The Spring of 1999 was one of the most exciting periods in the Sheboygan Art Museum's history. First, the art world was stunned by our hiring of the world renowned art restoration expert, Professor Karl Kunstmetzger. Then the art world was set on its ear by the astonishing success of our latest special exhibit, the travelling exhibition of portraits "Holbein, Hals, et al.".

While wildly popular at the Chicago Art Institute and the National Gallery of Art in the preceding months, few could have foreseen the massive attendance here in Sheboygan - some 3,141,593 visitors in round numbers. We are deeply indebted to the museums around the world that lent their portraits to this exhibit.

In order to properly express our gratitude to these institutions, Professor Kunstmetzger very kindly volunteered his services to give the pictures "a bit of a spring cleaning", as he puts it, before returning them to their owners. The professor's work is truly remarkable: his artistry has swept away centuries of grime, revealing rich colors not seen since the day the artist laid down his brushes. In many cases, his cleaning has uncovered details that have long lain hidden - unsuspected - under dirt and the clumsy work of previous restoration "cowboys and idle-jacks", to use the professor's term. So fresh, so vital, do the pictures look after his efforts, that in many cases the paint still looks wet.

The lending institutions need not thank us; this restoration of their works is our sincere thankyou to them.

We took a few before and after snaps, so that you can judge for yourselves.

Nicholas Kratzer, Hans Holbein, 1528,
Oil on wood, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Sir Richard Southwell, Hans Holbein, 1536,
Oil on wood, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Dirck Tybis, Hans Holbein, 1533,
Oil on panel, Art History Museum, Vienna.

The Laughing Cavalier, Franz Hals, 1624,
Oil on canvas, The Wallace Collection, London.

Georg Gisze, Hans Holbein, 1532,
Oil on wood, Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

Family Portrait, Sir Anthony Van Dyck, 1621,
Oil on canvas, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1:
Portrait of the Artist's Mother
James Abbot McNeill Whistler, 1871,
Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Portrait of Robert Cheseman, Hans Holbein, 1533.
Oil on wood. Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Portrait of Unknown Young Man at his Office Desk, Hans Holbein, 1541.
Oil on wood. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.