Welcome to Julia Nagle Conservation Limited

I am a fully-qualified and experienced conservator/restorer of easel paintings.  I work on paintings on canvas wood and metal of all ages and am one of very few paintings conservators with specialist expertise in the conservation of contemporary and modern paintings.

Accredited by ICON (The Institute for Conservation) in 2006, I am now an assessor for the Professional Accreditation of my fellow conservators across all disciplines.

I am based in my own fully-equipped, secure studio in East London and work for clients all over London, throughout the UK, and abroad. My clients include private collectors, commercial galleries, loss adjustors and public institutions.

As well as insurance for goods in care I have £1 million professional indemnity cover, enabling me to freelance for public institutions such as Tate, the Serpentine Gallery in London and the National Gallery of Australia amongst others.  

I regularly work as a freelance paintings conservator at Tate Modern where I have developed my ability to work with modern and contemporary paintings and with living artists. The opportunity to share thoughts and ideas with colleagues is invaluable, especially as many modern and contemporary paintings are mixed media, and require the input of more than one conservation discipline.  

As a result of my work at galleries and museums I understand the workings of a large national museum with a busy loans programme, and can advise on care of collections, preventive conservation, framing, packing, transport, hanging and lighting.  I can also provide details of companies specialising in these services and, if desired, can organise a conservation project from start to finish by co-ordinating the relevant specialists at each stage.

I carry out condition checks and write indemnity reports for clients who are lending paintings to institutions abroad, or make reports for prospective purchasers of works of art at auction. Digital images of the paintings are sent to clients along with a written assessment of the work's condition, probable future condition, and estimated long term costs.

I also escort fragile paintings to exhibition venues and back to lenders and have been on freight planes to Australia and Japan with very large works.

I teach and give public talks on conservation.  I was senior lecturer in the Care and Conservation of Works of Art at University College London for several years, and a freelance conservator at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge from 1993 to 2003 supervising students and interns in the studio and teaching specialist conservation techniques such as egg tempera retouching.   I have built up good contacts with other conservation professionals both nationally and internationally.  As a result I am often able to recommend conservators in other countries or from other conservation specialisms where needed.

I have lectured internationally on the Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art, most recently with Dr Bronwyn Ormsby at the Istituto Centrale di Restauro in Rome, on behalf of Sotheby's Institute in Singapore and at The Art of Conservation at the Victoria and Albert Museum which was covered by House and Garden magazine in November 2009.

Since establishing my practice in 1993 I have conserved and restored an enormous range of paintings, from early medieval panels to twenty-first century mixed media works. Conservation treatments vary enormously from simple removal of surface dirt to tear mending, cleaning of discoloured old varnishes and full restoration of missing areas (see the gallery page for some examples of former conservation and restoration projects).  All conservation treatments are carried out to the highest standard using materials that are conservation-grade, will not deteriorate or discolour over time, and remain fully reversible.

Estimates are based on time taken to carry out treatments and calculated at an hourly rate of £50 + VAT.  It is normally necessary to see an object before being able to give an accurate estimate of what is needed as all paintings vary considerably.  Prices range from as little as £100 to many thousands of pounds.  Estimates are given freely and without obligation, but an accurate or binding estimate cannot be provided from photographs alone.

I regularly check paintings en route to exhibitions and provide condition reports for them. Estimates are given without charge or obligation but please note an accurate estimate cannot be provided on line without seeing the work in question.

If you have any enquiries please feel free to Contact Me

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