Painting 1949 Scotts Bluff National Monument

Earl painted this during a visit during the summer of 1949. This is the Visitor's Center sitting in front of Scott's Bluff. A year after this was painted I was born and brought home to this spot where my parents lived in a small trailor behind the building. I was dismayed when I saw the condition of the painting in 2020. The varnish originally applied had darkened to a point that the painting was not in a shape to display. I hoped I could get the varnish off without ruining the painting underneath and restore it enough to display it for myself. It took trial and error, but finally I found a solvent. I used Professional Only acetone based varnish remover. I had to use a respirator mask because of the toxicity of the fumes, but it paid off. The removal of the varnish exposed cracks in the paint in places, so I also did some touch up painting. This first photo, the final result, shows the cracks as highlights, but they are less obvious viewed first hand.