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RSFRSF About us Restoration Services Scientific Lab Product Preserving the Past, Sustaining the Future of Art Art ConservationArt Conservation Scientific Lab Corner The Invisible Doctor Why True Art Restoration Begins in a Science Lab Click Here to discover
ABOUT US Restaurateurs Sans Frontières (RSF) was founded in 1981 in Avignon, France. We began working in Thailand in 1998, partnering with the Fine Arts Department to restore Buddhist temples — part of a global French Year 2000 Celebrations initiative spanning five cultural sites worldwide. Our royal commissions include the restoration of paintings by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great at Chitrada Palace (1950s), the Amporn Palace wall paintings project (2003–2018) under the supervision of HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, and decorative projects across several royal palaces — most recently Vimanmek Royal Teak Mansion — by the intention of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Today, RSF Studio is based on the 4th floor of the Jim Thompson Art Center, serving a growing clientele of Thai and international collectors across Bangkok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, and beyond. Preserving the Past, Sustaining the Future of ArtHome RFS FOUNDER spent 25 years training painting restorers at a French Ministry of Culture-accredited school before founding Restaurateurs Sans Frontières in 1981. His international work spans numerous countries, including 15 years of missions across Pharaonic and Muslim Egypt. He established RSF Thailand as a company in 2004, expanding its services over time to include sculptures, ceramics, and furniture restoration. In 2019, he launched an examination and analysis laboratory — the only one of its kind in the region — enabling precise identification of artwork material composition. Robert Bougrain Dubourg Preserving the Past, Sustaining the Future of Art
RESTORATION SERVICES Paintings Paper, Prints, Photography Every treatment begins with a studio inspection and assessment using our scientific laboratory tools. Photos can be sent in advance for an initial overview, but an in-person evaluation is required to define the appropriate treatment. A condition report and step-by-step treatment proposal are then reviewed with the owner before any work begins. Progress is documented through photos taken before, during, and after the intervention, included in the final restoration report. All interventions are seamless, minimal, and reversible, preserving the artwork's integrity and the artist's original intention. RSF offers professional conservation and restoration services for a wide range of artworks such as: Frames and Ornamentations Sculptures Antiques / Decorative Arts & Objects Furniture Home
Home SCIENTIFIC LAB Photography / Technical Photography Transmitted light Microscopy Computerized Tomography (CT Scan) Radiation Intra-Inspection -X-Radiography (X-RAY) Spectroscopy Infrared Photography(IR)/ Infrared Reflectography(IRR) Raking Light photography (RAK) Home
PRODUCT Aluminium Stretcher Bar Self-tensioning stretchers maintain constant, uniform canvas tension, preventing cracks, deformations, and corner creases. Built-in springs automatically adjust to humidity changes and protect against vibration during transport. RSF's aluminum stretcher goes further: lightweight Stable Immune to humidity, insects, and biological degradation. It is built to outlast traditional wood, ideal for long-term canvas painting conservation. Custom sizing Full installation Hands-on consultation Home
Home The Invisible Doctor “Before a conservator touches a canvas, a scientist has to read its DNA.” Here at the Conservation and Restoration Art Studio (RSF), located in the historic Jim Thompson building in Bangkok, we are changing the paradigm. We are building a world-class analytical laboratory designed to bring advanced conservation science directly to Southeast Asian and collectors around the world, galleries, and cultural institutions. Would you trust a surgeon to perform a complex procedure without an X-ray, an MRI, or a blood test? Of course not. You expect a precise medical diagnosis before a single instrument touches the patient. Why True Art Restoration Begins in a Science Lab Yet, for decades, precious artworks, worth millions in both financial and sentimental value, have been subjected to "blind" restorations. Historically, workshops relied solely on a conservator’s visual intuition. While artistic skill is irreplaceable, visual assessment alone cannot see chemical decay, hidden overpainting, or unstable structural binders. Because before we restore a masterpiece, we must diagnose it. RSF laboratory removes the guesswork. By acting as the "invisible doctors" of the art world, we perform rigorous, data-driven checkups to map out exactly what an artwork needs to survive for centuries. The Hidden Chemistry of Art Art objects are complex chemical ecosystems. A single oil painting is a multi-layered structure composed of a fabric or wood support, sizing glues, ground layers, multiple pigments suspended in organic oils, and final protective varnishes. Over time, these materials interact with environmental factors like light, fluctuating humidity, and oxygen, causing them to degrade at a molecular level. Without a scientific lab to analyze these components, restoration can be incredibly risky: • Material Incompatibility: Patching a paint loss with a modern synthetic binder that shrinks differently than the surrounding 19th -century linseed oil can cause the original paint to flake and lift over time. • The Solvent Danger: Using a cleaning solvent that is a fraction too strong can permanently dissolve the artist’s original glaze along with the yellowed historic varnish.
FOLLOW US: RSF Email: Studio: Contact@rsf.art The James H.W. Thompson Foundation, 6 Soi Kasem San 2, Rama 1 Rd., Bangkok, Thailand, 10330 Contact Art Conservation facebook.com/RSFArtConservation instagram.com/rsfartconservation youtube.com/@RSFArtConservation Home Tel: +66 97 054 5577