Conservation-Grade Framing and Display: A Word from the Pros
Our Furniture Department: A Retrospective
Over the years, the Furniture Department of The Conservation Center has helped conserve many works of antique and fine furniture, both from museums and private clients. So this month, as the weather chills and we all get cozy in our big comfortable chairs, we wanted to highlight them, their work, and what we think are their best treatments.
À la Modigliani: Portrait of Lunia Czechowska
Amadeo Modigliani was an Italian painter who lived and worked during La Belle Époque. Like many other artists during this period, he resided in Paris where he created some of his most famous sculptures, drawings, and paintings. Although Modigliani was prolific and created hundreds of pieces, he was destitute for most of his tragically short life. The artist is well-known for his portraits, which depict faces influenced by the Baule masks and figures from the Ivory Coast. His distinctive style is characterized by long necks and faces, and by his signature small, hazy eyes. We recently encountered one of his drawings in need of minor treatment and cleaning.
Shattered in Shipment: Saving a Work from Broken Glass
At The Conservation Center, we are acutely aware that accidents happen, so that is why we offer our services at EXPO Chicago every year. Our team of art handlers and conservators prepare annually to assist in every way possible as hundreds of pieces of art are installed in Navy Pier over two short days. This year we assisted with a piece that suffered damage from international shipment. Somewhere along the way, the glass shattered and the paper piece underneath was in need of a quick rescue.
Patching up a Paschke Painting
Commonly referred to as “Mr. Chicago” by his friends, Ed Paschke is one of the Windy City’s most celebrated artists. Born and raised in Chicago, Paschke earned his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1961, and after traveling to Mexico, Europe, and New York, returned to SAIC for his MFA in 1970. Some of Paschke’s earliest artistic influences were the animations of Walt Disney, as well as the colorful caricatures the artist’s father drew on the letters he sent home from Europe during WWII.
The Rediscovery and Restoration of a Forgotten Lester W. Bentley Mural
Here at the Center, the conservation of murals is something in which we take great pride. In the early 1990s, our CEO Heather Becker co-founded a large-scale mural preservation project which restored a selection of Progressive and WPA-Era Murals in Chicago Public Schools. Since the completion of the project, The Center has continued to treat murals of various materials, time periods, subjects, and sizes.
For this reason, we were especially excited when the Ruth St. John and John Dunham West Foundation contacted us about restoring a mural painted by Lester W. Bentley located on the West Foundation’s property.
Restoring a Beautiful Bacchanale
As a Chicago-based company, it’s always a treat when pieces come to us with a bit of local art history. Recently, we had the opportunity to restore a large painting by James Allen St. John, a Chicago artist who is most commonly known for his illustrations of the popular Edgar Rice Burroughs "Tarzan" series.
Flipping Through Pages of History: Restoring a Family Heirloom
This Bible first entered our client's family in 1889, and had been passed down to her through her mother's side of the family, who had emigrated from Ireland to Philadelphia. Though she and her mother hadn’t used the Bible in quite some time, it was a treasured family heirloom that our client was eager to see repaired. She entrusted Bill Paulson, owner of the Apple Frame Studio in Mundelein, Illinois, to see to that the Bible be restored to its former condition. Bill, who has frequently worked with The Center on behalf of his clients, knew this was a job for our conservators.
Timeless Techniques: Treating a Gilded Mirror
The Center's Gilding Department specializes in the preservation of frames and objects with gold, silver, and metal leaf applied to the surface. A wonderful example of the type of projects our Gilding Conservators frequently undertake recently came to us in the form of a mirror in need of conservation.
A Cabinet of Curiosities: Framing a Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg is frequently remembered for his series of work created in the 1950s and 1960s that combined aspects of both painting and sculpture. Rauschenberg himself called them "Combines", a term he invented to describe a work that is neither a sculpture nor a painting, but rather a hybrid of the two. The artist was always one to experiment and fuse, often creating something entirely new from two entirely different substances.
Henri Matisse's Textiles: Conserving a Mimosa Rug
Known mainly for his colorful paintings and abstracted paper cutouts, Henri Matisse is a name familiar to art enthusiasts and casual museum-goers alike. Perhaps not as well-known is Matisse’s deep and life-long connection to textiles and fabrics. When The Center recently encountered an example of one of the artist's textile designs, we knew there must be a story behind it.
An Arctic Journey: Conserving a Pair of North Pole Novels
As the summer season is in full swing and many of us are enjoying long weekends by the lake, one of The Center’s client is taking his travels in a different direction. William Hartel, longtime client of The Center and an avid collector or rare books, recently contacted our conservators regarding the conservation of several books he purchased as travel companions on his summer journey to the North Pole.
Spectral Liberation: Repairing a Large Public Sculpture
With many different departments working together here at The Conservation Center, we understand the value of teamwork. On certain occasions, this means working hand in hand with other companies and specialists to develop the correct treatment approach for a unique piece. When we received a call regarding a large public sculpture at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden that had been struck by a car, we knew right away that engaging some of our trusted vendors to assist our team with the repairs may be necessary.
A Looking Glass to the Past: Preserving a Window from Oak Park Public Library
The Conservation Center is proud to be part of a vast community of individuals and institutions dedicated to conserving the past. We recently had the opportunity to work with such an institution, the Oak Park Public Library, to help conserve a part of their history.
A Landscape to Brighten Your Day
As the skies clear up and bright summer days begin, we felt it was only fitting to feature a landscape that recently underwent a similar experience. When the painting first came to The Center, our conservators quickly noted that the varnish layer had discolored, and the piece would likely brighten significantly if the varnish was removed.
A Story Unfolds: Palmer Hayden's "Bricktop"
Following in the Footsteps of Her Father: Jane Stuart's Copy of a Portrait
The face of our first president, George Washington, has become familiar due to the immortalizing portrait of him painted by Gilbert Stuart in the mid-18th century. What isn’t familiar is the name Jane Stuart, