Abstract: A process for preserving pastel works of art which comprises providing a flexible or rigid panel, attaching a multiplicity of conductors to the panel, interconnecting the conductors to form two groups insulated from one another, placing the pastel work to be preserved on the panel, and applying an electric potential across the two groups of conductors to establish an electrostatic field at the surface of the panel to attract the pastel particles (which have high dielectric properties) into the plane of the panel and to hold the pastel particles firmly in fixed positions on the surface of the paper or other medium which forms the substrate for the work of art.