The science of restoring art

Local specializes in fixing up old or damaged pieces

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By JAN HOGAN

VIEW STAFF WRITER

Marcin Szymczykowski works with a paintbrush, but he's not an artist. He chips away at marble, but he's not a sculptor. He cuts and sands wood for furniture, but he's not a cabinetmaker.

Szymczykowski, 53, has 26 years experience restoring fine art pieces to their original splendor. He deals mostly with museum-quality art and antique restoration and has worked on Picassos and Monets as well as pieces by lesser-known European artists.

As there are only about 20 restoration specialists in America, his skills are in high demand. He does not need to advertise.

"I'm like a doctor," he said. "People come to me for help."

His business is called Atelier for Restoration. It opened 16 years ago under the name Furniture Doctor and morphed into its current state eight years ago.

Szymczykowski's 3,000-square-foot studio/workshop is at 3920 Mountain Trail Lane. Open the door and it emits the scent of turpentine and oil paints and wood chips.

On his workbench are various pieces undergoing one stage or another of restoration. This month, there is a delicate wheel-like wall ornament made of white marble. It is from Persia, made in the 1930s. Inlaid around its perimeter and spokes are flowers crafted from mother of pearl. An intricate lattice-like pattern was carved between its spokes, but the artwork was smashed on one side and Szymczykowski must craft new marble elements to piece it back together.

"It's like doing a puzzle," he said. "I can only work on it so long before I have to (step away for a break)."

Other current projects include a porcelain reindeer with a broken horn and a contemporary painting with mold damage.

One of his local clients is Bernie Gilman, whose business deals with convention services. Gilman had four paintings restored. They were from the 1700s, each worth approximately $25,000. Szymczykowski repaired damage to the gilded frames and cleaned away the dust and dirt accumulated over the years.

When they were returned, the art collector said he could not discern where the repairs were made.

"He did a good job and he's dependable," Gilman said. "I'm awfully happy with his work."

Of all the types of repairs he does, the hardest, Szymczykowski said, is finding a perfect match for the original marble when a statue gets chipped. Even being one tone off can result in an awkward repair. But once he finds the right color stone, one would never know there was damage.

It might take days to restore one piece or it might take weeks. The more challenging, the better, he said.

One of those challenges was a 6-by-35-foot 3D piece titled "Rainforest." It was carved from a single piece of wood. The detailed artwork had animals and birds in a lush, tropical setting.

When it was being shipped from South America to a private collector here in Las Vegas, it was dropped by a forklift operator. Szymczykowski handcrafted the relief details and restored the piece to like-new status.

Some pieces suffer smoke damage from fires. There is not only smoke and heat damage but water damage from firefighters' hoses. Water damage also can come into play when pipes leak and mold discovers a willing host in an ancient canvas.

Not all the pieces he restores were damaged by predictable means. A 19th century painting, a scene of Italy, was sent to him after a rather intense family dispute. The painting was peppered with blasts from a shotgun.

"You can see where it was hit, here and here," he said.

Before he can do anything, he has to do research. For oil paintings, for example, lab tests provide a chemical analysis of the paint. Sometimes he sends a piece to Los Angeles or Poland for more in-depth tests. Other times he might need the results of UV or infrared tests to determine the number of layers involved.

"Today's technology is amazing," he said. "Sometimes you'll have an old, old painting and find out it was done with animal-oil pigments."

Szymczykowski often travels for his work. He is part of a team that spends two to three months each year working on churches in Europe. Other travel has him jetting off to the Bahamas where he has VIP clients. He also keeps a studio in San Francisco and spends about a month there each year.

Atelier for Restoration always seems to have a waiting list of clients, but Szymczykowski only takes on three or four tasks at any one time.

His occupation, he said, is "one of those professions where you're always a student because it's so involved. I have 26 years doing this but I'm always learning.

"There's an old German saying. It says, 'You can learn yourself all of life but you'll die stupid anyway.' Well, its sounds better in German."

Szymczykowski was schooled in different technical trades. He graduated from the Wroclaw Academy of Art in his native Poland in 1978 and was selected for a special assignment that sent him, along with a team of experts, across Europe to restore churches and aging cultural properties.

He holds a degree in art history from the Sommerset College of Arts and Technology in the United Kingdom but relies as much on practical, hands-on knowledge with tools as he does his understanding of art styles and various techniques.

He arrived in Las Vegas in 1982 with his wife Jadwiga, who is now a cook at the Excalibur, and their two children.

When not in his element restoring items, he can be found doing his favorite pastime, skydiving.

For more information on his company, visit www.art-restoration.info.