Historic, examination and conservation issues relating to Portrait of Gustav Adolf Hollander by Julius Gottfried Siegmund

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of historic, technique
and technology reaserch, as well as conservation process, relating to
the oil painting on canvas entitled Portrait of Gustav Adolf Hollander
(formerly known as Portrait of a Man in an Interior), dated to the third
or fourth quarter of the 19th century, by Julius Gottfried Siegmund,
originally from Riga. The painting has belonged to the collection of
the National Museum in Poznan since shortly after the end of World
War II in 1945.
As a result of historical research acomplished during the
conservation and restoration of the painting at the Faculty of
Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, at the Academy of Fine
Arts in Warsaw in 2021–2022, it was possible to establish the identity
of the man portrayed and the place represented in the painting.
The painting was referred to as Portrait of a Man in an Interior in the
Poznan Museum’s inventory card written in 1985.

During the complex process of conservation work, a detailed study
of painting technique and technology was also carried out. This
allowed for a better understanding and broader knowledge of the
artist’s workshop.
The steps taken aimed at rescuing the historic substance of the
work of art and making the painting present once again in the
consciousness of the viewer, which due to its history is now the
common heritage of Latvians, Germans and Poles.