Painting restorers' alterations no joke

The pavement sign locked away inside the darkened Christchurch Fishers Fine Arts gallery reads: "Paintings. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed".

Yet some customers are far from satisfied after taking their century-old paintings into the firm for restoration and getting them back with the artwork visibly altered.

"It is absolutely criminal what has happened," said Neil Burnett, owner of The Hunting Season by 19th-century English painter G. D. Rowlandson.

Mr Burnett took his painting into Fishers Fine Arts for restoration about two years ago. When he got it back he found one of the riders in the painting was wearing a different hat.

A 1899 watercolour called Mt Earnslaw, Head of Lake Wakatipu that his brother, Andy Burnett, took in to the firm was returned with a herd of cows missing.

The paintings have reportedly lost about half their monetary value.

"These two paintings have been in the family for over 100 years," Neil Burnett said.

"They needed restorative work - but nothing like what these guys have done. They have actually removed large amounts of original paint.

"We had photos prior to these being done ... and then suddenly it doesn't look right and you get the photos out and compare them.

"I mean, to have a hat completely changed on a 100-year-old painting is just unbelievable."

A third painting, belonging to another owner, was reportedly returned by Fishers in a state so different that some doubted it was the same artwork.

Fisher Fine Arts began in Christchurch in 1870 and now has galleries in Wellington and Auckland.

Its website says the company has "highly talented skills" in the restoration of oils and watercolours.

The Herald visited the Christchurch and Auckland premises yesterday and found them shut on a day advertised as being open.

The Herald also phoned Fishers Fine Arts managing director John Fisher at his Christchurch home and was told he was on holiday and could not be contacted.

"The issue ... now is to get [the paintings] restored back as near as possible," Neil Burnett said.

"They can never actually be back to the original now. The damage is too great."

Art consultant Hamish Keith said the restoration errors would harm the reputation of Fishers.

"It's an appalling thing to happen ... and rather difficult to make look good."

Mr Keith recommended that people wanting paintings restored should first find out whether those doing the work were properly qualified.