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Showing posts from July, 2015

An Art Restorer's Assessment of the Rice Portrait of Jane Austen

The results of the work undertaken by Paris-based restorer, Eva Schwann, have now been published on The Rice Portrait Website  and makes fascinating reading whether your interest is in the restoration of paintings or in the history of this particularly beautiful portrait. Eva was trained at the Courtauld Institute and France's Institut National du Patrimoine and spent much of 2010 and 11 bringing the painting back to life. I was lucky enough to visit Eva in her studio whilst work was being undertaken, and to see the portrait for myself. You can read about the lovely day I had here  Eva was able to clean the significant OH symbol that the artist used in many of his works, which is especially pleasing to see - I think there can be no doubt that the portrait was painted by Ozias Humphry.    There is also a new article on the website about the Austen family's connections with the Humphreys - they were also acquainted with Ozias's younger brother, William and his