Category: Conservation
What are museums for?
May 31 2011
In the Art Newspaper, Maurice Davies tries to find the answer in three new books on museums and collections. They are:
- Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections: the Crisis of Cultural Authority, Tiffany Jenkins, Routledge, 174 pp, $95 (hb)
- Under the Hammer: Iconoclasm in the Anglo-American Tradition, James Simpson, Oxford University Press, 204 pp, £25 (hb)
- The Best Art You’ve Never Seen: 101 Hidden Treasures from Around the World, Julian Spalding, Rough Guides, 288 pp, £14, $22.99 (pb)
Restoring Rogier van der Weyden
May 25 2011
Picture: Museo Prado
The Prado is to restore Rogier van der Weyden's c.1460 The Crucifixion. The process is expected to take two years:
The study and subsequent restoration of Van der Weyden’s Crucifixion will be undertaken by the Museo del Prado’s restoration team in collaboration with restorers from Patrimonio Nacional, to whom the Museum will be making available its technical resources and experience acquired through the restoration of other works on panel in recent decades, including The Descent from the Cross by the same artist, which was restored in 1993. The lengthy procedure envisaged will involve a detailed and complete study of the panel in order to decide on the most appropriate procedures for its conservation and restoration.
Full details here.
Restoring a Van Gogh
May 24 2011
Here's an excellent idea - the Cincinnati Art Museum is to restore Van Gogh's Undergrowth with Two Figures in public. The 1890 painting was re-lined in the 1970s, and the wax applied to the back of the canvas is now affecting the paint layers. Now, the wax is being removed, and visitors to the museum can watch via a giant screen.
I regularly encounter damage caused by these wax re-linings. They were all the rage at one point, but now we look back on the process and shudder. Usually, a hot iron was used to melt the wax and so glue the new canvas onto the back of the old. Sadly, this often had the effect of flattening the paint layers - not entirely surprising if you iron a painting - and so the texture and impasto of a painting was lost forever.
I wonder what conservation treatments we use these days that will have to be undone by the next generation of restorers
Re-joining 'Leftover Mountain Painting'
May 19 2011
Picture: CNTV
Great excitement in China as the two halves of one of China's most famous landscapes are to be reunited. 'Leftover Mountain Painting', painted by Huang Gongwang in c.1350, is travelling to Taiwan to be joined together with 'The Wuyongshi Painting'. More here, and a video here.
To sell or not to sell?
May 12 2011
Here's a quick report on Tuesday's conference on deaccessioning at the National Gallery. The event was organised by Farrers. The conference was overall a success. The arguments for and against were well covered. One or two of the speakers went on for too long (one for far too long).
Simon Jenkins, the patron saint of common sense, spoke passionately for. He decried the acres of art left in storage in London whilst numerous National Trust properties (of which he is chairman) had bare walls. Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery, argued against, from the specific point of view of the National: as the national collection, it had inevitably to be the repository of some bad art, as well as the best. The duds were part of the collection's history. Gary Tintorow of the Metropolitan Museum demonstrated the benefits of relentless 'trading up' - selling the bad to buy better - but also highlighted the American approach to not being obsessed with keeping everything. How all the British curators in the audience must have envied his ability to regularly buy masterpieces at auction.
I was on at the end of the day to give the view of the art trade. But since this can be summed up in one word - yippee - I mentioned my plan to have an informal advisory committee of experts to help regional curators decide what to sell, what to keep, and how to prevent mistakes. I am optimistic that we will be able to establish something - and it is needed urgently, for like it or not, deaccessioning is already with us.
The speakers had a posh dinner at the Athenaeum Club, which was jolly. There was some talk of a new Culture Secretary, following the rumours that Jeremy Hunt might have to replace the perpetually ineffective Andrew Lansley.
Got any spare bricks?
May 2 2011
Picture: Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper has uncovered documents from Tate that cast new light on Carl Andre's controversial 1976 work Equivalent VIII (aka, the pile of bricks). Apparently there was a bit of a hunt for spare bricks - with a young Sandy Nairne despatched to get some. He didn't find any - but the Tate has since got their hands on a stash of five.
Wannabe a curator?
April 28 2011
The Art Fund is to sponsor two trainee curatorships at the National Gallery. Apply here (by May 27th).
V&A's Constables cleaned
April 26 2011
Picture: V&A
From Martin Bailey in The Art Newspaper:
Constable's iconic oil sketches for The Hay Wain and The Leaping Horse have been cleaned for the first time since they came to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in 1862. They are currently on show at Stuttgart's Staatsgalerie (until 3 July), as part of a touring exhibition that travels to America next year.
Full story here.
Lighting the National Gallery
April 19 2011
Picture: National Gallery; 'Interior of Room 32' by G. Gabrielli
The National Gallery is switching to LED lighting. They say:
As it did 20 years ago with the introduction of a new balanced warm and cool tungsten illumination, the National Gallery, London, is once again proving itself a leader in the area of lighting systems for galleries. Over the next two years, LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting will be installed throughout the Gallery, which will significantly reduce its carbon emissions and improve the quality of light in the picture galleries.
More details here.
Personally, I'm a sucker for daylight, and lots of it (as above). The best gallery in this respect is the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels. I was glad to see the other day that the Wallace Collection will be introducing more daylight in their refurbishment of the Great Gallery. The original roof had been filled in during the 1970s, when they installed air conditioning.
Don't drop it, John
April 18 2011
Picture: Press TV
John Curtis, Keeper, Department of the Middle East at the British Museum, carries the Cyrus Cylinder back to London. More here.
Leonardo loan to London still at risk?
