Behind the Scenes in Conservation: View of the Museum on the Hill
9/28/2023
An interesting artifact has entered the museum Archives, courtesy of Archivist/Records Manager Geoff Edwards. This glass paperweight holds a small photograph of the museum and the Cincinnati Art Academy (now located downtown).
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Ready for a Closeup? Hawes’ Flag Dress
9/21/2023
There are few things more satisfying than seeing some really dramatic “before and after” photos when a conservation treatment is complete! Conservation of Elizabeth Hawes’ “flag dress” or Geographic (1940) has wrapped up, and now you can flip through a whole album of “before/after” pairs showing the transformations of many of the flags that cover the dress.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Jain Shrine—Now on Display!
9/14/2023
If you’ve been following our Conservation blog posts, you may have seen several updates as we carried out treatment over the past two years.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Reflection by Raphael Soyer
8/31/2023
In 2019 and 2020 the museum received three prints by American artist Raphael Soyer (1899–1987), the first of his prints to enter the museum’s collection.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Summery White Dress—Only 150 Years Old!
8/24/2023
The forecourt display case in the Conversations Gallery is fresh! A new rotation arrived last week, and it is practically aglow with summery white freshness. How does a 150-year-old child’s dress look this crisp and breezy?
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Removing Varnish, Brightening a Landscape
8/10/2023
We’ve had this painting by American Impressionist Theodore Robinson (1852–1896) listed for varnish removal for a while. That’s because curators and conservators know that Impressionist artists rarely varnished their paintings.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Mounting Many Mini Prints
8/3/2023
Over a couple of weeks, I examined, cleaned, and rehoused a series of sixteenth-century prints by Léonard Gaultier (circa 1561–circa 1630).
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Traveling in (Sustainable!) Style
7/27/2023
How would you like to travel in a custom “sleeping bag”? These three dresses designed by Ann Lowe (American, 1898–1981) are headed to the Winterthur Museum in Delaware for the exhibition Ann Lowe: American Couturier, snuggled in soft surrounds for a safe and comfortable trip.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: The Approaching Storm
7/5/2023
Another work recently conserved for the British catalog project, The Approaching Storm by English artist Thomas Barker (1769–1847), presented a challenge.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Taking Care of Japanese Prints
6/30/2023
In 2005 the museum received a gift of Japanese art that includes ceramics, paintings, and prints. Now that our Curator of Prints Kristin Spangenberg has finished researching the 35 prints in this gift, I am reviewing their needs before moving them to their permanent storage locations.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: A “Conversation” with Coco Chanel
6/21/2023
What is one of the best things about being a textile conservator? To me, it’s that I sometimes have the chance to “converse” with my fashion design heroes through their work.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: A Seemingly Innocuous British Portrait
6/8/2023
When I read the curatorial file for this painting, I discovered a remarkably expansive biography, not just of the painting itself, but also of the sitter and the artist. What is most interesting to me, though, is the sitter’s story.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Unfurling the Cincinnati Map
6/1/2023
This week, the museum installed a twenty-first century take on the monumental “roll-up” map.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Hey Gorgeous!
5/25/2023
This week, grab a sneak peek at “coming attractions” with this Indian floor spread! She’ll be the “star of the show” in our Anu and Shekhar Gallery of South Asian Art when installed at the end of June.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Jain Shrine Nearing Completion!
5/18/2023
The treatment on our Jain Shrine is (finally!) nearing completion!
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Street Cleaning
5/11/2023
We recently cleaned Sunlight on Prospect Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts by Edward Hopper (1882–1967).
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Jacquard Loom Blanket
4/27/2023
Does crisp spring weather make you crave a snuggly blanket? The Cincinnati Art Museum has several!
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Shell & Barnacle Covered Bowl
4/20/2023
This fifteenth-century Chinese ceramic bowl presents some intriguing features that tell a fascinating story of its past. Shells and barnacles cover the bowl’s surface. These unusual attachments are commonly seen on objects that have spent time in ocean environments, in this example, possibly the result of a shipwreck.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: A Charming Secret
4/13/2023
Painted by the French Impressionist Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Fog on Guernsey recently paid a visit to our lab for cleaning—and it let us in on a charming secret.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Cincinnati 1954
4/6/2023
A recent bequest of 20th-century American prints and paintings includes this view of Cincinnati by Laurence Sisson (1928–2015). Painted in watercolor with pen and black ink, the scene captures downtown buildings overlooking the Ohio River as Sisson saw them in 1954.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Wow! That’s a PINK Dress!
3/30/2023
Treatment is complete for this 1920s silk chiffon and velvet dress which showed loss in several places, including the right shoulder.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Filling-in Areas of Loss
3/23/2023
After removing all the old adhesive and over paint, we revealed several areas of loss to the painted scene on the glazed surface. This loss was likely caused by the same incident that damaged the foot causing the piece to break into multiple fragments.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Revealing an (Anonymous) British Lady
3/16/2023
This portrait of an anonymous lady by an anonymous British artist was so dirty that only the most basic details were visible before conservation.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: John Ruthven’s Flying Quail
3/9/2023
Paper conservation often involves undoing repairs by others who don’t have the knowledge or materials needed to best preserve the art. I recently examined a drawing by Cincinnati artist John Ruthven (1924 – 2020) with a long tear that had been mended with pressure sensitive tape, often referred to as “Scotch tape.”
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Conserving and Displaying a Palampore
3/2/2023
Are you a pal of Indian textiles? Then be sure to see the palampore currently on display in the South Asian Gallery!
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Jain Shrine—Revealing Multiple Layers of History
2/23/2023
While cleaning and conserving our Jain shrine, we discovered several layers of paint from different periods of its history. The carved wooden designs would have been repainted several times during its use as a devotional object.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Another British Invasion!
2/16/2023
These three portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723–1792) have come out of storage and into the conservation lab for the museum’s British catalog project . They are due to be examined, and perhaps treated, before heading to our photography department for high resolution imaging.
Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Preparing a Vintage Child’s Dress for Display
2/2/2023
Getting beautiful objects on display is a multi-stage process that often includes a stop (or several!) in Conservation. This week we installed some new objects in the Forecourt Gallery of the museum, including this child’s dress.
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