When we think of restoring works of art we typically bring to mind Renaissance old masters, Rembrandts, and the like. However, many of our "new masters" are nearing the half-century mark and have begun to fall into the "needs help" category in museum collections. One such painting, a Jackson Pollock, was recently worked upon to correct a malady involving peeling paint. The huge, wall-sized canvas was taken down and inspected. Upon doing so, technicians found one area contained an apparently non-archival cigarette butt! Worse than that, it had come loose and was in danger of falling off the canvas, taking a small area of nearby paint with it! What to do? How do you restore a cigarette butt? Heading for the library, they found that Jackson's Pollock's favourite brand was Lucky Strike. You can guess the rest.
