Bangor Public Library seeks help to restore art

BANGOR – Wrinkles. Peeling. Discoloration. Scratches. Dry, cracked skin.

Sounds like someone needs a trip to the spa – or the conservator.

See, these aren’t ugly ducklings waiting to be turned into swans. Or aging ladies looking for a face-lift. They’re paintings in the Bangor Public Library’s collection. And they need help.

That’s not even the worst part. Annie Hardy’s peonies are looking a little wilted, or torn, as the case may be. And you should see William Hammett Simmons, but you can’t. He’s cooped up in a storage closet, with good reason – an entire rectangle of canvas is missing above his right ear, it looks like someone stabbed him in the left shoulder with a pencil, and he’s ripped in five places. But who’s counting?

Susan Smith, that’s who.

For the last four years, Smith, the library’s special collections assistant and curator, has watched over the library’s vast and varied collection. She’s an art historian who feels passionately about the works in her care. And she doesn’t discriminate between paintings of national significance and gems by local artists. She loves them all.

But that doesn’t mean she can’t see their flaws. During a recent tour, Smith pointed out every crack, stain and age spot in the place. But she also highlighted the victories, such as a portrait of Hannah Jane Hills Peirce, done by local artist Jeremiah Pearson Hardy. Today, it hangs proudly in the reference room, but a while back, someone had given her a mustache and poked holes in her breasts.

Another Hardy painting, “Child Feeding Parrot,” also had a stroke of luck.

“A Hardy scholar fell in love with it,” Smith explained. “It was filthy and it had some holes in it.”

Diane Vatne and Pauline Kaiser donated money to have it restored, and Smith worked to replace the incongruous wooden frame.

“You had that nice, clean painting; you couldn’t put that ugly frame back on it,” she said, laughing. “Once in a while, we can squeak out a little money, but usually, it’s either donations or grant money.”

And donations are what Smith has in mind. Recently, art enthusiast Peter Michaud took Hardy’s portraits of Gen. Samuel Veazie and his wife, Susannah, under his wing. The Bangor Mechanics Association also adopted Hardy’s portrait of his daughter, Annie Hardy. But 31 paintings still need repair.

“What we’re doing is making up for 80 years of neglect,” Smith said.

“They didn’t have anybody here,” Smith’s colleague Bill Cook added. “Unless you have a curator who keeps after them, they deteriorate, just like everything does.”

Smith is trying to stop that deterioration. The price of repairs ranges from $120 to $1,700 (for poor Mr. Simmons), and the services needed range from simple cleaning to major restoration. The marble sculptures in the third-floor rotunda also could use a good washing.

“At this point, I’m just interested in getting some help with what’s up,” Smith said. “Not everything needs to be cleaned.”

For more information, call Susan Smith at 947-8336 or visit in the Bangor Room of the library. Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.