Plaster Sculpture Repair of Woodrow Wilson
Bronze Monument of President Wilson, 1928. Photo courtesy of Albin Polasek Museum
“In the Czech Republic … Wilson is a rock star” Patricia Sullivan, Columnist, The Washington Post
Albin Polasek’s enormous bronze of President Woodrow Wilson unveiled in Prague in 1928. Your head would have been no higher than the knee. It was destroyed during World War II and then recreated in 2011.
A four foot tall plaster model, mostly hollow, was created as a reference to help recreate the larger bronze. This project is about repairing that plaster model.
Before. A plaster sculpture with cracks and broken and severed parts
The Mission: Reconnect the plaster hands, reconstruct the broken base, repair the hollow broken neck and other smaller areas. Remove loose dirt and pencil marks. Clean the surface just enough to improve its appearance while retaining the patina-like surface that reminds us of why it was made. Complete the repair on the client’s premises, at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, FL.
After, with the plaster hands repaired and installed
After, with the plaster neck strengthened and cosmetically repaired
After, with the broken plaster base repaired and reinforced with steel rods
This plaster model was a provisional tool used in a sculptor’s studio or a bronze foundry. It was used to mark up with a pencil and pull measurements from in a rough, practical work space. Now its in a museum - the Albin Polasek Museum - but it was never intended to be a museum piece. Consequently, there were limits as to how far Owens went to clean the surface.
The plaster chair was not in need of repair, but its a lovely shape
Images showing the process of repair.
Sculpted plaster parts are prepared to be precisely reinstalled
The reconnection is made with care. The hands were cut off with a power saw to make it easier to crate and ship the plaster model from Europe to central Florida. The width of the blade was taken into account to ensure the outside edges met properly.
Large, hand made staples add strength to the cracked plaster neck
The hollow neck was cracked around its entire circumference but the crack was closed tightly and the head fit properly. Burlap within the plaster kept the head from falling off, but the neck needed to be strengthened. The crack could not be opened to use an adhesive without causing even more damage. Large steel staples were installed below the surface and the crack was repaired superficially. The sculpture is quite heavy and someone may forget for an instant and apply force to the head, especially when placing it on a dolly.
Rebuilding and reinforcing broken plaster edges
About half the broken plaster from this corner was discarded. Only the largest pieces were kept. After the corner was reconstructed, pieces of steel rod were installed as reinforcements. These corners and edges are under a lot of force when the sculpture is moved.