Overpaints and inpainting on the “Black flag” by Ljubo Babić

Abstract

This paper will present the restoration carried out at the end of 2017 on an oil painting called the “Black flag”, by Ljubo Babić, that stands today as one of the five more important paintings in Croatian modern art history. The focus will be on previous interventions – retouches and overpaintings – that were found on such an important painting, as well as the complex process of inpainting.
 After a partial removal of the previous interventions, some particles of dirt were still left embedded in the texture. This condition and the artist's paint effects determined the inpainting process. A mimetic inpainting method was chosen, consisting into a two stages process, intermediated with a varnish application: gouache colours to reconstruct the image and pigments mixed with Canada balsam to finish the process. This method resulted in a good reintegration of the retouch and in the overall appearance of the painting.