The Conservation Center's 30th Anniversary Company Video
Two Holocaust Journals - A Father's Impact on Children of the War
A Family Treasure from a Parisian Flea Market
A Hat with a Bullet Hole - Surviving to tell the story of Gettysburg
The Occasional Table
Before & After Stories
American Flag from the Fauerbach Brewery
At The Center, we treat items of great worth, historical artistic significance and shared cultural value. But perhaps some the most rewarding work we do is in preserving family heirlooms. These items very greatly from paintings to furniture and can be extremely valuable or purely sentimental, but all hold stories with meaning to the owners. We feel honored to assist families with preserving these items for future generations, and allowing their stories to carry on, and would like to share a recent story from one of our clients.
The Center's Staff Art Contest Winner
Shattered Emile Galle Vase of The Glessner House Museum
A delicate glass vase by French artist Emile Galle (1846-1904), owned by the Glessner House Museum was brought to The Center after it was accidentally damaged and shattered. The vase broke into discrete fragments with extensive associated losses along the break edges, including an area of significant loss around the rim. There were also two running cracks as a result of a fracture.
Hurricane Sandy: The Center's Disaster Response Team
This past month, Hurricane Sandy devastated the Eastern seaboard leaving homes and businesses severely damaged, and basements, storage spaces, and first floors flooded by water. In some areas, the water line reached nearly five feet. The Conservation Center was called onsite to New York City on October 29th, where we assisted both businesses and home owners with damaged art, heirlooms, and unique items affected by the flood waters. The Center's onsite crews worked to carefully remove and triage over two thousand works of art in order to mitigate additional damage.
The Glessner House Museum 125th Anniversary Gala & Upcoming Christmas Candlelight Tours
Conservation of an Antique Gaming Table
The Conservation Center's Services During EXPO CHICAGO
Consolidating a Flaking 17th Century Panel Painting
The Conservation Center Relocates to an Expanded State-of-the-Art Facility Designed by Studio Gang Architects
Over the past 29 years The Conservation Center has developed a national reputation as the ‘go to’ place for the rescue of some of the nation’s finest artworks and artifacts from fire and floods, as well as the restoration of cherished personal heirlooms. As of July, The Conservation Center has a space to match the breadth of their work: the company has recently moved into a newly designed, state-of-the-art 25,000 square foot space in Chicago’s upcoming arts district.
The Center's Custom Framing Room and Client Reception Area Featured on Administrative Floor
Now that our company move is completed, the administrative staff at The Center has been busy taking care of all the important details to ensure our business continues to run smoothly. Fortunately, we have moved into a spacious environment where we can better coordinate our daily tasks and client pick up and drop offs.
Conserving Antique & Modern Furniture
Recently, a Modern Charles (1907-1978) and Ray (1912-1988) Eames chair and an antique Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) style chair were brought separately to The Conservation Center, for review. Both chairs are examples of influential furniture designs. We received some interesting background information from the collectors and an explanation from our associate furniture conservator, Michael Young about the various challenges faced when conserving 18th century versus mid-20th century furniture.
Grand Opening of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
The Conservation Center often assists museums, institutions, foundations and non-profit organizations with the presentation and care of their collections. Aside from providing a wide array of conservation services, The Center's experts are always on hand to consult on long-term preservation planning, on the display, packing, transport and long-term storage of collections, or to help formulate Disaster Response plans. Our conservators are also brought in on projects to provide courier services and condition reports for lending institutions, or to help with the final stages of exhibition preparation.
Conservation of an Albrecht Dürer Print
A private collector brought this print to The Center several months ago. To a critical eye, the print was in poor condition: the sheet was soiled and distorted, and there were two tears that were barely visible except upon close inspection (see figs. 1-3). The tears required intricate repair work to realign the edges and provide necessary structural support to the compromised sheet, while keeping the repair as discreet as possible. After the piece was safely returned in its improved condition, the collector wrote the following testimonial for us to share:
