Discover how Arius facilitated a pioneering digital restoration project, uncovering hidden degradation on Monet’s masterpiece, before digitally restoring the original brilliance of this Impressionist piece.
The National Gallery of Canada houses some of the world’s most precious Impressionist works, including Claude Monet’s Jean-Pierre Hoschedé and Michel Monet on the Banks of the Epte. While this masterpiece is over a century old, it carries the physical history of its journey, including natural degradation, structural interventions, and surface contamination.
In a landmark collaboration with Stephen Gritt, Director of Conservation and Technical Research, Arius used our pioneering mapping technology to create a sub-millimetre digital twin of the painting. This provides conservation teams with a blueprint, allowing them to monitor the brushstrokes, pigments, and materials with unprecedented detail, measuring features to 1/10th the size of a human hair. All without ever touching the original canvas.
During the scanning process, our team identified unusual results in both the colour and geometry of the painting that did not fit with local pigments. Working alongside the Gallery's restorers, we determined these were tiny spots of oxidation and unintentional build-up from past structural interventions.
To explore the painting’s original intent, Arius produced two distinct physical outcomes:
By displaying these versions side-by-side, we provided a fascinating insight into what the painting looked like before a century of environmental wear, allowing for restoration to be explored in textured print format, without any changes to the original artwork.
Located in a stunning glass and granite building in Ottawa, the National Gallery of Canada is one of the oldest and most prestigious art institutions in North America. It houses a vast collection of Canadian, Indigenous, and European art, and is a global leader in technical research and the preservation of fine art.
While the original masterpieces remain in the care of the National Gallery of Canada, our Museum-Grade Textured Editions allow you to experience these works in your own private space. Through our exclusive partnership, we have produced a curated collection of officially licensed reproductions that capture every nuance of the artist’s hand.
Discover how our non-invasive scanning technology provides invaluable data for conservation and historical research.
