Re: Clean Energy (ATG No 2500). In a recent TV programme an oil painting, where the client had put her hand through the canvas causing a substantial tear, was patched by the restorer before restoration.
In my opinion, without exception all torn canvases have to be relined to ensure an even stretch of the canvas before restoration can be commenced.
To patch a torn canvas ensures that the damaged picture will never be flat in the future as the wedges are not able to stretch the old canvas without the possibility of the torn canvas opening up again.