-Restoration of Canvas Painting using Mist-Lining System-

Lining canvas paintings has been a standard practice both domestically and internationally for centuries, typically used to reinforce severely weakened textile supports. However, traditional lining techniques are now recognized as highly invasive treatments that can alter the aesthetic appearance of a painting while placing extensive thermal and mechanical stress on the original structure itself, not only during lining but also in the long term.
In recent years, the Mist-Lining technique has gained significant international attention as a minimal-intervention alternative. This non-aqueous method enables a gentle lining process by using low pressure to bond the original canvas to a secondary support via a reactivated adhesive layer, thereby avoiding using excessive heat and heavy pressure associated with traditional methods. A major advantage of this system is that it minimizes the penetration of the adhesive into the original textile support, ensuring the treatment remains highly controlled and making any future removal of the lining relatively straightforward.

 

The Mist-Lining System is a structural conservation method developed in the Netherlands in the 1980s to treat structural damage in canvas paintings. This technique utilizes solvent-reactivated acrylic dispersions and suction to bond two canvases together, subsequent to pre-treatments to remove canvas distortions or consolidate flaking paint layers. By separating treatments to focus on specific problems and eliminating the excessive pressure and high heat associated with traditional lining methods, it offers a highly controlled, minimal-intervention alternative.

We are honored to welcome Kate Seymour (Founder and Director of Art Conservation Education, The Netherlands) as our guest lecturer for this workshop. Through a combination of public lectures and practical, hands-on sessions, this program aims to introduce and share the advanced knowledge and technical expertise of the Mist-Lining System with Japanese conservators, opening up new perspectives for canvas painting conservation in Japan.

The workshop consists of public lectures and a practical session. The public lectures, open to all attendees on Day 1, will be hosted at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (Tobunken) and provide a theoretical overview of the system, its history, and development, illustrated by various treatment case studies. The practical session on Days 2 and 3 is an intensive masterclass with limited capacity hosted at Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai), offering participants comprehensive, hands-on experience under the direct guidance of Kate Seymour to practice the entire Mist-Lining process on specialised mock-ups.

All sessions will be conducted in English; however, to ensure everyone can fully follow the programme in Japanese, simultaneous interpretation will be provided for the lectures and consecutive interpretation will be available during the practical sessions.

The capacity for the lecture sessions on Day 1 will be 90 participants. There will be a strict limit of 20 participants for the practical sessions on Days 2 and 3, tailored specifically for practicing painting conservators.

Applicants for the practical masterclass are required to attend the public lectures on Day 1. Only individuals who can commit to participating in the full three-day programme are eligible to apply. In the event that the number of applications exceeds the available capacity, participants will be selected based on a review of their application documents (CV and motivation statement).

The application deadline is Sunday, 9 August 2026, via the online application form, and notifications of selection will be sent to applicants by the end of August. A certificate of completion will be awarded to those who attend the full three-day programme.

 

An additional public lecture is scheduled for the afternoon of 31 October 2026 at the Tobunken auditorium. Kate Seymour will be joined in delivering lectures by Ikuo Watanabe (Director of Restoration Studio 21, Tokyo), who has led numerous conservation projects ranging from large-scale works to cases involving highly specialized circumstances. Further details regarding this public lecture program and registration will be announced in due course.

We hope that participants will share the knowledge and skills they acquire within their respective fields and contribute to the advancement of conservation practices in Japan.

 

 

After completing your application, if you are unable to attend the lectures or the reception due to unavoidable circumstances, we kindly ask that you notify us via the designated form. 

For those selected to participate in the practical masterclass on Days 2 and 3, we kindly request your full commitment to attending all scheduled sessions. If an unavoidable emergency or absence arises, please contact us as soon as possible at collections@artmuseums.go.jp so that we may offer your place to an alternative participant on the waitlist.

Last-minute notifications are also acceptable.

Please select the reason for your absence within a reasonable scope.

Organized by:	National Center for Art Research, National Museum of Arts (NCAR) Center for Conservation Science, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Independent Administrative Institution National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (Tobunken) Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, National University Cooperation (Geidai)
Date:	October 28, 29, and 30, 2026
Venue:	[Lectures] Tobunken [Practical Training] Geidai
Capacity:	[Lectures] 90 people [Practical Training] 20 people (Those applying for the practical session must also attend the Workshop Lectures. Only those who can participate for all three days are eligible to apply. If the number of applicants exceeds the available spots, participants will be selected based on their application documents.)
Admission:	Free

プログラム

Date		Venue	Content
28 Oct (Wed)	9:00-9:20	Tobunken	Registration
	9:20-9:30		Opening Ceremony
	9:30-10:50		Introduction	Overall Instruction of Mist-Lining (Getty Conserving Canvas Video) Coffee break (20 mins)
	10:50-12:00		Lecture	1.Ethics and History 2.Pre-treatments 3.Lining Fabric 4.Spraying Tent Set Up 5.Lining Adhesive and Application Method Q&A (10 mins)
	12:00-13:00		Lunch	(60 min)
	13:00-16:10		Lecture	6.Low-Pressure Envelope 7.Solvents for Re-activation 8. Interleaf Coffee break (20 mins) 9.Re-mounting 10.De-lining and Re-lining Q&A (10 mins)
	16:30-18:00		Reception party
29 Oct (Thu)	9:00-9:40	Geidai	Introduction	Self-introduction of Participants Explanation of Each Steps of the Mist-lining
	9:40-12:00		Practical	1. Spraying Tent Set Up and Pre-treatments Coffee break (20 mins) 2.Preparation of Lining Fabric
	12:00-13:00		Lunch	(60 mins)
	13:00-16:00		Practical	3.Spraying the Lining Canvases Coffee break (20 mins) 4.Spraying the canvases with Acrylic Mixtures
30 Oct (Fri)	9:00-12:00	Geidai	Practical	1.Preparation of Solvents for Re-activation 2.Constructing Low-pressure Envelope Coffee break (20 mins) 3.Lining(Lining will continue for 4 hours)
	12:00-13:00		Lunch	(60 mins)
	13:00-16:00		Practical	4.【Demonstration】Solvent Action on Swatches Coffee break (20 mins) 5.【Discussion】Re-stretching the Lined Painting 6.Evaluation of Lining
	16:00-16:20		Closing Ceremony

 

Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art, National Center for Art Research
Mail：collections*artmuseums.go.jp　 Please replace the asterisk (*) with the at symbol (@).