NASHUA – A modern piece of art created with an ancient technique, considered a hidden gem in the city, will be revived thanks to forethought by a local arts group and an infusion of private funds.

A fresco, created by notable artists 24 years ago, has hung in the lobby of the Jan Streeter Theater at 14 Court St. in Nashua and is now being restored thanks to a plan set forth by City Arts Nashua.

Historic art

The artists, Swiss-born Lucienne Bloch and her husband, Stephen Dimitroff, of Bulgaria, painted the piece in honor of notable Nashuan Margaret Swart.

Dimitroff knew Swart’s sister, Mary Beasom Bishop, and Bishop had paid for his attendance at the Flint Institute of the Arts.

Bloch and Dimitroff studied with well-known Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The two worked on his giant mural commissioned for Rockefeller Center in 1932 – a controversial work that David Rockefeller had destroyed because of its Marxist bent.

Bloch’s artistic contributions were significant, including teaching sculpture at a school set up by Frank Lloyd Wright.

While preparing for the renovation, City Arts Nashua vice president Judy Carlson struck up a correspondence with Dimitroff’s granddaughter, Lucienne Alan. According to Alan, when Margaret died, her grandparents wanted to honor Margaret with the mural.

Bloch and Dimitroff worked together to create the panel using the fresco technique they mastered while studying under Rivera.

The renovation

The circumstances that shone a new light on a Nashua treasure began somewhat by chance.

While working on the preservation of the Yankee Flyer mural painted by James Aponovich, Carlson showed the Bloch fresco to the Boston-based conservator brought in for the Yankee Flyer restoration. City Arts Nashua decided to make the Court Street piece their next project.

The fresco had seen better days. Nicks, scratches and a few deep gouges began showing in the surface. The city arts group budgeted $18,000, solicited a professional opinion and set up a plan of action.

The renovators

"We’re art doctors," said Liza Leto-Fulton, a fine arts conservator who was contracted to lead the restoration.

To that end, she uses patching material, a palette of fresh colors and even a small surgeon’s scalpel to bring the notable piece of art and local history back to life.

"What I found incredibly fascinating about this project – Lucienne Bloch is a student of Diego Rivera, one of the biggest artists of the 20th century for mural paintings," she said.

The technique, with roots to ancient civilizations, saw a resurgence during the Renaissance.

"The Italian craftsmen and artists were going back to the ancient period and rediscovering what the ancient artist did," she added. Leto-Fulton said that, by the time the 20th century rolled around, "true fresco painting was passe, it wasn’t being used anymore."

The technique

Simply speaking, the fresco technique involves applying pigment directly to wet plaster. To begin, a full-size drawing is prepared and the elements are outlined by pricking along the lines of the drawing with a sharp point. Then, soot is daubed onto the lines. The form is transferred through the tiny holes onto the surface.

A layer of plaster, just enough for one session of painting at a time, was prepared and applied. The day’s plaster is called giomata – a "day’s work." Pigment was then applied to the fresh, wet plaster. The chemical process of making the color permanent is completed as the plaster dries. No other binding agent is needed.

The whole process of completing the finished mural can be traced by the seams in the art, which separate each day’s accomplishment. The lines usually follow natural breaks in the elements in a mural, such as a trunk of a tree or the perpendicular lines of a building. In Nashua’s mural, however, the seams are less predictable, which leads to speculation about technique and the artist’s intention.

"She’s using this very ancient method. She’s not using it precisely, but for the most part she stuck to the traditional method," Leto-Fulton said.

After a reference drawing is created, the mural was carefully cleaned. Then came the work to fill the damaged surface.

Filling in

The conservators use a fill material and mix in additional adhesives to make a substance that is flexible – so it’s not dry and rigid – and also allows the mix to adhere to the holes.

Leto-Fulton said they can smooth it, but not sand it. She uses her scalpel to carve and make the new fill level. Sometimes they will add sand to mimic the original art’s texture.

"Your fills need to be absolutely perfect," she said. So she looks at it from different angles. "No matter how good your color is, if your texture’s not right your fill are always going to show."

Inpainting in painting

This week, Leto-Fulton and John Rossetti were adding color, using the minute points of watercolor paint from small brushes, their faces pressed close to the mural’s surface while they worked under bright lights.

"Inpainting is a technique where you keep the painting within the border of the fills. We don’t paint over something. We only stay where there’s a loss. It’s a much more precise method," she said.

Leto-Fulton said, "I love working on frescoes. It presents its own unique challenges. Because plaster is a stone material, it’s porous."

The repair work can be problematic because of porosity. The conservators are careful to discern what is minute damage and what is simply a reflection of the original artist’s technique upon the day’s planned application of plaster – the giomata.

"We’re actually using watercolor because it’s the closest in feeling for what this is it’s transparent, wet-looking," Leto-Fulton said.

The conservators never go back and use a new layer of plaster. "The most important tenets for a good conservation is that the materials are reversible, so the next generation of artists can remove what is applied in the event that it ages differently than the original work," she said. "Over time, our materials may not match the same color anymore."

"We want our material as long-lasting as possible and still maintain reversibility," Leto-Fulton said.

Legacy

Leto-Fulton said she is impressed to think Bloch left the Midwest at a later stage in her life and traveled to Nashua to paint in an antiquated style

"I find that really fascinating. She could have used the normal mural technique of the day. You don’t find many of these of this size. When you find true frescoes, you find them mostly in museums and in fragments," she said.

"They are doing the right thing in taking care of it," Rossetti said.

"You can never bring it back to its absolute original. We’re introducing non-original material, but, we’re bringing it back to the artist’s original intent," Leto-Fulton said.

Their goal, she said, is for the fresco, when finished, to be "seen the way it was intended to be seen the day it was finished."

Don Himsel can be reached at 594-6590, dhimsel@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DonH.