to ask you how to fix this painting?

[RentANDBills]

DPs grandfather painted him a beautiful landscape a few years back and has since, sadly, passed away.
He and DP were very close and this painting has been very much treasured.

His parents dropped it around our shared flat this week and DP kept it in the corner of our (private) living room on top of a large beanbag away from everything until we could hang it up.

We have a communal cleaner who comes once a week who frankly is shit at her job. Things get broken and have gone missing before.

We came home from work to find that the painting had another bean bag slung on top.
To DPs horror, it had two small scratches/gouges in the centre.
It is an oil painting on a wood base.
We think she put the beanbag on top to hoover and slammed the hoover into the pile causing the zip to scratch the paint work. She is a very slammy hooverer. (Good use of language there)

I know this isn't really an AIBU but if anyone has any idea how we can go about fixing this I'd be grateful.
DP is heartbroken as obviously this painting is irreplacable.

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Oh that is so sad. I am sure an artist who paints in oils could advise. Do you have any art shops/galleries you could ask for advice on restorations?

Do you have an art college near you? You could try asking there or at a gallery. And fire the cleaner!

Ask your cleaner to get her liability insurance to pay for the repair.

1 - stop using the cleaner's services and find someone else
2 - ask about liability insurance...
3 - google 'oil painting repairs' and commission one of them to fix it

Ask your cleaner to get her liability insurance to pay for the repair
Did NOT think of this!
Great, will look into that.

Is this something people can do? Fix other peoples paintings?

1 - stop using the cleaner's services and find someone else easier said than done. We let through an agency who organise the cleaning.
I'm already staging a cleaning coup with the housemates, so this has fuelled my fire even further!

You could also ring a museum as they would have a list of people who repair all types of works of art and could advise you.

There are art restorers who could fix that. A friend once had a similar - moving house and scraped part of a painting. She paid for it to be repaired and I couldn't tell where it had been damaged (but admit not an arty person). Did cost a pretty penny though. Definitely second asking about their liability insurance.

My friend does a lot of that sort of painting; she's an artist who also runs a gallery. I would imagine she would either be able to take it on as a restoration job or tell you how to go about having it done. If it would help, PM me and I'll give you the gallery details.

Definitely get the cleaner to claim on insurance. You might also be covered by your contents insurance if the cleaner doesn't have any?

The expenses should be covered by the company, that is the least of your worries. I would take the painting to an artist and ask for a recommendation. I am sure there is a way to somehow fix or at the very least not make it look as bad as currently.

Firstly, yes: it can be fixed. I have seen paintings come back from far worse damage.

Definitely sack the cleaner and claim on their insurance. It may not be cheap if you use a reputable restorer. I second asking museums, but bear in mind that they are sometimes dearer because they work to very high conservation standards. However, these would probably be safer. When you find somewhere, ask to see examples of their work. they may also be able to provide you with references.

For picture conservators, try the Museums Association link: www.museumsassociation.org/find-a-supplier