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  Finding Hovey 01: Introduction

  April K. Anderson-Zorn

  Charles E. Hovey played a significant role in the founding, development, and early operations of Illinois State Normal University. Named by the Board of Education of the State of Illinois as the school’s first principal, Hovey worked tirelessly to recruit faculty students to the new school. Hovey worked against the Panic of 1857 and Illinois weather to construct the Administration Building, the first building on campus. The restoration of the Charles E. Hovey portrait exemplifies art as a multidisciplinary educational tool. The portrait serves as a physical conduit to the past, connecting students to the University’s fledgling years as they learn about ISU’s integral role in developing educational pedagogies in the United States. Art students also study the painting and learn firsthand preservation techniques (and what not to use). With funds from the George and Helen Obalil Family Fund, this important piece of local, state, and national history has been conserved for future generations. Read on to see how this piece of history was meticulously restored.

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  Finding Hovey 02: Portrait

  April K. Anderson-Zorn

  The most distracting part of the Hovey Portrait was the result of poor restoration work completed sometime in its past. Twelve holes were shabbily patched by adhering new pieces of canvas to the back of the portrait using non-archival adhesive. The largest of these makeshift patches was about 6” around and was located directly to the left of Hovey’s face. Conservators expertly removed the poorly executed fills, and the repairs were redone, this time properly. Archival grade materials were used, and the experts who performed them made the damage almost invisible.

  Aging varnish obscured Hovey’s visage and concealed details in the painting. The discolored varnish was carefully removed by conservators. The result is an overall brightening of the surface; parts of the painting are visible after treatment that previously could hardly be seen, such as the writing on the document in his hand.

  While the painting has revealed new details, many questions remain. Project team members hoped that the conservation of the piece would reveal the identity of the portrait’s artist. We still don’t know if this was a personally commissioned piece or one created to commemorate Hovey’s time as the University’s president. Though cleaning the portrait helped reveal many nuanced details of the painting, we still cannot decipher the language on the paper held in Hovey’s right hand. However, this leads us to believe the paper is an artistic choice and not meant to include intentional content. Though questions remain, the restored portrait gives us new clues to explore in our continuing research.

  The frame is original to the painting, so efforts were made to conserve it as well. The frame had chips and losses in the gesso decoration, and there were losses in the gold guilding. At some point, the gold had been given a “facelift” with imitation gold—this may have looked impressive at the time. Still, with age, the false gold had oxidized and made the frame look dirty and unkempt. During treatment, flaking paint was consolidated, and areas of loss were inpainted. The oxidized false gold on the frame was removed, losses in the gesso were filled, and the frame was repainted in gold where necessary.

  The canvas had become slack on its stretcher, which can result in warping the canvas and cracking the paint over time. To prevent this, conservators lined the canvas with BEVA 371, a conservation grade adhesive film that provides stability to the aged cloth, and it was restretched over its original frame. An archival backing board was added to the verso of the canvas when it was reframed to protect the portrait from future dirt and damage. None of these measures can be readily seen by the viewer, but they are necessary for the longevity and protection of the artwork.

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  Finding Hovey 03: Field Sword

  April K. Anderson-Zorn

  Hovey wore this sword on the battlefield during the Civil War. Though technically a saber (backsword with a curved blade associated with cavalry), the regalia has been most commonly referred to through the years as a ‘sword.’ This piece would likely have been purchased by or for Hovey when he entered war service. The supplier engraved on the hilt is named “W.H. Horstmann & Son, Philadelphia,” and was a major supplier of military regalia during the war. This staff-and-field sword best represents the regulation design of officer swords of the time. This sword was cleaned and then stabilized by conservators at The Conservation Center while the Hovey portrait was restored.

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  Finding Hovey 04: Dress Sword

  April K. Anderson-Zorn

  Little is known about the manufacturer of this regalia. We do know that this would have been purchased and worn by Hovey as part of his dress uniform, military attire worn for official events, parades, or other military functions. Both of Hovey’s swords were donated to the University by Harriet Hovey, Charles’s wife, for Founders Day events in February 1913. That year, students, alumni, and Civil War veterans who served with Hovey honored the leader and president.