How to fix a crease or fold in an oil painting canvas that crarcked the paint?

While travelling to East Africa I purchased a painting from a local artist. It's not ';valuable'; but it's impossible for me to replace the sentimental value. He rolled it up and placed it in a tube, which unfortunately got crushed in my luggage on the way home. As expected, there is now a series of creases across the painting.





It's oil on rough canvas and the crease has cracked the paint in several sections. I don't expect to be able to ';fix'; it entirely, but is there any way to minimize the aesthetic loss? Could I carefully apply solvent to the cracked areas to blend them together? Heat?





Thanks a lot! I'm happy to answer questions, etc. Happy New Year!





DavidHow to fix a crease or fold in an oil painting canvas that crarcked the paint?
Try using a citrus based solvent. You can get it at an art supply store, it's sold as a substitute for turpentine. Put the solvent in the cracked areas and wait until the paint becomes gummy. Then carefully try to blend the paint in the cracks. Heat may cause further cracking, so I don't recommend it.How to fix a crease or fold in an oil painting canvas that crarcked the paint?
If you're willing to spend money on the painting for the sentimental value, Take it to a restorer. He can fix it so that you will hardly notice it.
Repairing a painting takes an expert who gets paid oodles of money. It is a very expensive thing to pay a restorer and you cannot restore it yourself, which I believe you realize.


The solvent blending won't work.


The canvas would need to be repaired first, which can cost thousands of dollars all by itself.


Count your loss as a lesson learned and be thankful it wasn't a vanGogh.