It’s the holiday season, and we believe this is truly one of the most beautiful times of the year. The shining lights and festive decorations highlight the architecture of a space, including the at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois pictured here. The club, built circa 1924, comprises multiple architectural styles, including Byzantine, Italian, and Louis XVI. These styles blend to create the most beautiful display of architectural craft and design. Our restoration project at the club involved decorative painting and fine art restoration, architectural materials conservation, mural conservation, and scagliola repair. Scagliola is a technique that uses specially pigmented plasters to create the illusion of marble. It is a technique used for producing columns, arches (seen in the above photo), and other architectural elements traditionally made of stone. While the plaster is wet, pigment and embedded wet pigmented silk threads are introduced to create the marbled veining effect. The other decorative finishes techniques employed at the Medinah Country Club included faux marble in ashlar blocks, glazing on the ceilings, walls, and arches and simulated mosaic work.
Simulated mosaics, and other faux finishes, are techniques in which our team specializes in. Many of our projects have involved faux finishes in some capacity. Some of our most notable faux-finish projects include the simulated mosaics at The Culinary Institute of America, marbleizing at the National Building Museum, and the illusionistic painting (trompe l’oeil) at the Philadelphia Academy of the Arts. Faux finishes have long been used to help minimize building costs by mimicking the effect of expensive materials like marble, exotic woods, and carved moldings. Proper execution of faux painting techniques can result in a finished product nearly indistinguishable from the genuine material.
Woodgraining is one such faux-finish that, when executed by a master hand, can seamlessly replicate the genuine material. Also known as faux bois, a French term for false wood, woodgraining provides the imitation of wood or wood grains. This decorative technique incorporates paint, scumbles, and glazes and can be executed on wood and non-wooden surfaces, such as plaster. The coatings applied to the surface are manipulated with combs and brushes to simulate wood pores, grains, and medullary rays. Effective woodgraining can easily replicate specific types of wood. One example of the art of woodgraining is at the University of Virginia, where some of the projects John Canning & Co. was hired for included reinstating the original faux-mahogany exterior doors in the Pavilions. These doors were historically woodgrained specifically to resemble mahogany. Over the years, the original woodgraining was lost due to poor maintenance, overpainting, and the application of incompatible materials. Our craftspeople removed the incompatible finishes, prepared the surfaces, woodgrained the doors, then applied the proper finishes to protect the new design. To learn more about the art of woodgraining and other faux painting techniques, visit the resources linked below.
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Latest Articles & Announcements |
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| Types of Architectural Stones Used in Historic Buildings |
The astounding nature of stonework in the architectural world cannot be emphasized enough as we stand in awe and wonder at the incredible structures that surround our daily lives. People travel the world to behold for themselves the tremendous glory of the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the ancient ruins of the Colosseum. What do these historic buildings have in common? These buildings, and many other old and new architectural wonders, have stone as their foundational material. This blog discusses the types of stone used in historic buildings.
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8 Breathtaking Historic Theaters in Connecticut |
People often remember Connecticut for its mix of coastal and rural towns, beautiful Mystic Seaport filled with ships and the aquarium, well-known Yale University, historic Mark Twain House, and the famous Peabody Museum of Natural History. Still, Connecticut’s hidden gemstones lie in its breathtaking landmark theaters. John Canning & Co. has had the privilege of working on theaters and entertainment venues restorations across the United States including some of the stunning theaters in this list. In this blog, we take a look at some of the most beautiful historic theaters that Connecticut has to offer.
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Through the years, John Canning & Co.’s impeccable work has been recognized for restoration excellence with numerous Institute of Classical Architecture & Art awards, including the Arthur Ross Award, multiple Bulfinch Awards, the Trumbauer Award, the Stanford White Award, and most recently, the McKim, Mead, & White Award. Since our first award in 2004, our company is proud to have been recognized with a total of eleven awards from the Institute of Classical Art and Architecture. In the spirit of these awards, this piece takes a look at each award we have received from the ICAA. To read more about these accomplishments, check out this post, linked here.
