Friday, February 01, 2013
Ah, yes . . . this is where I want to mention something important about the back. I never have time to do things I wish I could. One would have been to do what I did in the corner seen above. I dampened the old crispy brown paper – let it rest a few minutes – then, as I suspected, I was able to gently rub the paper away with my thumb, exposing the wood of both the frame and the stretcher, harming neither. I’d bet a nickel that if you completed the removal of all the backing paper you’d find a name. It may not be an artist’s signature, but it may be a previous owner. Or you may find a note such as one I found a couple years ago: “See that this painting gets to Sally Emerson.” That’s all it said – no date, no reason – no nothin’.
