-lays, textiles; ribbon and fragments of silk.

The two sections were poorly assembled with the join through the middle becoming wider and more damaged leading to delamination of the fibrous board and lifting/losses of pigment. The on-lays were also lifting and areas of textile becoming detached. The repairs were carried out by humidification to swell the fibres and allow access to the lamination layers, by applying adhesives through and applying weights until flattened. Other areas of loose textile and on-lays were treated similarly.

The fragmented pigments also required consolidation due to flaking and the final retouching was carried out using watercolours to tone.

Pastel and Chalk Drawings

These are some of the most delicate of media treated by a conservator. The media is so loosely bound, that it is really only present due to the pressure of the chalk on the paper by the artist.

The entire paper may be entirely covered in chalk or pastel (interchangeable terms) or it may just be a simple line drawing on plain or coloured paper. Either way, they can desiccate very easily and are rarely transported, unless under strict supervision and always flat, face upward.

They are most prone to mould spores, due to the binder present in their construction, this being; pure pigment, whiting or Kaolin and a binder or gum to form the pastel. The binder is often what mould is attracted to.

Pastel and chalk drawings are fantastically improved by washing to remove mould, consolidation and remounting.

Oriental Artworks

These vary hugely from artworks of differing media on a range of various support. The support is generally paper; Chinese or Japanese tissues or pith papers which are in fact, not paper at all.

The media can be woodblock printing, brush painting, or watercolours. These may have the addition of white highlights, gums to give depth, and even gilding. Many Japanese papers are prone to foxing spots; a type of mould spotting. If treated inappropriately, they can damage extremely easily. If more modern, they may be coloured using aniline dyes and be extremely sensitive to moisture.

If the paper is pith, they are very prone to flexing and may fracture; this being the main damage inflicted on these artworks. In addition, they are extremely sensitive to moisture and must avoid it at all costs.