Bob Ross proved it can be very soothing to watch someone paint, and painting can be an extremely relaxing activity and a great stress reliever for the artistically inclined.
But watching art dealer Philip Mould remove layers of ancient varnish from a painting is like watching art magic in the making, as the subject is restored to her former beauty bit-by-bit.
2/2 ....still a way to go, but what a transformation! pic.twitter.com/nyGx3qdhOZ
— Philip Mould (@philipmould) November 6, 2017
People are so obsessed with Philip's classical painting clean ups that they begged him to start doing a live stream of his restorations, which probably won't happen, but at least Philip has begun posting short videos of the process.
A last smear from the chin removed. I will post an image of the completed picture as soon as it is ready. pic.twitter.com/K7TSl2XdqE
— Philip Mould (@philipmould) November 6, 2017
And just so you can see how important Philip's work is, and what a drastic difference a little varnish removal makes here's a before and after of a fully restored painting. It's like washing your windows after driving through the desert!
What the mysterious 400 year old Prince Henry looked like before (with cleaning tests) and after cleaning. Mastic varnish - which is made from tree resin - biodegrades and turns yellow brown over time, and can almost completely hide a painting if left long enough. pic.twitter.com/taLUuy5cO4
— Philip Mould (@philipmould) November 15, 2017
-Via Distractify