In a large workspace filled with natural northern light, Allen Kosanovich is peering into a microscope and guiding a cotton swab over cracks in a painting more than 1,000 years old.
The minute scale of his work, sometimes performed on paintings taller than Kosanovich himself, combined with the precision it requires, is guided by a principle he says is influenced by a healthcare principle.
Do no harm.
"It may be a little dramatic to think of the things we work on as living objects," he said, "but I think every conservator kind of does."
As the head conservator at The Wadsworth in Hartford, Kosanovich's work preserves and restores the integrity of historical art.
"Some of it could be considered detective work," he said.
Paintings are Kosanovich's specialty. While he's a painter who came to conservation through a curiosity about the techniques of old masters, he says discipline and restraint are required "to not put any of your own artistic interpretations" into the work.
Two hundred years ago, he says, paintings that needed to be repaired or cleaned were usually taken to another artist.
"They would not be so concerned with being true to the artist's original intent, but they would be concerned more with presenting a beautiful object, which is a very different idea than what we're having today," he said.
"It's kind of a
cliché at this point," Kosanovich said. "But if a conservator does their job well, it's something that you never would know."
Learn more about Kosanovich and his work at the Wadsworth to conserve art in Connecticut Public's latest Mini-Doc.
