Conservators Converse » Conservation in the News

What if later on someone took the piece to be restored?

Rebecca Rushfield — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:24:29 +0000

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 were ruined after being left out on Allan Stone’s lawn for six months, he decided to accept the ephemeral nature of his materials and make work that would “embrace its own destruction”. Thus he made “Corrugated Fountain”, a multi-figure cardboard sculpture that in 2012 was displayed out of doors for six weeks at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (Ridgefield, CT) and then taken to a dumpster and disposed of. What would have been the ethical course of action if someone had taken the remains and brought them to a conservator for treatment?

Has a sculpture designed for a specific location been damaged when it is removed from its site?

Rebecca Rushfield — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:06:00 +0000

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 reproduction of a 19th century lamppost. The artist knew from the start that the permit for his sculpture had to be renewed several times a year and Pinault has offered to install the sculpture in the Palazzo Grassi where he has a museum, but Ray insists that the sculpture belongs in the location for which it was designed. Petitions have been circulated and criticisms have been flung. This incident raises the large question of whether a site specific sculpture has been damaged when it has been removed from its site.

The seductiveness of art

Rebecca Rushfield — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:16:07 +0000

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 to hold and touch works of art. One wonders how many young people reading Gordon’s phrases like “there’s real magic”; “as I moved to the arch of her back, my stroke turned to a caress”; “only a fool could fail to feel the desire, the spirit inside such beauty”; and “I have witnessed the miracles. I have seen them happen under my own hand” will be drawn to conservation.

Rembrandt authentication has long been a problem

Rebecca Rushfield — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:28:25 +0000

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 installation in Central Park (New York City), was brought in by art historian John van Dyke as a scientific consultant in a dispute to establish authorship of the then fifteen “Rembrandt” paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection. This was forty-five years before the Rembrandt Research Project attempted to do the same thing for Rembrandt’s corpus.

A Casualty of Armed Conflict

Rebecca Rushfield — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:14:11 +0000

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 has taken place near them for months. In a two-year long conflict during which tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced, is it unlikely that the combatants will be careful of buildings.

Another article about how bureaucratic inefficency is allowing Pompeii to collapse

Rebecca Rushfield — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:57:14 +0000

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 million project undertaken by the European Union. And the article’s conclusion was the same as that of every other article– i.e., that without major changes in how Italy operates, nothing will be accomplished.

Will knowledge of Van Gogh’s careful planning disappoint those who view him as a tortured romantic?

Rebecca Rushfield — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:22:22 +0000

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 the findings. Will one insight– that Van Gogh used various sizes of perspective frames to transfer what he saw to the canvas– disappoint those who think of him as a tortured romantic who painted without planning?

What should we think when an institution which champions modern architecture is about to destroy an example of it?

Rebecca Rushfield — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:46:10 +0000

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 should we think when an institution which champions modern architecture and its protection is about to destroy a unique example of it?

Committee On Sustainable Conservation Practices Collaborates with NEU Environmental Engineers and MFA Boston

Sarah Nunberg — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 05:17:55 +0000

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 of loans, exhibitions and environmental control from cradle to grave based on case studies at the Museum Fine Arts, Boston. After the presentations, lunch session attendees will have the opportunity to work with the CSCP and our guest speakers as we break out into groups and brainstorm about the next phase of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) project. We will discuss how to implement the LCA findings- create blueprints and methods for new, sustainable best practices.

Since the 1990s industries and businesses have applied a quantitative method to evaluate the environmental and economic impact of materials use and related activities. The process, called a life cycle assessment, looks at issues from cradle to grave by evaluating data using a range of computer software programs. An LCA is a method developed to better understand and quantitatively address the environmental impacts associated with manufactured and consumed products throughout a lifecycle from raw material acquisition through production, use, end-of-life treatment, recycling and final disposal (cradle-to –grave). To carry out an LCA, an issue, material, or action is researched, quantitative values are assigned to each aspect of a life cycle, and the values are inserted into selected database(s). Software processes the data and the results are evaluated, analyzed and applied.

This tool can be incredibly useful to the art/heritage conservation community as we work towards determining sustainable best practices that will reduce energy consumption and lower related costs. The LCA results can be implemented to achieve more efficient heating/cooling and lighting methods. It can clarify cost and energy benefits that might result from wider relative humidity parameters and new lighting methods. Through evaluating all aspects of loans and exhibitions, the LCA results can help museum staff to reduce associated waste and carbon footprint.

