The Magic of the Conservator – Ensuring Art Does Not Disappear
As with many advances in industry and technology, we can thank war for increasing the interest in research for art conservation. After the Great War, the British Museum unpacked its collections after wartime storage in the Underground railway tunnels. Many items had unexpectedly deteriorated in a relatively short time; iron had rusted, bronze developed green corrosion, pottery and stone objects were covered in growth of salt crystals. The museum then decided to set up a permanent scientific research laboratory to further its understanding of the causes of deterioration of materials and learning methods of treating its effects. Conservation of art is now a full-time academic pursuit with Master’s programs at many universities in the United States with the intent to study, prevent, maintain, and restore cultural work.
During the Renaissance as private collectors of curiosities and eventually public collections of art were established, the demand for restoration increased and the conservation profession was introduced. Craftsmen used traditional materials to repair objects. Currently, scientific techniques such as radiography and UV examination and the development of synthetic materials have given the conservator better ways of studying and repairing traditional fine arts.
In the twentieth century, many artists worked with non-archival materials. Acrylic house paint, enamel paint, latex, and fiber glass are just a few of the synthetic and semi-synthetic polymeric materials that became common because of their immediacy, availability, and seductive qualities. Works by artists such as Jackson Pollock, Eva Hesse, and Anselm Kiefer have created complex pr...
... middle of paper ...
...mon Cough Drops”, September 2002, 5/22/11, http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1183.
• Keats, Jonathon, “The Afterlife of Eva Hesse”, April 2011, 5/22/11, http://www.artandantiquesmag.com/2011/04/the-afterlife-of-eva-hesse/.
• Lauritzen, Peter, Venice Preserved (Bethesda, MD, Adler & Adler, Publishers, Inc., 1986)
• Mason, Christopher, “Ephemeral Art, Eternal Maintenance”, November 2005, 5/21/11, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/garden/10art.html?pagewanted=2.
• Oddy, Andrew (Editor), The Art of the Conservator (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992)
• Pemberton, Andrew, “Art mishaps with masterpieces”, February 2010, 5/24/11, http://www.museum-security.org/?p=3557.
• Shelley, Marjorie, The Care and Handling of Art Objects (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987)
• http://www.conservation-wiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Jenkins, Ian. “The 1930’s Cleaning of the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum,” The British Museum (2001): http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/parthenon/
With works in every known medium, from every part of the world, throughout all points in history, exploring the vast collection of the Museum of Modern Art was an overwhelming experience. The objects in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts are an important historical collection, reflecting the development of a number of art forms in Western Europe. The department's holdings covered sculpture in many sizes, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, jewelry, and tapestries. The gallery attracted my appreciation of the realistic qualities of the human body often portrayed in sculpture.
Cothren, M. & Marilyn Stokstad. (2011). Art History, Volume 2, 4th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Learning Solutions.
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York: Prentice Hall Inc. and Harry N. Abrams Inc. 1995.
One of the things that appealed to me when I went the St. Louis Art Museum(SLAM) was the Contemporary and Modern art. I don’t know what it is about Contemporary art that just draws me to it. The SLAM Contemporary collection comprises majorly of World War II period art. One piece of this art that I really liked, and considered my favorite, was a piece of art titled by the museum as “Untitled” the german Franz Ackermann. This work was made in 1996 is and was constructed of oil on canvas. Contemporary collection spans the post-World War II period until today. In this work, you can see that Franz Ackermann illuminates his art with a great use of vivid colors. When I looked at this painting, I could easily see how his travel in various urban locations influenced him. Overall, the contemporary exhibits were quite impressive and fun to view. The Modern artwork grabbed my attention with some of its works too. Although this was part...
Stokstad, Marilyn and David Cateforis. Art History. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Trenton: Prentice Hall, 2002.
One pleasant afternoon, my classmates and I decided to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to begin on our museum assignment in world literature class. According to Houston Museum of Fine Art’s staff, MFAH considers as one of the largest museums in the nation and it contains many variety forms of art with more than several thousand years of unique history. Also, I have never been in a museum in a very long time especially as big as MFAH, and my experience about the museum was unique and pleasant. Although I have observed many great types and forms of art in the museum, there were few that interested me the most.
Haskell, F & Penny, N 1981, ‘Taste and the Antique: the Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900’, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Rewald, John. Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1978.
Artists in the Renaissance aided the continuation of Renaissance ideals. Renaissance art, including paintings, sculptures, and architecture,...
Recently the major countries that were part of WWII are starting to try and push for museums to send back the stolen art to their rightful owners. With the millions of pieces that were stolen during WWII the number of pieces that have not been returned to its heirs is well over 100,000 pieces of art and most of them are currently missing.("Nazi Plunder," n.d.) To help return stolen art, museums search through all of their art to check if any of it was stolen during WWII. Currently though the progress has stopped for returning stolen artwork back to its rightful heirs, because the museums are refusing to give back some of the more major pieces of art. Also the lack of knowing who the art truly belongs to is also slowing down the
‘Savage Beauty’ was an exhibition that pushed the boundaries of museology, in its artistic, social and critical undertakings. The questions brought to bear by the exhibition of contemporary art and culture in various situations is something I am interested in researching further with a degree in curating.
Of the many crimes that are present in this day and age, one that not only vandalizes the property, but as well as historical background is that of art theft. A crime that has taken away the sanctity of churches as well as many other religious and historical sites. Thefts have ranged from WWII (World War II) to the times of the Holocaust. Of the items that were taken from the churches, relics were items of great priority. These items not only had great value to the churches they were stolen from, but a great value to relic collectors. Most of the items taking during these times were either sold or placed in underground storage. Most of these items that were place in these secret places were never to be seen again. From the times of these so called “relic hunters” to now, art theft has become something that has taken some extreme changes. It has evolved from crime that started with minor relic thefts to something that has become a worldwide crime in need of better prevention.
The subject of art conservation and restoration has long been debated in the art world. Experts and historians have never agreed that all art must be salvaged at any cost. This paper will examine what art conservation and restoration is, what is involved in these endeavors, and what has been done over the centuries to many of history’s cherished art pieces.