Good news for conservators: the Getty, New York University (NYU), and The University of Akron (UA) today announced the development of a new , safer and more sustainable formulation of an adhesive substance used by conservators worldwide for the structural treatment and restoration of canvas paintings and related art media, BEVA 371. This innovation is the result of a substantial conservation science research grant made available by the Getty.
Developed in 1972 by Gustav Berger, an Austrian-born American restorer who gave the substance its name (BEVA is in fact an acronym for Berger’s Ethylene Vinyl Acetate), the formula became a highly successful adhesive used for restorations. Paintings in museums may need additional canvas on the back of the work, a treatment called lining or re-lining that protects artworks from weather damage so that they can continue to be admired by the public without risk. There are numerous lining techniques, and materials such as BEVA 371 are used to adhere new lining cloths to the back of the original support. The BEVA 371 adhesive formula quickly became famous for its qualities of strength and impenetrability, which eliminated the risks associated with earlier systems whose components could penetrate through layers of paint making the work appear stained and darker than the artist intended.
The first painting in a museum collection re-lined with BEVA 371 was Marc Chagall’s Paris from the Window, which is part of the collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Following this initial success, thousands of artworks scattered in institutions around the world have been restored with BEVA 371.
BEVA 371’s original formula, based on industrial adhesive heat-sealing technology, was suitable for artworks because of itswide viscosity range and relatively low melting point. However, one of its key ingredients, Laropal K-80, was discontinued in 2005, and another component, an adhesive phthalate called Cellolyn 21E, similarly went out of production in 2020. Thus, to avoid the end of BEVA 371, as part of its Conserving Canvas initiative, the Getty Foundation in 2021 awarded a research grant to the Conservation Center at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, which collaborated with the UA’s School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, the world’s most prestigious program in polymer science and plastics engineering, to devise a solution to the end of production of the adhesive’s key ingredients.
“Without these key resins, an important resource for the field of art conservation had been lost,” explains Ali Dhinojwala, professor in the UA College of Engineering and Polymer Science. “Finding a viable replacement that matched the original thermal bonding performance was crucial to maximize the material options available to art conservators.”
Following a multi-year collaboration, the newly formulated product, now called BEVA 371 Akron, fully mirrors the characteristics of the original formula but uses resins that were not available when Berger came up with the original formulation. The new version is phthalate-free and therefore safer to handle, since phthalates are associated with a variety of health risks and are being phased out. The team also took the opportunity to study the chemical composition of BEVA 371 Akron in detail so as to be better prepared for potential supply chain problems in the future.
“An important lesson to come out of our research was that we have a much better understanding of how the molecular architecture of the system affects performance, which allows us to tailor its properties specifically for the conservation community by fine-tuning best practice for their use,” says Chris McGlinchey, project director at NYU who previously served as senior conservation science advisor at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. “We conducted rigorous testing of the formulation’s performance with top experts and are excited about the new formula optimized expressly for conservation, which will offer restorers more ways to work. It’s a big win anytime you enable a conservator to work more safely and efficiently.”
Some of the most significant achievements of BEVA 371 Akron are the benefits in the area of sustainability and the fact that it can now be produced in three different versions depending on requirements. In addition to the original premixed version, a new solid, solvent-free formulation has a longer shelf life and will be lighter and less expensive to ship. Preservationists will be able to dissolve the amount needed in the lab thus having more flexibility to control fumes and the ability to use new and improved solvents as they come out. The team also is developing a solvent-free nonwoven formula in which the fibrous structure is fully adhesive.
“The new versions and sustainability features of BEVA 371 Akron represent a major breakthrough for our field and will help conservators reduce their environmental impact by now being able to mix solvents on demand,” explains Matteo Rossi Doria, a restorer based in Rome and an international expert in the structural treatment of paintings on canvas. Rossi Doria helped the research team in testing formulations to ensure that the new formula met conservation standards. “The implementation of this project was long and laborious, and we are pleased that the new formula will be produced in a variety of versions, making it a viable option for restorers worldwide.”
Premixed versions of BEVA 371 Akron are currently produced by distributors Conservator’s Products Company (CPC) in New Jersey and CTS in Italy, while the solid, solvent-free version will be available later this year. The solid version is created by extruding the adhesive into long spaghetti-like strands. These elastic fibers are then hardened and cut into small pellets before being packaged for distribution.
An additional goal of the project was to leverage the collective experience of museum conservators who specialize in lining paintings to pass these skills on to a new generation of conservators. Graduate students in conservation at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts and a number of early- or mid-career conservators from across Europe joined the better-known professionals by participating in hands-on workshops where they studied how to manipulate the original BEVA formulation, tested the new BEVA 371 Akron formulations, and learned best practices for different treatment applications.
“Supporting training to ensure that we have a strong restoration sector that is adaptable to the needs of the future is a key principle in the Getty’s funding allocation,” explains Lorinda Wong, senior program officer at the Getty Foundation, which oversees restoration initiatives. “Our Conserving Canvas initiative was launched in 2018, and since then we have had the pleasure of having more than 250 restorers and conservators from around the world attend our workshops to ensure conservators have the most up-to-date resources and research findings needed to do their very important work.”
Conserving Can vas has supported professionals around the world through training projects dedicated to individual paintings and workshops focused on developing skills that improve conservators’ practical experience and technical knowledge to preserve thousands of canvas paintings entrusted to their care.
“Of all the excellent initiatives organized by the Getty with Conserving Canvas, this project is definitely the most important,” says Paul Ackroyd, conservator at The National Gallery in London. “With advances in materials innovation and sustainability, the project is a shining example of the enormous success of collaboration in such a niche field as ours.” Results of the project will be presented at the American Institute of Conservation’s annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 27-31, 2025.
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| Three American institutes have developed a new adhesive for restorations |
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