AIC CSCP/Northeastern University LCA Projects

The CSCP has collaborated with Northeastern University environmental engineer Dr. Mathew Eckelman and his students to conduct three LCAs related to museum activities and collections care. LCA 1 studies environmental control and energy and costs savings; LCA 2 looks at loans and exhibitions to identify the most and least sustainable aspects; LCA 3 will include a comparative lighting study. The Northeastern students are working with conservators and museum maintenance staff at the Museum Fine Arts, Boston to become familiar with museum practices and to set the LCAs in an actual environment. Their work will complete the first phase of this project in May 2013. In the second phase, the LCA findings and proposed methods will be presented at future meetings, workshops and through publications to educate the AIC community and related fields about our work.

LCA Defined: www.epa.gov; www.iso.org; www.quantis-intl.com

After more than fifty years, a pyxis has been restored

Rebecca Rushfield — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:31:45 +0000

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 wait is that when the Barnes Foundation was in Merion, PA it did not have conservation facilities which could handle such projects. Now that the collection is in Philadelphia, there is a spacious laboratory and a plan to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the condition of all of the objects in the collection.

The AIC-CERT is now better known

Rebecca Rushfield — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:35:22 +0000

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 other crises including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and notes that the work is done by volunteers on the laughably small budget of $5,000 a year. Perhaps the article will not only make the team better known but will inspire people to donate money to aid its efforts.

More details, please

Rebecca Rushfield — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:14:09 +0000

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, The New York Times, March 22, 2013) that “he hired restorers to scrub bindings and pages [of stolen books], removing telltale bookplates and stamps” without being provided with some details about this work to back the claim.

PRESS RELEASE: Foundation Supports Ongoing Care of Collections After Devastation of Superstorm Sandy

Abigail Choudhury — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:43:09 +0000

>>> 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 work at the Cultural Recovery Center (CRC) in Brooklyn, NY after serving a community of artists and organizations in dire need of assistance. The CRC offered space and help at no cost to owners of artworks damaged as a result of Superstorm Sandy. Volunteer assistance and work space was provided to museums, libraries, archives, historic sites, galleries, collectors, and artists. While full conservation treatment was not covered, guidance and assistance in the cleaning and stabilization of art and cultural materials was.

23 members of the AIC Collections Emergency Response Team (AIC-CERT) contributed 128 days of professional volunteer services in New York and New Jersey. At least 34 additional conservators from the region also volunteered. At the CRC, volunteers worked with nineteen artists on hundreds of items, including paintings, works on paper, photographs, textiles, and multi-media works. Many of the works were at risk because of toxic deposits and potential mold growth.

The Center for Cultural Recovery was operated by The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC), in cooperation with a consortium of organizations:

Alliance for Response New York City
Heritage Preservation
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York Regional Association for Conservation
Industry City at Bush Terminal
Smithsonian Institution

Initial funding for the response and recovery efforts, including initial costs for the Center, was provided by a leadership gift to FAIC from Sotheby’s. A grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation allowed the Center to remain open through March 8. Industry City at Bush Terminal provided the space rent-free. Rapid Refile set up containment tents and air scrubbers to prevent the spread of mold from incoming objects to cleaned objects. Collector Systems provided free use of its web-based collection management system. The Smithsonian Institution and a grant to Heritage Preservation from the New York Community Trust, as well as support from TALAS, enabled purchase of supplies. The Center was also outfitted with supplies from Materials for the Arts, a creative reuse program managed by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional donations to FAIC came from PINTA, The Modern & Contemporary Latin American Art Show; Tru Vue; Aon Huntington Block Insurance; Aon Foundation; members of AIC; and others. The American Museum of Natural History and MoMA also provided key in-kind support for recovery efforts and establishment of the CRC.

As the need for conservation continues, those with damaged pieces are encouraged to use AIC’s Find A Conservator tool available for free on the AIC website: www.conservation-us.org/findaconservator . The tool provides a systematic, consistent method of obtaining current information to identify and locate professional conservation services from all across the United States and abroad. It allows users to address a wide range of conservation problems, whether the needs are long-range or short-term and whether the collection consists of thousands of valuable historic artifacts, one priceless work of art, or items of great personal value.

# # #

About FAIC
FAIC, the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works, supports conservation education, research, and outreach activities that increase understanding of our global cultural heritage.

Why don’t they ever get the job title correct?

Rebecca Rushfield — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:24:15 +0000

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 conservator, not a textile conservationist.

Whose belief should take precedence?

Rebecca Rushfield — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:31:16 +0000

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 Director is Luigi Fieni, an Italian conservator, it is thirty-five local residents who are doing the work which includes painting new images on sections of the walls from which the original images are missing. Scholars of Tibertan art assert that the new painting alters important historical murals and is jeopardizing scholarship, while people involved in the project argue that local worshippers want to have complete art works and not ruins in their temples. Whose belief should take precedence?