With slow, gentle swipes of a cotton swab, Rustin Levenson is lifting decades of dirt and grime from four venerated masterworks by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali.
Levenson and her team of eight conservators, will spend eight-to-10 hours a day, painstakingly cleaning and restoring each canvas, inch-by-inch, and making whatever repairs are needed so they can be enjoyed for generations to come.
Standing just a few feet away, Lillian Hofstetter watched the work in awe.
"I drove a school bus for 35 years, and that's nothing compared to the patience you have to have to do this," said the 80-year-old visiting from Cleveland. "I respect every inch of what they're doing. It's phenomenal. What an experience I am having today."
Conservation efforts are usually off-limits to the public, but for the next two weeks, visitors to the Dali Museum can watch the skill and science involved in preserving works of art during "Stripped Bare and Bathed: the Preservation of Dali's Masterworks." The event is taking place in the museum's Hough Family Gallery.
Conservators are working on four of the museum's eight Dali masterworks: "Galacidalacidesoxirbrnucleicacid," 1963; "The Ecumenical Council," 1960; "The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus," 1959 and "The Hallucinogenic Toreador," 1970.
The living exhibit also will allow visitors to ask conservators questions about the preservation process at 3 p.m. daily.
The four masterworks haven't been cleaned since the 1970s, said Joan Kropf, the museum's deputy director.
The massive pieces were chosen based on their need, she added. Because of their size, they are not covered in glass and they don't spend any time in the temperature-and-light controlled vault, which exposes them to sweat, dirt, grime and other pollutants that can deteriorate the artwork.
What the conservators are tackling is easy in some ways and more challenging in others, Levenson said.
"The most challenging part is the preparation," explained Levenson, owner of the New York-based Rustin Levenson Art Conservation Associates. "Once we've done the testing, and we know what to do, we do it. But it takes time."
Levenson and her group spent weeks assessing damage, testing each of the works, using ultraviolet light, a microscope and a loupe – a magnifying glass similar to what a jeweler would use.
They set up a table with cleaning solvents and with cotton swabs gently dab at the canvas to determine which cleaning solutions are best.
"We test every color with a different solution," she added, showing a sheet of paper with bits of cotton swabs attached comparing shades of grime. "We want to remove the grime, never the paint."
Cleaning the paintings is an important part of the process, but knowing about Dali and his work is equally important, Levenson said. Dali is best known for striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work.
"We know a lot about the artist, but we're constantly learning more (as we work)," said Levenson, who was hired in 2004 by the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg to work on a painting by Claude Monet. "You think you know a lot, and then you see areas where he's changed his mind and gone in another direction, or used another color. It's really fascinating. We're really sad when 5:30 p.m. arrives each day."
Levensen said Dali's "Ecumenical" will take the longest to restore because the painting was removed and reattached to its wooden frame leaving it uneven, the fabric riddled with holes. The canvas also wasn't put on straight, which contributed to fraying.
"Discovery of America" has a mold problem, she said,the result of a leaky roof in the old museum; it was discovered during a hurricane evacuation. The painting must be cleaned, treated and restretched.
Conservators stand on ladders and use floor lamps to examine the paintings while they clean. When treating the mold, they wear protective masks.
"We're using organic sponges and ethanol solution, which makes us all feel better," said Levenson, referring to the mold. "Our goal is never to disrupt the integrity of the work."
That said, each of Dali's works is on a schedule to be cleaned and conserved, said Hank Hine, director of the museum. The Dali Museum houses 96 original oil paintings by the surrealist, the second largest collection outside of Spain.
The Dali preservation project cost around $90,000, and it received a $44,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, which was matched by the Dali Museum and private donations.
"The dirt in the air, human sweat, lights, all of this can start degrading the paintings," Hine said. "The best way to preserve it is to keep it in the dark and away from the public. But (these paintings) can't live in the environment. We need to keep it fresh so they can be enjoyed for generations to come."
Sue Maier was among the visitors Tuesday who got within a few feet of the conservators as they worked.
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