Our temporary research station in Villa Finale's Library.

It has been a busy time for us at Villa Finale.  While my colleagues have been busy with contractors, architects, and packing the many collections in the house, I have been busy with, among others things, oral histories.  I conducted the first full-length interview for Restoring Voices two weeks ago and I was even ambitious enough to transcribe it myself … it’s a big task, but a great experience.  In addition to our oral history program, I continue working on research for tour development, programming ideas, designing rack cards, and more.

Also, in keeping true to our team-management philosophy, I have been meeting with my colleagues as we explore such possibilities as site photography, preview tours, and exhibits for the Visitor Center.  While the amount of work that needs to be done before our opening can at times feel overwhelming, we have been successful in keeping things light-hearted thanks to our great working relationships, something very valuable for small staffs!  Make sure you keep coming back for further updates.

Last Friday I drove to Austin to view the progress on Villa Finale’s Lazarus-themed painting in Mark van Gelder’s conservation lab and studio.  Here is the studio from the outside …

… you’d never know this is what the inside looks like:

 

 

 

 

The first thing that Mark did to the painting was to stabilize the canvas and press it down to the backing fabric to smooth all tears and eliminate any irregularities.  I use the word “press” because that is exactly what the procedure is.  The fine linen that the painting is actually painted onto is adhered to a thicker fabric by a mix of bee’s and other waxes, thus saving the original canvas from being stretched too tightly and becoming deformed or torn.  Here is an edge of the painting after Mark removed layers of grime and old varnish: 

 

The yellow wax is clearly visible in between the canvas and backing fabric.  When the canvas was stable and smooth enough to work on without damaging it, Mark began to clean the surface with cotton swabbed on a pencil-sized stick dipped in a three-part chemical cleaner. 

 

Here is Mark diligently swabbing and one of the swabs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eww.  What you see is years and years of build-up of dirt and old varnish.  He left a some of the varnish on the surface to allow the canvas to retain a little elasticity. He will fine-clean at a later date.

 

Mark has cleaned half so far, here is the result:

Because of the methods used in the past to conserve the painting, Mark thinks that the last time it was cleaned was most likely in the 1940’s.  This ties in very nicely to the fact that Mr. Mathis purchased the painting in the early ’40’s–getting it ready to sell!

There was conjecture around Villa Finale that the painting had been removed from its stretcher bars and folded for some ominous reason.  Upon closer examination, it appears as if the old linen canvas was loomed only to a certain width and sewn together to create a larger canvas.  You can see the seam in the middle. 

 

 

 

In smoothing and cleaning, Mark also discovered artistic elements not seen until now.  He brushed on a light linseed oil to allow me to see details.  What we all assumed was just another sore on the beggar’s shoulder was in fact a glop of old varnish. Here it is cleaned and sore-free!:

 

 

 

Mark revealed plates, tablecloth design, clothing and more.  This is my favorite bit:

I will return in a few weeks to document further progress.  The canvas will be completely cleaned off which will allow Mark to pursue the fine details such as filling in cracks and tears and “in-filling”, basically painting damaged areas in the manner, texture and color that the original artist employed.

It is always very rewarding to see a project completed.  On Wednesday, July 23rd, the Tower Limestone project was just that, COMPLETE.  The deteriorated stones that were removed a couple of months ago are now exchanged with new in-kind replicas.  I could bore you with the details of the installation day, on how hot it was standing on a metal roof most of the day in South Texas, but I feel that the pictures say more than I ever could.  So here they are… before, during, and after.  Now on to the rest of the house…

The installation begins.

 

The installation of the new brackets.

 

The new brackets installed.

The old stone, prior to removal.

The new stone installed.

One of the things that continues to amaze me is the amount of detailed work that goes into starting a museum.  The staff at Villa Finale collectively has 50 years of museum experience - an average of 10 years each.  We’ve all worked in museums where we wish something had been done differently in the past - the collections cataloged properly, family interviews done, or good documentation of original building conditions, for example.  What excites us all is the idea that we get to do this right, right from the start!

 

This really struck me again last week when our landscape consultant was here to do research.  She’s putting together what’s called a Cultural Landscape Report, which fully describes the history of a landscape, the context behind it, and makes recommendations for its presentation and interpretation to the public.  Cindy was doing research at places as varied as the Institute of Texan Cultures, the San Antonio Conservation Society, and even the San Antonio River Authority.  Villa Finale is on the banks of the river and they had some documentation on the Riverwalk extension in the 1980s.  In addition to the research, Cindy interviewed some of Mr. Mathis’s friends and family to get a better idea of the progression of the landscape design.  With her recommendations, we are able to determine what Mr. Mathis planted and when, and what plants are “volunteers” and can be removed.  We’ll begin implementing her recommendations this fall.  In the meantime, take a look at these pictures.  Look how much the landscape has changed!

