Science Museum, London

Electrical Engineering Workshop’ by Terence Cuneo, 1956

This huge 3355 x 4885 mm canvas was kept in storage for many years. We carefully rolled the painting and brought it to Bristol to conserve. Strips of polyester fabric were adhered at the edges of the reverse of the canvas to support the taking margins. The canvas was re-stretched over a polyester loose lining to support the unlined canvas. The painting was very dirty and yellow, with brown spotty accretions on the surface. We removed the discoloured dirt and varnish revealing vibrant colours. Old photographs showing Cuneo and his assistant at work, shown in the video below, were so fascinating we couldn’t resist reconstructing them. The painting was framed, and re-displayed, behind the scenes at the new Smith Centre.

Watch Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum Group, talking about this painting on Youtube: