3 minute read
Cash Brown, art detective
Fans of the TV series Fake or Fortune? might be intrigued to learn the Mornington Peninsula has its very own art detective. Tootgarook’s Cash Brown is a qualified art conservation expert who sometimes discovers hidden evidence in the paintings she cleans, preserves and repairs, revealing to owners the authenticity of artworks in their possession.
Cash’s expertise is sought by private, government and corporate clients and has included contracts with auction houses and commercial galleries throughout Victoria. Cash is often appointed to assess the condition of culturally significant objects, advise how to store, move or display them and, when required, clean and restore them.
Despite its glamorous depiction in blockbuster films, where the white-gloved hand uncovers the artist’s signature within minutes, stripping obscuring layers from a painting can often be messy, including the painstaking removal of mould, insect casings and animal excrement such as spider poo.
About half the works Cash treats are old paintings that need to be cleaned and require the reversal of previous wellmeaning but often damaging restoration work. The older the painting, the greater the likelihood of past overpainting and yellowing varnish. The oldest paintings Cash has worked on are from 1560-1580.
Cash often uses an innovative infrared heat tool invented by Flinders engineer and furniture conservator Robin Hodgson, of RH Conservation Engineering. The pair met while Cash was studying a Masters of Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne and now, as fellow Peninsula residents, the friendship continues. The RH Non-Contact IR Heat Tool allows localised treatment at a fully controllable working temperature and is widely popular with US and European art conservation agencies.
While undoing past ‘restoration’ work, Cash has occasionally discovered signatures hidden by dirt and discoloured varnish, and a couple by removing non-original paint.
“This is always exciting for me and the owners because a signature or inscription can validate the authorship of a work and authenticate it,” she said. “It can also assist in providing a value for works. I once found a signature that took the painting from an estimated $3000 to $130,000-150,000.”
Unfortunately, for other clients Cash has also removed artificially discoloured varnishes to reveal images painted over old damaged canvases of insignificance. Sold as original 18th century works, these were fakes. One still life even had a hidden ladybird with a demonic face and an image of a smiley-faced worm, motifs clearly intended to taunt their discoverer. “I know there are a lot of fakes out there. It's a delicate path to tread when I have to inform clients of the deceit.”
Cash said every painting she looks at has different issues. As an art conservator, she still feels the thrill of each new challenge –and sometimes, another case to be solved.
