2. What is Art Conservation?
Image courtesy of Julie Heath & Ann Creager, Lunder Conservation Center.
3. Science Art history Fine art
Photo courtesy of the Winterthur/University of Photos courtesy of Samantha Springer (top) and Photo courtesy of Stephanie Oman.
Delaware Program in Art Conservation. the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in
Art Conservation.
4. Inpainting an oil
painting on
canvas
Photo courtesy of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, by Lazlo Bodo.
5. Consolidating paint
on an architectural
interior at Shangri La
Photo courtesy of Natasha Loeblich.
7. Basket composed of Ceramics and glass are
organic materials inorganic materials
Photos courtesy of Winterthur Museum & Country Estate (right) & Julie Heath, Lunder Conservation Center (left).
10. Before and after treatment images of a gelatin silver print
Eugene Smith, “Three Generations of Welsh Miners,” 1950, gelatin silver print. Photos courtesy of Christina Finlayson and Paul Messier.
11. Furniture
conservation
treatment
Photo courtesy of Brian Considine, The J. Paul Getty Museum.
12. Monitoring a
natural history
collection
exhibit
Photo courtesy of Tania Collas and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
County.
13. Conservators
assembling a
Louise
Nevelson
outdoor
sculpture
Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, taken by Joe Mikuliak.
14. Bathing a work
of art on paper
Photo courtesy of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, by Lazlo Bodo.
21. Papermaking process
vatman
screen/mold
coucher layer press
vat slurry
felts
Images from Lalande, Art de Faire le Papier, 1761.
Editor's Notes
So what is the field of art conservation? Conservation is defined by the American Institute for Conservation as the profession devoted to the preservation of cultural property for the future. The term cultural property describes a wide variety of material culture including objects, collections, specimens, structures, or sites identified as having artistic, historic, scientific, religious, or social significance. (1) (1) AIC Definitions of Conservation Terminology
There are painting conservators that specialize in the conservation of easel paintings
And there are conservators specializing in the conservation of painted surfaces – that is architectural surfaces that are painted as seen here, polychrome sculpture, painted furniture and other painted objects
There are also object conservators, professionals that specialize in preserving 3-dimensional objects of cultural property – some object conservators may specialize in a certain type of material,
Such as organic or inorganic objects
Others specialize in the preservation of archaeological artifacts
Conservators may also specialize in textile conservation,
Photograph conservation,
Furniture conservation
Natural history collection conservation
or outdoor sculpture
Paper conservation is another discipline within the field – paper conservators care for works of art on paper as well as historic documents in library and archive collections.