Villa Finale, c. 1970

 

Villa Finale, 2006, Photo by Carol Highsmith

Villa Finale, 2006, Photo by Carol Highsmith

Villa Finale c. 1970

Villa Finale's Visitor Center

Villa Finale’s Visitor Center is among the many items we have to tackle.  Located roughly three blocks from Villa Finale, the Visitor Center will not only be the place to introduce Walter Mathis and his work, it will also be the perfect place to create rotating exhibits of interest for tourists and the residents of King William.  In fact, we would like the Visitor Center to be a place that residents can be proud of and feel a part of. 

While the planning of exhibits for the Visitor Center are in preliminary stages, there are many exciting ideas on the table.  The Center will also be the perfect place for volunteer training and programs for school-aged children.  Since the Visitor Center is scheduled to open before the house, we will make sure to keep you informed of any progress made on this great part of our development.

Last night we hosted the King William Social here at Villa Finale.  We had over 100 neighbors and friends attend the social, a quarterly event hosted by the King William Association.  I was reminded once again of what a singular neighborhood this is - of course by the conviviality of the event! - but also because of the concern expressed by everyone for the welfare of a few residents who are struggling due to illness or family emergency.  The Association was also able to present a check to a King William resident who recently lost her home to fire.

We also kicked off Restoring Voices, our oral history program.  Sylvia was able to interview a number of residents, and got lots of great stories about Walter Mathis, Villa Finale, and King William.  If you have stories to share, let us know!

Here are some pictures from last night:

 

 

      Sylvia reminds residents to wear nametags!

 

 

 

 

  

After ordering and testing audio equipment, creating the necessary forms, and writing and rewriting the project’s mission statement (and then rewriting it some more), I am proud to announce that Villa Finale will finally be kicking off its oral history project called Restoring Voices, this Wednesday evening July 2nd at the King William Social.  That night, King William residents will have the opportunity to share stories about life in this great historic neighborhood, restoration of their homes and of course, their remembrances of Walter Mathis.  With these valuable first hand accounts, the project aims to provide a greater public awareness of the importance of preservation in the historic neighborhoods that make San Antonio unique.  Oral histories will be used for such things as research, public programming, and exhibits at Villa Finale.

The interviews will range anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes in length, just to give participants a feel for what the process is like with the hopes of scheduling a full-length interview at a later date.  If you should happen to be attending the King William Social, please stop by the Carriage House (where interviews will be taking place) and record your story for posterity.  If you should happen to be a little “microphone shy” stop by anyway, I will personally be conducting interviews and would love to meet you.  Stay “tuned” for more Restoring Voices updates.

Mark van Gelder called yesterday to tell us some VERY interesting news about our big painting.  He had done some research, as he likes to do when he receives a painting to conserve. 

Mr. Mathis had always told his guests that the painting depicted “Lazarus and the Rich Man”, and that it was painted by Peter Paul Rubens.  Well, the Rubens part may be in fun, but the Lazarus part was right on target.  Here is our painting in full to compare to the following pictures.

 

Mark discovered that our painting is one that was almost copied from the painting Parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus, c.1590-1595, by Leandro Bassano (right).  This painting depicts the biblical story, Luke 16, 19-31, of Lazarus.

It reads as follows:  ”There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. At his gate lay a poor beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and wishing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.  Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom.  The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus in his bosom.  So he called to him, `Father, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire’.  But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted and you are in agony.”

Leandro Bassano’s painting hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. 

When compared to the Villa Finale painting, some components in this are almost identical, others have had their positions shifted around, such as the monkey and the cat, and some are completely different.

There is yet another Leandro Bassano painting, Carrying of the Cross, early 1580s, which belongs to the state museum in Leningrad (left).  The kneeling boy in the lower right of this painting is similar to a “mirror image” of the boy in the lower left of the Villa Finale painting, which indicates that the artist of our painting was referencing at least two pictures by Leandro Bassano, (and possibly a print in the case of this figure of the boy).  Curiously, the figure of the stooping man in the foreground of both these Bassano pictures are very similar to each other, while he is absent from the Villa Finale painting.

