Art Restoration Fail

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We've all seen it time and time again; the best of intentions gone horribly wrong. But what happens after the gawking and attention wanes, the painting is still in need of care and attention and someone brave or foolish enough to tackle it.
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[BaumgartnerRestoration]

Hey everyone, just to clarify; the thumbnail is most definitely a joke. Even with serious work, humor is a necessity, as this experience certainly shows.

[NonDeScrip]

I like to imagine a conservator, 100 years from now, making their own videos (or whatever it will be) just going through a painting you restored, "Ah yes, Baumgartner Restoration, I always enjoy when these pieces come to me it truly makes my job so much easier. See how little paint was added? How tiny the patches were? They couldn't do nano-fixtures like we can now, but this was truly a marvelous restoration in the 21st century. I'm just going to clean it, make sure everything is up to the new standards for reversable restoration and this will be done. Oh look, the owner of the painting still has the information packet on the back that contains all the work that was done and what was used. This sometimes gets lost over time so this is a nice surprise!"

[sutpecna]

They gave this girl a full influencer beat from the mid 2010s, didn't they. She was deyassified before my own eyes and I'm happy for her.

[OtterSara]

The previous restauration attempt is the definition of what is called "Verschlimmbessern" in German. It is a combination of the words "Verbessern" - "to improve" and "verschlimmern" - "to worsen". So it means basically "to worsen something in an attempt to improve it." And this overpaint illustrates this term perfectly.

[eileenrice]

The fact that you hid the restorer’s name, despite the shoddy work he did, shows so much class on your part.

[judywesl]

I'm astounded that the person who did the work actually signed it. Like, not just placing a note with some information but actually signing it as if he is co-painter and can take part of the credit. Unbelievable!

[Lovefromwcu]

Watching you remove the paint from her face was like removing my makeup circa 2018. They really put the full coverage foundation on that poor girl.

[morganabernathy-warner]

Watching you clean her face was like watching someone remove cakey foundation

[StevenOBrien]

8:32 You know it's gonna be a good video when the painting spontaneously starts playing Schubert when the solvent is applied.

[erikacole]

The cleaning on this one is like the painting equivalent of pulling up your crappy linoleum and finding beautiful hardwood floors underneath. Just astounding.

[biosparkles]

I am amazed that the person who "restored" this previously was happy enough with their work to sign their name on the back of it

[Haffina]

Julian calmly swearing up a storm is a mood.

[Dysteleologist]

This is the most soft spoken, gentle, and vicious roast I've ever heard. I _love_ it.

[Citizen-]

I've always wondered how you'd react when you see a terrible restoration and you did not disappoint.

[linelesscolour]

I don’t know who remembers me, but about a year ago I left a comment under one of those videos, saying that this inspired me to pursue a career in conservation. A few people asked me to update, so here it is:
I’ve recently started my internship at a paper restauration workshop and I’m currently restoring my first ever book! Next year I will take up studies at uni. I’m so incredibly happy that I found my way into this awesome job!!

[DeviousMilk]

That previous conservation looked like an Instagram filter devoid of subtle humanity. I was shocked. Brilliant work as always

[SunlightHugger]

Seeing both paintings together at the end warms my heart a bit. Regardless of what the actual marriage was like, the two paintings have been together for years, decades, even under harsh repainting, and now they get to be together again, renewed and whole. :, )

[sascha]

The way my jaw dropped when you just removed the first square overpainting of overpainting on the chin. They not only flattened but didn’t even get the skin tone anywhere near right!

Great job as always, Julian!

[sugiz]

Wow you did say the overpaint was flat but wow. This might be one of your most drastic cleaning reveals yet.

[itskaila_lee]

The way her skin & eyes came to life when you removed that paint layer was both beautiful & satisfying