Bloomfield V Baumgartner

Picture restoration rivals.

I’ve already mentioned how I use YouTube videos of the picture restoration process as part of my strategy for relaxing and focussing on work (along with audiobooks by John Christopher, John Wyndham and recent history - generally about the last world war, 8 hours of global grief in one sitting can be surprisingly therapeutic).

There are quite a few picture and furniture restoration channels - all have their merits, although many of the furniture restoration ‘experts’ are dead set on brutally updating their subjects, but it’s the paintings I like best - and there are two main channels that deserve comparison.

Bloomfield (Left) Baumgartner (Right) - Adrien Brody wasn’t available

Bloomfield Restoration and Baumgartner Restoration - and the similarity and symmetry doesn’t end there. Both channels are run by eerily similar men, roughly the same age, build, dress, general appearance - right down to the hair and beard, and numerous crossovers in style, technique and skill. BUT - there are just as many differences.

One one side, Julian Baumgartner, a highly skilled American practitioner who is very comfortable being the star of his own show. If you scroll back over 8 or so years of videos you’ll see how he’s polished, honed and shaped his presentation, the quality of his editing and sound recording (he used to do it himself - but there is some serious money at play now so the experts are in) is exeptional and he’s fully embraced being an internet ‘player’, and so he should - his videos get hits and likes in the millions - and a rough calculation in my head suggests the income from YouTube alone is far higher than whatever he might earn as a restoration expert at the top of his game. His current studio is breathtaking - at least 4 times the size of my house and filled with the kind of high-end and bespoke machines and tools of the trade that only serious money can buy. He has all the accoutrements of success, his rather fancy sports car has a drive-in area in the studio and just keep an eye on the watches he wears. Baumgartner can do ANYTHING - he’s not just an exceptional restorer, he fixes the frames and repairs the canvas - he invents new machines and techniques and builds structures to reshape and heat canvases using 3D modeling software and engineering skills that would outclass anyone at Tesla or NASA.

A small section of Julian’s huge superstudio complex

He’s incredibly well presented, he talks constantly with confidence, humour and tact. He’s researched, informed and subtle. In all honesty - if he wasn’t so good at his work I WOULD HATE HIM. I can’t be the only one, I’m quite sure he has a huge number of admirers, his clients fawn over him when they make appearances and he has even earned the honour of being the subject of online parody videos. He’s making an absolute mint - and frankly… good for him. I love watching (and hearing) him work. There are about 8 years of videos online including ‘silent’ videos for people who just want to watch (that’s very thoughtful of you, Julian). His retouching skills are quite exceptional and I’ve learned a lot from listening to him talk not just about the repairs but the materials, how things were painted, how canvases stretched and how frames were made. I’ve particularly enjoyed the episodes where large areas of damage are fixed seamlessly and missing areas magically replaced - and talking about the ethics of how much you can reasonably repair, and when to make the repair noticeable instead of hidden. Baumgartner is the crown prince of this genre - and he’s not afraid to make a stand, his comments about the politics of orientalism were very well judged.

My favourite restoration is this one, which was nothing more than a quick clean and a short video - a painting of very little value but great beauty and skill. I love it.

Look at that face… he had it coming…

Apparently there was a follow up to this video with an explanation of how the damage came about - but I couldn’t find it.

However - by far the most interesting repair is this one, a portrait of a young man deliberatly slashed and defaced in some kind of highly emotional episode that gets referenced obliquely as an unrepairable image is reborn - there is SO MUCH MORE happening here than he’s prepared to say - which is a shame, the final image kinda suggests this young man had it coming and I’ve already decided to pitch this as a stylish Hiutchock style thriller with Adrien Brody playing Baumgartner, uncovering the intrigue as he restores the image and facing off against the attacker in the final scene.

On the other side of everything is James Bloomfield. Same everything except this guy works in a small studio, upstairs in a multiple occupancy light industrial complex in Manchester - so small he often uses the hallway to be able to stand back and look at the work - and too small for any of the Baumgartner flourishes, like curtained off spray rooms and UV light rooms. The skill level is the same - although some techniques vary - the main difference is in the paper facing technique - Julian uses small sections to build up a sheet - Bloomfield goes with the whole sheet. But Bloomfield is different in so many other ways - he goes to work on the bus, spends a lot of time researching the work, the period, the painters and the owners - the scale is so much more modest but somehow warmer and more intimate - almost cosy. He also has that comfortable Lancashire drawl that reminds me of home. I don’t think either practitioner is better than the other - they are equally skilled, equally watchable and so much better than listening to the news all day, although I have to say the sheer level of polish on the Baumgartner chanel does put me off a bit - everything from edit, music, graphics and script is sometimes ‘too’ good and overshadows the work. They both run Patreon pages and sell merchandise, and even have sponsors - the Baumgartner association with SquareSpace and his obsession with crafty leads into each promo, is sometimes a bit gruelling - I tend to skip them. Baumgartner went to art school and is the son of a picture restoration expert and it’s clearly in his blood - Bloomfield once metioned that he used to paint copies of old masters for a living when he was younger (I know someone else who does that still), I’ve reached a sort of happy balance where I now alternate between the two - with repeat viewings as enjoyable as fresh projects - there are others, but none as good, I once saw a very nice woman start working on an old master in what appeared to be her dining room with a small dog running around shedding hair and I had to swith off sharpish.

James in his little upstairs studio in Manchester - with microwave, kettle and toaster.

I absolutly love the ones where they have to repair bad overpainting and amateur restorations - that probably says something about me, but for the love of God - I wish people would just do things properly!

The real stars, are - of course, the paintings. I’ve probably learned more about art from watching people save it - than in any other context. right now - we all need a bit of help to get through the day, and this is where I find mine.