Restored Miller Brittain drawings unveiled at New Brunswick Museum

Miller Brittain is well known in the Maritime art community and now new life is being given to some of his old works.

Conservators at Saint John’s New Brunswick Museum have been working tirelessly to breathe new life into drawings by Brittain from the early 1940s.

He intended for the 11 drawings to go on the walls of the Saint John Tuberculosis Hospital, but a lack of funding prevented the project from going ahead.

“These drawings are from the pre-war period of Miller Brittain’s career. They were finished at the time he enlisted in the RCAF,” says museum conservator Claire Titus.

Brittain brought the large-scale drawings to the New Brunswick Museum to be stored.

Over the past two years, conservators and student interns have been working on getting the art back to its original condition.

“We have now preserved these drawings in a way that they are guaranteed to be in a good condition, now and in the future,” says Titus.

Jayme Vallieres is an art student who worked on the project. This is the first large-scale drawing she has ever worked on and she says it has taught her a lot.

“I’ve learned so much about Miller’s career, as well as tuberculosis,” says Vallieres.

Conservation projects normally happen behind closed doors, but the museum decided to open the project up to the public and say it is something they may continue to do.

“We’ve seen this as a wonderful chance to come out and see what it is like for the conservators to do work and talk to the public,” says Titus.

“People are very happy to come and see what goes on behind the scenes at a museum,” says Vallieres.

Now that the drawings are complete, they will be stored at the museum. Conservators are hope they will soon have them on display so people can enjoy their work.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Dunbar