Painfull dissapoinment<br />
Mr. Harrison of Harrison's of London restored 4 of my Victorian portraits. Unfortunately the very poor quality of his restoration caused significant amount of permanent and visually distorting damages to 3 of the portraits and caused a substantial loss of their value. <br />
4 conservators evaluated the paintings and reached the same devastating conclusion. The paintings have been damaged beyond any possibility for repair now or ever in the future. The harsh solvents used by Harrison's of London made the original paint layer too soft and sensitive to even very mild solvents. Any attempt to remove the protective varnish and the poor touch up paint in order to perform any type of repairs will also remove the original paint. There are numerous iron impressions, creases and wrinkles visible on the face of the paintings, one has a 10" scar right across the face and a badly repainted nose, the fur collars worn by two of the persons portayed have been totally wiped off. One painting was placed on the wrong side of the stretcher frame causing bulging and creasing on the painting. <br />
Harrisons of London did not want to refund the money I paid for the restoration voluntarely, so the matter was taken to court. Although I won, it's a bitter sweet victory because my paintings are lost forever.

The treasures of one's heart are often captured in the treasures of one's art. With this in mind, it is not uncommon for individuals to do their utmost to preserve those treasures that have been passed from one generation to another. With the passage of art and more importantly, time; wear and tear is normal. This is where ?art restoration? comes in. Restoration is a process that attempts to return the work of art to some previous state that the ?restorer? imagines to be "original". It must be noted that restoration is controversial since it often involves irreversible ?change? to the original piece of art. Successful restoration has less to do with making the art once again look original than it does in serving another purpose; preserving the art for the enjoyment of future generations.
Knowing that the ?art restorer? is no less an artist than the original artist, I placed great trust in the individual I chose for the delicate procedure of removing over 50 years of accumulated secondhand smoke from my treasure; four lambs lazily grazing upon a hillside amidst a stormy sky.
The young lady who now owns Harrisons of London meticulously removed layers of ?wear and tear? from my painting and to my surprise that stormy sky is in reality blue with a gentle cloud cover that had been covered by years of secondhand smoke. I sympathize with ?disappointed? however let us not take out our disappointments upon those who did not inflict the hurt.

Harrisons of London is now under new management. In fairness to the new owner please take this into consideration.

Mr.Harrison of Harrison's of London recently restored 4 of my Victorian portraits. Unfortunately due to his very poor quality restoration 3 of the portraits suffered significant amount of permanent and visually distorting damages that caused considerable loss of their value. It was a very devastating experience for the paintings as well as my family. The costs of repairing whatever is possible to repair are astronomical.

Update: 4 conservators evaluated the paintings and reached the same devastating conclusion. The paintings have been damaged beyond any possibility for repair now or ever in the future. The harsh solvents used by Harrison's of London made the original paint layer too soft and sensitive to even very mild solvents. Any attempt to remove the protective varnish and the poor touch up paint in order to perform any type of repairs will also remove the original paint. There are numerous iron impressions, creases and wrinkles visible on the face of the paintings, one has a 10" scar right across the face and a badly repainted nose, the fur collars worn by two of the persons portayed have been totally wiped off.
Harrisons of London did not want to refund the money I paid for the restoration upon my request voluntarely so the matter was taken to court. Although I won, it's a bitter sweet victory because my paintings are lost forever.