I am a paintings conservator and a researcher. My main research project pt. is about Edvard Munch and his handling of his paintings,and about his painting technique. Phone: +47 93282950 Address: NIKU Storgata 2 P.b. 736 Sentrum 0155 Oslo, Norge
Most churches in Norway are both parish churches and museums. The building, its interior and arte... more Most churches in Norway are both parish churches and museums. The building, its interior and artefacts are an important part of the Norwegian cultural heritage. The users reasonable demand for comfort, which a.o. means heating in the church, creates a climatic stress on the church as a cultural monument. Information on painted wooded mediaeval artefacts in the churches confirms what experience has shown, namely that painted wooden artefacts in heated wooden churches has a greater need for conservation than artefacts in unheated wooden churches. Altering the heating routines would appear to satisfy the climatic requirements for the artefacts and the users' requirements for comfortable warmth. By reducing the climatic stress in the heated churches to a level corresponding to that in the unheated churches, a reduction in the accumulated conservation requirement of 19per thousand can be achieved. Altering the heating routines is therefore the same as preventive conservation, which means: - less resources are needed for remedial conservation-work and the objects are preserved for a longer time in a more original state. Altering the heating methods also saves energy. A full-scale test with localised heating in a stave church has produced an annual energy saving or 37 per thousand.
In order to increase interest and knowledge regarding a heavily faded 15th century sculpture, a d... more In order to increase interest and knowledge regarding a heavily faded 15th century sculpture, a digital 3D reconstruction was made. The target groups for the reconstruction were pupils at a nearby summer school site, conservators and art historians. The article describes how the reconstruction was created, discusses the results and how these can be used.
Deterioration of wooden churches in Norway caused by central heating results from great seasonal ... more Deterioration of wooden churches in Norway caused by central heating results from great seasonal variations in indoor climate, with extremely dry air in winter, which tends to absorb moisture from the wood. Results of a research project using advanced computing equipment for climate examination of 5 mediaeval churches (two unheated and three heated) are briefly discussed.
When preserving wall paintings and furnishings in Scandinavian churches, conservators are limited... more When preserving wall paintings and furnishings in Scandinavian churches, conservators are limited not only by the financial resources available but also by the need to consider the objects as part of a living environment, not merely as objects to kept in a museum. To illustrate the complexity of these problems, we present four case studies, from Denmark and Norway, which describe historical and contemporary approaches to the problems of ethics and aesthetics. -- SCMRE
Most churches in Norway are both parish churches and museums. The building, its interior and arte... more Most churches in Norway are both parish churches and museums. The building, its interior and artefacts are an important part of the Norwegian cultural heritage. The users reasonable demand for comfort, which a.o. means heating in the church, creates a climatic stress on the church as a cultural monument. Information on painted wooded mediaeval artefacts in the churches confirms what experience has shown, namely that painted wooden artefacts in heated wooden churches has a greater need for conservation than artefacts in unheated wooden churches. Altering the heating routines would appear to satisfy the climatic requirements for the artefacts and the users' requirements for comfortable warmth. By reducing the climatic stress in the heated churches to a level corresponding to that in the unheated churches, a reduction in the accumulated conservation requirement of 19per thousand can be achieved. Altering the heating routines is therefore the same as preventive conservation, which means: - less resources are needed for remedial conservation-work and the objects are preserved for a longer time in a more original state. Altering the heating methods also saves energy. A full-scale test with localised heating in a stave church has produced an annual energy saving or 37 per thousand.
In order to increase interest and knowledge regarding a heavily faded 15th century sculpture, a d... more In order to increase interest and knowledge regarding a heavily faded 15th century sculpture, a digital 3D reconstruction was made. The target groups for the reconstruction were pupils at a nearby summer school site, conservators and art historians. The article describes how the reconstruction was created, discusses the results and how these can be used.
Deterioration of wooden churches in Norway caused by central heating results from great seasonal ... more Deterioration of wooden churches in Norway caused by central heating results from great seasonal variations in indoor climate, with extremely dry air in winter, which tends to absorb moisture from the wood. Results of a research project using advanced computing equipment for climate examination of 5 mediaeval churches (two unheated and three heated) are briefly discussed.
When preserving wall paintings and furnishings in Scandinavian churches, conservators are limited... more When preserving wall paintings and furnishings in Scandinavian churches, conservators are limited not only by the financial resources available but also by the need to consider the objects as part of a living environment, not merely as objects to kept in a museum. To illustrate the complexity of these problems, we present four case studies, from Denmark and Norway, which describe historical and contemporary approaches to the problems of ethics and aesthetics. -- SCMRE
The Munch biographer Rolf Stenersen asserted that Edvard Munch used the weather to modify his pai... more The Munch biographer Rolf Stenersen asserted that Edvard Munch used the weather to modify his paintings' appearance-an artistic technique Stenersen called the horse-cure. Was Stenersen right, or did he create a myth which later became important for how Munch paintings are preserved and disseminated? To investigate Stenersen´s assertion, and as a part of a larger study of this topic, 65 paintings that Munch intended to sell in 1906-07 were examined. The purpose was to find out if any of them had been weathered. The sources for this study were the inventory and photos that Commeter´sche Kunsthandlung in Hamburg made for the paintings it had in commission for Munch in 1906, and the correspondence between Commeter´sche and Munch. Several of the paintings were in poor condition. They had common damages, such as tears, and uncommon anomalies, such as bird droppings, ambiguous spots, premature paint losses, and tidelines. It is argued for that these damages and anomalies are due to improper and careless transport, handling, and storage, and not a result of an intended modification of the paintings appearance by weathering. The conclusion is that the paintings Munch intended to sell in 1906-07 had not been weathered, and that Stenersen´s assertation about a horse-cure should not be emphasized.
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