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Our team recently attended the McKim, Mead & White Awards mentioned above on November 30th in New York City to accept our latest award for artisanship for our project titled San Joselito’s Chapel - Transformation Through Design. We are grateful to have been honored with such a prestigious award, and would like to thank all those who had a hand in the success of this incredible project. We also would like to thank the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art for hosting a beautiful ceremony at the Metropolitan Club of New York. Our team had a wonderful time celebrating with everyone and would like to congratulate all of this year’s winners. Our founder, John Canning, would also like to thank all those who worked on this project, stating, “As a winner of an inaugural Stanford White award in 2012, and with this 2022 McKim, Mead & White award, I am proud that the company, now under the leadership of David Riccio and Dorothea Hennessey, has maintained the high quality of design and high standard of craftsmanship that the company was founded on.”
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This month we celebrate the birthday of Paul Manship, the sculptor who created the Prometheus Statue in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Paul Manship was known for his statue work during the Art Deco movement, but is best known for his Prometheus sculpture, shown here. Our team restored this National Historic Landmark, with the work including the application of gold leaf to the 18-foot-tall sculpture. This project was a true honor, and we recommend visiting Rockefeller Center to see the statue, especially during the holiday season!
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Our preservation work was recently featured in an article in Traditional Building’s Magazine. The article, Harmonious Hall Reprise, covers our conservation work at the Old Steinway Building in New York City. Our work at the Old Steinway Building was mainly artwork conservation, including cleaning, stabilizing, inpainting, and protecting the ceiling murals in the historic rotunda, adjacent vestibules, and upper and lower elevator lobbies. Traditional Building Magazine covers all topics related to traditional design in architecture. We are honored to be featured and are grateful for the recognition of our project at this incredible historical and cultural landmark. To read the article, visit the Traditional Building website here.
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The Historic Resources Committee, an AIA Knowledge Community, is hosting a conference this February at Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Taliesin Colloquium 2023: The Evolution of Preservation Standards and Guidelines will take place on February 3rd & 4th and will cover the global issues that preservationists face today, as well as the Standards and Guidelines that are the backbone of the preservation practice. The Historic Resources Committee (HRC) was created with the mission of promoting the preservation of architectural heritage, both nationally and internationally, through the development of knowledge and information about the preservation field. John Canning & Co. is a current sponsor of the HRC, and has been a supporter of the committee’s mission for many years. If you would like to learn more about the conference, including how to register, visit the event website linked here.
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Check out the Canning 45th Anniversary Retrospective...
All last year we continued to share and expand this page to celebrate our 45th Anniversary, with project highlights, fun facts, stories, photos and more. If you haven't had a chance yet, check it out! |
We understand the importance in sharing our expertise and knowledge in our field. Besides the monthly newsletter and blogs we post, we also develop and share downloadable resources to help guide you in your conservation, preservation and restoration projects. Check out the Resources page and see if any of the resources can help answer some of your questions and provide a better understanding of some of the intricacies in the preservation field.
Check out our Featured Downloadable Resource below.
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The origins of decorative painting can be traced back 4,000 years when cultures used different patterns and designs as a means of communication and self-expression. Decorative painting was found in prehistoric times with paintings on cave walls, on tombs in ancient Egypt, and on temples in ancient Greece. Finishes like gilding, glazing, scagliola, and other faux finishes like the ones discussed above are outlined in A Visual Guide: Decorative Painting & Finishes.
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Wishing Everyone a Blessed and Joyful Holiday. |
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As a national nonprofit preservation organization, the National Trust for Historic Preservation works to save America's historic places and is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more or get involved. |
| | The American Institute for Conservation and the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation work together to promote the preservation and protection of cultural heritage. Partner with us to further that mission. |
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JOIN THE CONVERSATION #PerfectingPreservation #jcanningcrew |
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