 

 

And about Peter Paul Rubens.  Here is a detail photo of the signature on our painting, which is quite abraded and very difficult to make out, but seems to probably start with “P.”, then probably another “P” (or possibly an “R”), then probably another “R”, although each letter is more abraded than the one before.   Perhaps this is where Mr. Mathis might have gotten this idea! The word “Roma” below the name is more clearly decipherable.   Like most other details on Villa Finale’s painting, the signature will probably be somewhat easier to see once the painting is cleaned and re-varnished.

More to come as the painting is conserved!

Until this past Wednesday, there was a painting that hung in the center hallway above a heavy sofa decorated with glassy-eyed wooden lions.  The title: “Servants Preparing Fowl and Fruits for Their Master”.  But it was difficult to tell who was the servant and who was the master, and as a matter of fact, what was a fowl and what was a fruit.  I think there were even cats, a monkey and dogs in the mix.  But who knew?  Ones’first impression upon seeing this painting was a black abyss with a few eyeballs scattered about, twinkling like constellations and some amorphous shapes bending over what appeared to be dead birds and some turnips.  Do you see what I mean?

Although its appearance gave the painting an air of mystery and an impression of age, as Mr. Mathis undoubtedly felt was appropriate for the front hall, something had to be done.  Enter Mark van Gelder of Art Conservation Services of Austin. 

Last July, Villa Finale had arranged for Mark to survey all of the oil paintings in the house - there are over 160 - in order to determine which paintings needed to be conserved before the museum opened.  It is common for paintings, by no fault of anyone in particular, to age and degrade, and suffer paint and surface tension loss as a result.  There were a number of paintings in the house that we knew were in need of stabilization, but Mark gave us a detailed list of conservation priorities and recommended treatments.  The “Servants” were close to the top of the list.  A few pictures are worth a thousand words.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This painting is truly a bit of a mystery.  It was painted by a follower of Leandro Bassano b.1557-d.1622), an Italian painter of renown whose pieces hang anywhere from the Louvre to the Museum of Fine Art in Cleveland.   It measures four by five and a half feet, and upon close observation, really is bustling with activity.  Bassano typically depicted religious subjects, but seemed to enjoy painting subjects as commonplace as people gathered in a kitchen -more food prep! - and portraiture.  The sad thing is that we do not actually know who painted our painting, although it may be revealed with cleaning and restoration.  Mr. Mathis purchased the painting from a South Carolina antiques dealer in 1941.  Who owned it before, we do not know, either. 

From its appearance, we can safely say the painting has a checkered past.  It has been torn, repeatedly repaired, stretched and re-stretched, waxed, touched-up, heavily varnished and even folded at some point.  Which leads me back to Wednesday and the fate of the “Servants” and their darkened fruits and fowl. 

That afternoon, the painting was removed from the hallway by professional art movers and placed on a prepared surface on the library floor.  The painting is the largest in the museum and also the first that would greet visitors as they entered the house.  The painting is also the first, since the house rose to museum status, to depart for conservation.  Its absence is alarming!

The art movers carefully wrapped the painting in a sort of breathable museum-grade Saran Wrap called Dartek and sandwiched it in heavy cardboard.  There was no need to crate the painting as it was traveling overnight to Austin with no stops or waylays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark will keep the painting for at least eight months.  During that time, he will slowly and carefully re-stretch the canvas before he begins painstakingly removing old clumpy varnish, badly re-touched areas and other “accretions”, as he calls them, after which he’ll re-varnish the entire piece and inpaint where there have been losses.  He will basically return the painting to as near its original state as possible.

Soon we will be able to see the painting with greater clarity than ever- and who knows, maybe those are really turnips….

Earlier today, I was strolling through the house making notes for the site’s interpretation and as I did so, I thought back to the very first time I set foot inside Villa Finale: I was in awe at the size of the collection.  While many objects caught my eye back then, I see things differently now that I know more about Walter Mathis, the man behind it all. 

Knowing more about Mr. Mathis’s life, his likes and dislikes, brings everything to life inside Villa Finale.  A mirror becomes a rescued treasure discovered in war-ravaged France, an admiration that began in youth and carried into adulthood is represented in Napoleon memorabilia, and a set of silver is a treasured family heirloom.  Picture if you will looking at a snapshot of a stranger: is it not more meaningful when you know who the person is?  So it is when you look at the Mathis collection. 

I’m very grateful to Lorie Rombro, the Collections Project Manager at Villa Finale who spent time with Mr. Mathis, and who has been kind enough to take time out of her busy day to share her experiences with me.  Hearing such personal experiences has helped keep me on the right track as I work towards interpreting this most unique site.  What has become very clear is this: to many, Villa Finale may seem like a house full of “stuff” but to Walter Mathis, it was home.