Business Notes, Art Restoration

American Modernist Barnett Newman's giant abstract painting Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III was the pride of Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum before a vandal slashed it in 1986. At the time, the painting was valued at $3.1 million. Last August, after U.S. art restorer Daniel Goldreyer repaired the damage for a fee of $300,000, Who's Afraid was again put on display. Now Dutch art experts are seeing red. Amsterdam art historian Ernst van de Wetering has charged that Goldreyer covered the entire canvas using a roller rather than reproducing Newman's brushstrokes.

After microscopic tests on Newman's work, a Dutch laboratory concluded that Goldreyer had not matched the original oils. Instead, the lab reported, the restorer had used alkyd, a synthetic paint commonly used on window frames. Goldreyer has acknowledged that he covered the canvas with an alkyd "seal" to protect the work, but contends his restoration was faithful. The Amsterdam cultural committee plans to try to recoup at least the restoration costs.