Poster Restorers, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[50s]

Yeah, Debi Jacobson of L'Imagerie Gallery I recommend keep well away from. I was told (lied to) that an expensive 3 sht ($3000) poster she had was in near mint condition, yet after I received it, my restorer friend pointed out significant saturated respray in the image area and borders and also numerous restored areas (poorly done). At that time I also purchased another poster ($1500) which she had backed for me, and frankly, it was amaturely done and extremely dissapointing... never saw such a mis-aligned 3-sheet backing job since. I also bought a 3rd poster at the same time, but havent inspected it closely... I'd rather that chapter of purchases put behind me - was my second ever poster purchase, I was a poster newbie.   

[eatbrie]

Like I said before, I'm not a big proponent of linenbacking, but when the poster is rare (meaning, hard to find anywhere) and in need of restoration, Dario seems to be the master.

Here's a work in progress on my Italian Suspiria.  The fluorescent reds are impossible to work on without darkening them, so I asked him to leave them alone.

This one will probably be framed, the first poster I frame in about 5 years (I think the last one was a Psycho 1/2 sheet).



T

[erik1925]

T,

Looks like Dario repainted all the borders?

Coming along nicely.

Jeff

[50s]

Anyone have any experience with?:

- Poster Conservation
They list a quad as 40x60 though

- J. Fields Studio

[erik1925]

Steve..

i have a friend who used J Fields almost exclusively for many of his posters. He liked them a lot-- they do fine work, but they got a little backlogged sometimes. Might be beneficial to write and ask him (Jason) about his current turnaround times.

Jeff

[50s]

Thanks Jeff

[Neo]

Anyone have any experience with?:

- Poster Conservation
They list a quad as 40x60 though

- J. Fields Studio

Poster Conservation has done a few posters for me.  They do a good job.  Last time I talked to them, they said the only thing they do is linen backing, when I was asked about getting my Taxi Driver 30x40 paper backed by them.  I'm thinking about looking into Poster Mountain, for various reasons, but they have a few methods that would be interesting to see how posters turn out, like gelatin resizing for a couple 40x60s I have that need a little work and possibly for flattening a couple posters I have that are folded but otherwise in near perfect condition that I'm slightly reluctant to have linen backed.

[CSM]

Anyone have any experience with?:

- Poster Conservation
They list a quad as 40x60 though

- J. Fields Studio

Got a quote once from J. Fields that seemed highly excessive compared to what other restorers quoted for the same poster. 

That is not to say they do not do good work but I was pretty stunned at the quote!

[theartofmovieposters]

Have used a few, and hands down winner for me was Jamie...but as Chris said, it depends on your thoughts regarding the recent controversy.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Kudos to Poster Mountain, they did a great job linen-backing my French Line for $175, including shipping.  They did minimal restoration, just fixed the ink spots on Russell's face from the stamp on the back.

[Dr Hackenbush]

Looks great!  Congrats!

[raulleaf]

Based on comments in another thread... i think that Chris Cloutier certainly can be added here, too..

POSTERFIX-- AVOID!  moron1

Yep I would say the same. He sent my poster back unprotected (no plastic or anything) and it rained and the package got damp and the poster all wavy....

[Neo]

She's a beaut, Mel.  Looks almost perfect.  thumbup

[erik1925]

Yep I would say the same. He sent my poster back unprotected (no plastic or anything) and it rained and the package got damp and the poster all wavy....

hey Charlie--

what poster did you have him work on for you? Was the waving severe from the moisture that got into the package?

Jeff

[raulleaf]

Well its a bit of a long story but I had recently come across a few hundred photoplays, etc. from the the sixties.  They were all beat up moisture damaged, had silver fish and what not; they had been stored in a barn.  But fortunately the inside pages were in pretty good shape so I started to go through them and paydirt! kind of... They may not be worth much but it is nice to have some paper associated with the film prior or near the release.  It would be interesting to determine the number of magazines printed and compare it to the number of posters printed.  I might even go as far to say that these do have value.  Anyway somehow I got a hold of this Chris guy and was going to have him do ten or so of the important titles but my wife convinced me to see what he could do with one first.  So first he kept it well over a month and when he shipped it back he had just taped it to a piece of cardboard; didn't wrap it in plastic.  We where out of the country and so it sat on our front porch for a few days and moisture got to it.  Snapped some picks the  basic problem is that it is all wavy Severe enough for me to just pin it to the wall (it will not stay flat like a bubble) and for an 8x10 size sheet that is not right plus he uses really thin cotton material...  took some picks of the other sheets I had planned for LB...

[CSM]

Yep I would say the same. He sent my poster back unprotected (no plastic or anything) and it rained and the package got damp and the poster all wavy....

Yet more evidence that this guy is a complete idiot.

[erik1925]

Yep I would say the same. He sent my poster back unprotected (no plastic or anything) and it rained and the package got damp and the poster all wavy....

And to think he did the touch up work to that ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS quad that recently sold on ebay for $1396.00  :o

[paul waines]

That's if that linen-backed Flesh eaters was a Quad. There's a fellow selling High Quality re-pros that are a full 30x40, it may well have been one of these backed to hide what it really is....

I do hope whoever paid that ridiculous amount has a good look at what he's bought ....if they know what they are looking for. eyeroll 

[erik1925]

That's if that linen-backed Flesh eaters was a Quad. There's a fellow selling High Quality re-pros that are a full 30x40, it may well have been one of these backed to hide what it really is....

I do hope whoever paid that ridiculous amount has a good look at what he's bought ....if they know what they are looking for. eyeroll 

I never thought about that, Paul. Hope that wasn't the case with that particular copy. I have seen those other, full size repros out there. Fingers crossed.

[erik1925]

Diane Jeffrey and her artists at Studio Conservation, Inc (Studio C) in Vista Cal. are also spoken of with high regard:

http://www.atstudioc.com/

[TheAnswerMVP2001]

Kudos to Poster Mountain, they did a great job linen-backing my French Line for $175, including shipping.  They did minimal restoration, just fixed the ink spots on Russell's face from the stamp on the back.

They must have raised their prices.  They quoted me $150 just to linen back a small French poster 24x32 then $125 an hour for any restoration estimated 187.50 of restoration.  Poster Conservation quoted me $80 to linen back the same poster and about $200 for restoration.  I thought the restoration was pretty high on both, the poster had some tears and one missing piece but it was all in the border areas so there was very little image to be reproduced, aside of fold line separation the image itself was fine.  I've pretty much decided to leave it alone and frame it with a matte around the edges, since that's the worst area, maybe eventually I'll just linen back it and not bother restoring it, $80 seemed reasonable to linen back it, at least compared to $150.

[brude]

Every time I see that FRENCH LINE poster I think of the after-effects of 5-Alarm Chili...
Think Jane burnt a hole through the backside of her rhinestone one-piece?
hitself

[erik1925]

Every time I see that FRENCH LINE poster I think of the after-effects of 5-Alarm Chili...
Think Jane burnt a hole through the backside of her rhinestone one-piece?
hitself

laugh1

[brude]

That was really rude and inconsiderate of me.
FRENCH LINE is a fine poster.
I've just had a shitty last couple of weeks is all.
cheers

[Bruce]

I think you mean it is "shitty of Jane", given her pose