April 13 2011
In Poland, some conservation experts are still advising against letting Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine travel to London for the National Gallery's Leonardo exhibition. They believe it is too fragile to be moved. They don't seem to be bothered about the flimsy case they carry it about it, however.
A final decision on whether it can also travel to Berlin and Madrid is expected soon.
Peering beneath the Frick's Bellini
April 8 2011
A complete image of the underdrawing in the Frick Collection's St Francis in the Desert by Giovanni Bellini has been captured for the first time, after the picture was subjected to exhaustive technical analysis by the Metropolitan Museum. See the full fascinating results in the video above, with more images and text here.
Happy Birthday, Mr President
April 5 2011
A painting by Gerrit van Honthorst that belonged to James Madison has been restored in time to hang back in its original place in his home, Montpelier, in time for the 4th President's 260th birthday. More here.
Restoring Gainsborough's Grave
April 4 2011
Graves aren't really my thing, but here's a deserving cause: Gainsborough's grave in St Anne's, Kew is seriously in need of restoration. The sum needed is £15,000. Here's a rather wobbly but charming video on the project.
A number of you kindly responded to my plug for the Anne Boleyn restoration fund - and if anyone wants to spread the word about this, the friends of St Anne's would be most grateful.
If you're so minded, cheques should be sent to:
'The Friends of St. Anne’s Church, Kew', The Treasurer, The Friends’, C/O The Parish Office, St. Anne’s Church, Kew Green, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AA
Van Gogh's 'weave maps'
March 31 2011
An electrical engineering professor, Richard Johnson Jr., has developed an algorithmic programme to help authenticate Van Gogh paintings. The programme analyses the 'weave maps' of Van Gogh's canvasses. Johnson, who has been working at the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands, said;
'This is pretty extraordinary... What's happening is some doubted paintings are being authenticated, and some that had been placed at a funny date are now being moved.'
More here.
Restoring Matisse's 'Joy of Life'
March 30 2011
Picture: The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.
Following the recent analysis of Van Gogh's faded sunflowers, scientists are now examining a 1906 work by Matisse, The Joy of Life.
Like Van Gogh, Matisse used a range of bright yellow pigments invented in the industrial revolution. These are now slowly fading, but by a combination of conservation and the right lighting levels it is hoped the process can be checked.
Once the painting is in its own gallery in Philadelphia, the museum may use lights of a specific wavelength to minimize further oxidation [said Jennifer Mass, the scientist leading the project]. In the future, some chemical treatments might be considered to reverse the color changes, but that would be considered an invasive treatment and would be undertaken only with extreme care, she said.
"I think Matisse is not getting a fair deal at the moment," Mass said. "What art historians are looking at is not his original vision."
More here.
Anne Boleyn needs YOU!
March 22 2011
Picture: The National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery needs help to begin urgent conservation work on their portrait of Anne Boleyn. The wooden panel is buckling and cracking, causing damage to the paint layers. This is happening because the picture was long ago 'cradled', a conservation practice that was all the rage in the early twentieth century, and which is preventing the panel from moving naturally.
You can donate online here - they have so far raised £2,500, and need to hit £4,000 before work can begin. Please pass this round if you know anyone else who might bung in a few quid.
The picture is probably the most important extant painting of Anne, and consciously presents her as the dark witch-like figure she was portrayed as after her execution.
But it probably doesn't look anything like her. In 2007 David Starkey and I argued that she actually looked like this - and that the old inscription on Holbein's drawing labelled 'Anna Bollein Queen' was valid. Previously, the drawing had been called simply 'Portrait of a Lady'. I'm pleased to note that the Royal Collection now definitively catalogues it as 'Anne Boleyn' in full, and says 'This is a rare surviving portrait of Anne'. Hooray! [Bragging note: to see another royal portrait in a public collection I have re-identified, click here.]
Van Dyck discovered in Spain
March 18 2011
This is exciting - a lost painting by Van Dyck appears to have been found in the stores of a Spanish Museum. The Virgin and Child Adored by Penitent Sinners is in the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid.
The news reports are sketchy and describe the painting as 'previously unknown'. I see from the 2004 catalogue raisonne, however, that there was a reference to a similarly titled work in the Spanish Royal Collection in 1681, so perhaps this is it. There is another version in the Louvre (below), in which the central penitent figure holds a different position. In 2004, Horst Vey described the Louvre version as being in bad condition. Perhaps the newly discovered version is in better shape - certainly, the hands and face of the central figure are more compelling than in the Louvre version.
I've asked the Academy of San Fernando for a better photo - I'll put it up here if I get it.
Goliath's Revenge?
March 8 2011
Like the Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's David is always good for a few column inches on a slow news day, no matter how far-fetched the story. I've watched this story grow from an obscure press release to, now, the world's media. Apparently the statue is in danger of collapse, because the new Roman metro system will pass over half a kilometre from it. Fernando De Simone wants the city to build a special underground viewing room for David. He says:
'The tunnel will pass about 600 meters (2,000ft) from the statue of David, the ankles of which, it is well known, are riddled with micro-fissures. If it’s not moved before digging begins, there is a serious risk that it will collapse.'
By the way - Fernando de Simone is an architect specialising in... underground construction.
Leonardo's 'Lady with an Ermine' cannot travel
March 1 2011
Poland's chief arts conservator has refused permission for Leonardo's 'Lady with an Ermine' to travel to Berlin for an exhibition in August.
Earlier, concerned polish art historians had hoped to prevent the picture going to London for the National Gallery's Leonardo show, which opens in November. However, it appears that the London journey is still on.
