Rosalind Whitehouse MA ACR FBAPCR
After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Fine Art, Rosalind entered the government training scheme in conservation and restoration at the National Gallery, London.
Her subsequent career in private practice saw her caring for paintings in private and local authority museum collections, particular long-term favourites being the Colchester and Ipswich Museums with their Constable and Gainsborough pictures, and the Jockey Club collection of mainly equestrian art, which included work by Stubbs, Gainsborough and Munnings.
A conservator in private practice is rather like a GP, every conceivable problem with a painting comes into the studio, and solutions are found that are right for the picture and the client.
In her own words
After a long career in East Anglia working in private and public collections of paintings and also for Churches, I am now based in Somerset. I have opened a studio in Frome and take on small and medium scale projects.
A personal practice
Every painting that comes to the Frome studio is treated by Rosalind herself, and clients are welcome to discuss their picture at every stage.
Parting with a beloved painting while it is treated can feel like a gap on the wall — where a project allows, Rosalind can even lend a picture from the studio to hang at home in the meantime.
The ethos of the practice
Key to all Rosalind’s work is personal communication with the client, so that expectations are clear and are achieved. Thorough, considered, clearly argued approaches to conservation form the ethos of this practice, with both pre- and post-treatment documentation being standard. Rosalind has cared for whole collections, carrying out assessments and treatments, and where necessary creating documentation systems for recording them.
Her long experience of all aspects of painting conservation and restoration range from Constable, Gainsborough and Stubbs in public collections to family portraits used for target practice and then kept in the coal cellar!
The whole object is cared for, whether wooden stretchers, canvas, panels and board, or the unconventional materials used from the twentieth century onwards. Delaminating/flaking paint layers and paint losses arising from environmental damage are all treated. Dirt, darkened varnish and inappropriate or excessive old restoration are analysed and removed.
Conservation scientists are consulted for detailed analysis when required.
Rosalind’s expertise in working on hatchments and coats of arms in Churches includes liaison with Parish Councils, Church architects, builders, scaffolders, art removal companies and the stalwart Parishioners who have raised funds, often by applying for National Lottery grants.