Richard E. Newman, Perfecting the art of Restoration
- Republished without the permission of Our Town
EAST SIDER RICHARD NEWMAN CREATES A NEW LIFE FOR DAMAGED RUGS, ONE KNOT AT A TIME
April 23, 2009
Hidden away in a small Upper East Side apartment, every inch of which is covered by some aspect of his work, is one of the world’s leading rug restorers, Richard E. Newman. Collectors from all over the world have been bringing rugs to him for hand washing and restoration since 1979.
To attain a 16th-century look using modern wool is no small feat.
“Although some people might argue with this,” he said, “there are probably less than five people in the world who can do what I do.”
To my untrained eye, despite his thorough description of exactly what I should be looking for on an 18th-century tribal piece, his repairs were invisible. Even Newman, who might have spent weeks or even months working on one rug, cannot always find his own restoration, resorting to old photos to see where previously there was nothing but a fist-sized hole.
Richard E. Newman has more than 7,000 colors of wool—including 2,000 reds alone—that he uses to repair damaged rugs. Photo by Andrew SchwartzThis standard requires a Herculean effort. First, he immersion washes the rugs with PH balanced detergents of various concentrations. Too little detergent simply mixes with the dirt, which then absorbs into the foundation. Too much and it will eat at the lanolin of the wool, ruining the luster.
Once the rug is clean, he studies it under several different lights—including dawn, midday and dusk, as well as varying artificial lights—to find which of his 7,000 colors of wool would most closely match. He has more than 2,000 reds alone. Precision here is difficult; the hue, shade and intensity of wool changes depending on how tightly it is spun and the direction from which it is viewed, as light is absorbed more by the ends of the fibers than the sides. Non-uniform dyes, the wear of usage and even the varying oils found in wool sheared from different parts of a sheep come into play. To ease his labor, each thread is labeled. APP 916 2P, for example, is #916 (his own label) two-ply wool, made by Appleton Bros. Ltd. of England.
Then, to the mellowing sound of a Gregorian chant, Newman gets on with the task of inserting the knots of colored wool. He works on rugs with between 30 and 200 knots per square inch, meaning a single inch can take him between and hour and a day to knot. He said he has never advertised, as the dealers all know each other, and word of good work gets around.
About five years ago, a dealer brought him an early 18th-century Turkish village rug that needed extensive re-piling and reweaving, with a foot-long hole in the middle and various smaller ones. Newman usually does not take on such big rugs, but this was the right type—“charming, beautiful and with really lustrous wool.” He put about $20,000 worth of work into it, but increased its value “by a lot more.”
A college dropout, Newman’s first job was for $1 an hour in a mailroom. He joined the Merchant Marine to travel to Asia and South America. After a few years, he started temping at ChemBank in Midtown in 1967. Over eight years he was promoted to senior accountant, but he resigned against all advice to go and live in a tent in Belize.
Soon after he returned, he stumbled upon rugs while looking for a divider to separate his studio into two rooms. “Fascinated by their energy,” he began buying and selling rugs, but came to believe that collecting distracts from their worth.
“The important thing is not owning a rug,” he said, “but enjoying it.”
Later, after watching a friend wash and repair rugs, he decided that restoration was his calling.
Today, Mary Jo Otsea, senior vice president of the rugs and carpets division of Sotheby’s, smiles at the mention of his name.
“There are lots of restorers out there,” she said, “but he’s one of the few who spends the time and careful attention that collectors value. He’s also a very humble man.”
Now in his 60s, Newman only restores the rugs he has collected, mainly for his own enjoyment. But with the help of an assistant, he does rug washing and repairs at his workshop for friends and clients. He spends his spare time playing pool late into the night at Eastside Billiards on 86th Street. To the sound blaring out of the pool hall’s jukebox, he continues his meditations.
“Pool is another activity in which there are no secrets,” he said. “For the mind and the body to work in harmony, you have to have affection for what you are doing and work with attention; this keeps the mind from wandering. Then you can define every problem and work out a solution. Focus is important; through a higher consciousness all knowledge is attainable.”
