Before and After: Beatles Poster

Value: $3,000
Treatment Cost: $800

The damaged Beatles poster was brought to The Conservation Center due to an impact in which a client inadvertently threw the poster away in the trash. Once recovered, a paper conservator responded to the tears by relaxing the deformations in the sheet where it was torn and crumpled. The poster underwent passive humidification treatment in a Gortex package. It was then placed between cotton blotters to wick away moisture while it flattened under weights. The tears were carefully realigned and mended using Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste, an archival adhesive. The poster was then backed to a secondary mount, which offered structural support for the compromised paper and kept the poster flat. Finally, areas of loss to the printed inks were retouched to reduce the visibility of the damage.