Katherine Ara Ltd. was established in 1997 and undertakes both restoration and preventive conservation work on all types of easel painting, working mainly on Italian and Netherlandish Old Masters, as well as 18th century British painters, Modern Masters and contemporary paintings. The Studio takes a sensitive and critical approach to paintings conservation and restoration, practicing minimal intervention to restore the balance and integrity of each painting. Our clients are largely private collectors, whilst we also carry out work for auction houses, galleries, and museums. We are able to carry out a full range of treatments and where it is outside our area of expertise such as lining, panel work and frame conservation, work is subcontracted to expert practitioners in those fields with whom the studio has a longstanding relationship. The Studio practices a wide range of painting conservation and restoration processes, including cleaning, paint consolidation, structural work on canvases and panels, filling paint losses, retouching and varnishing. All such treatments are carried out with minimal intervention and are reversible. The work of the Studio is informed by current academic discussion and the ethical codes laid out by various professional associations of which Katherine is a member. Condition reports are provided at the outset of the work and full written and photographic documentation of the treatment process is provided for each painting. Technical analysis and art-historical research is carried out as required in order to inform the treatment, drawing on a broad network of expertise for dendrochronology, technical imaging, scientific analysis, and art historical investigation. The Studio also provides condition reports and advice prior to acquisition. Arrangements can be made for painting analysis, framing, art handling and shipping/transportation.