E (Erwin) Wending painting needs work - worth repairing or sell as project?

This is one of the paintings I found at a friend's sister's house who was selling 100 paintings to clear out her garage - it is one of my favorites from the group I bought.
It has Wending's name on the back of the frame + an address in NY (I searched it; it's an 11 unit apt. building) + another name; Harbour - maybe it was a commissioned piece?
It is by E. (Erwin) Wending & has some paint loss + a small slit near the bottom - is this worth having restored or should I sell 'as is' as a project for someone?
Thank you!

 

Artist might originally be from either Canada or the UK given the correct spelling of “harbour”. It doesn’t look like it is worth the cost of a professional restoration.

 

Find this in a 1963 issue of Arts Magazine:

E. Wending SAIDENBERG ( 1033 Mad . at 79 )

The Saidenberg Gallery represented Picasso in the U.S. along with Paul Klee, Georges Braque, Fernand Leger, Wassily Kandinsky.

Debora

 

It needs professional restoration. Leave it to the new owner.

Debora

 

According to the internet, the artist was German but studied art in the UK (which likely explains "harbour") before emigrating to the US.

Debora

 

Is the paint still well consolidated? You mentioned paint loss. If not, it will probably need a BEVA treatment or similar to consolidate the paint before restoration can proceed. You can probably get by with a single patch to repair the canvas.

Do you have dimensions? That affects the amount of restoration work required.

I just purchased a 1950's/1960's "good condition" maritime oil painting on board. Virtually no paint loss whatsoever. The painting had never been cleaned so I tried dry dusting it. To my surprise a chunk of paint fell off the moment my soft cloth touched the surface! O.O

I aborted the dusting and added it to my "needs work" list. :/ Sometimes you never know with paintings. Seems like almost every one has problems.

 

Here are some Erwin Wending paintings on Invaluable:
https://www.invaluable.com/artist/wending-erwin-c3xt05q0s9/sold-at-auction-prices/

Someone who's registered there can see the sold prices, but the estimates are not high.

A restoration that involves repairing tears and filling in paint loss will not be cheap (unless you're doing it yourself).

I can easily imagine a restoration on this costing more that the painting is worth.

 

I know it's cheap, but could I put a small piece of tape on back over the cut to keep it from possibly tearing more - or would that hurt it for the next person who may try to remove it?

 

Don't do that.

The Trouble with Pressure Sensitive Tapes — The Conservation Center

 

Whew - glad I waited for an answer thank you!