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The May 14, 2013 Arts section of The New York Times features an article (“An Artwork Turns to Mush, All According to Plan”, by William Grimes) about the work of the artist James Grashow and a documentary that Olympia Stone, daughter of the art dealer Allan Stone, filmed about it. When Grashow’s papier mache sculptures …

According to The New York Times (“ Inside Art: Venice Plans to Evict ‘Boy With Frog’”, by Carol Vogel, May 3, 2013), Charles Ray’s sculpture, “Boy with Frog” which was commissioned four years ago by Francois Pinault for the tip of the Punto della Dogana in Venice is to be removed and replaced by a …

The May 12, 2013 “Lives” page of The New York Times Magazine features “Object Love”, an essay by Paul Gordon, a technician for a Los Angeles-based sculpture conservator which expresses so well the seductive qualities of art—- those qualities which led so many of us to choose conservation as a profession as it allowed us …

The Spring 2013 issue of Chemical Heritage contains a fascinating article (“Quest for Permanence”, by Augustin Cerveaux and Even Hepler-Smith) about Maximillian Toch (1854- 1946), industrial chemist and pioneer in the use of science– particularly x-radiography– in the authentication of art. In 1923, Toch who later warned of the deterioration of “Cleopatra’s Needle” following its …

The New York Times has reported (“Minaret on a Storied Syrian Mosque Falls“) that the 11th century Umayyad Mosque in the ancient walled city portion of Aleppo (Syria), a UNESCO World Heritage site, was badly damaged during fighting between insurgents and government forces. Despite UNESCO’s pleas that the integrity of heritage sites be respected, fighting …

The April 21, 2013 issue of The New York Times featured yet another article about how bureaucratic inefficiency is leading to the total collapse of Pompeii (“The Latest Threat to Pompeii’s Treasures: Italy’s Red Tape“, by Rachel Donadio and Elisabetta Povoledo). This article was occasioned by the start of the Great Pompeii Project, a $137 …

In advance of the May 1, 2013 opening of the Van Gogh Museum’s new exhibit, “Van Gogh at Work” which will present the findings of the eight year long study of Van Gogh’s studio practice, the Wall Street Journal (“New Clues From the Van Gogh Sleuths“, by J.S. Marcus, April 26, 2013) revealed some of …

According to the April 12, 2013, issue of The Wall Street Journal (“MoMA Tear-Down”, by Jennifer Maloney) and other news sources, by the end of 2013 the Museum of Modern Art will demolish Tod Williams and Billie Tsien’s 2001 American Folk Art Museum building so that it can build an extension in that space. What …

On May 30, 2013 at this year’s AIC meeting in Indianapolis, the Committee for Sustainable Conservation Practices (CSCP) will host its second lunch session, “Linking the Environment and Heritage Preservation: Life Cycle Assessment of Loans, RH Parameters and Lights.” CSCP and environmental engineers from Northeastern University will present our collaborative project that examines the sustainability …

According to The New York Times (“Balance Restored, Shard by Shard”, by Randy Kennedy, March 26, 2013), after a little more than fifty years in storage, a shattered Attic pyxis from the Barnes Foundation collection has been restored and will return to view in Room 17 of the installation. Among the reasons for the long …

The AIC’s “not well known” Emergency Response Team was given the chance to become much better known when The New York Times published David Wallis’ article, “A SWAT Team for Waterlogged Artwork” in the Museums supplement of its March 21, 2013 issue. While focusing on the team’s work post-Hurricane Sandy, Wallis mentions its work in …

All of us will acknowledge that over the centuries there have been restorers who applied their talents to work that was not completely legal. It is, however, frustrating to read in a short piece about the illegally acquired book collection of Count Guglielmo Libri (“A Count With Taste and Sticky Fingers“, by Eve M. Kahn, …

>>> This press release can be found on our website at http://bit.ly/crcpress <<< FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 21, 2013 Contact: Eric Pourchot Phone: (202) 661-8061 Email: epourchot@conservation-us.org Foundation Supports Ongoing Care of Collections After Devastation of Superstorm Sandy WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) has completed …

Joanne Lee Young’s “A Guardian of Rare, Exotic Fabrics” (Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2013) is a profile of Julia Brennan which discusses both her work designing mounts and cases for the display of textiles as well as her hands-on conservation projects. But why couldn’t Young get Brennan’s job title correct? She is a textile …

According to an article in the February 24, 2013 issue of The New York Times (“Buddhists, Reconstructing Sacred Tibetan Murals, Wield Their Brushes in Nepal”, by Edward Wong), the American Himalayan Foundation is financing a project to restore the art work in two of the main religious buildings in Lo Manthong, Nepal. While the Project …