Thank you, Barry Bauman

[Snowboarder_Bo]

For more than 11 years, Barry Bauman has been restoring works of art for museums for free. To date he has restored more than 1500 paintings, including works by such masters as Picasso, Rembrandt, Renoir, and Monet. [His story is remarkable.

“Either you got to be crazy or love what you are doing, maybe I’m a little bit of both,” said 67-year-old Barry Bauman, who works out of his home in River Forest, a suburb of Chicago.

He worked in the conservation department of The Art Institute of Chicago for 11 years before starting his own business, the Chicago Conservation Center, in 1983. By 2003, he had 23 employees and the company was starting to run him. So, he sold it and thought about doing conservation work for museums at a reduced price.

His wife suggested he do it for nothing.

“The minute she said it I said, `That’s right. I’m going to do this for nothing,'” he said, though customers pay for materials and shipping.

](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PAINTING_RESTORER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-09-23-08-03-08)More than 300 museums have benefited from Mr. Bauman’s efforts. I’m pretty sure it would be impossible to count the number of people who have viewed paintings he has restored. Since I personally frequent art museums, it is a near certainty that my life has been enriched by Mr. Bauman, and so for myself and for anyone & everyone else who’s lives are better because of him, I say: thank you, Mr. Bauman. Thank you for making this world a better place. Thank you for your selfless devotion to art and to others; your work is very much appreciated.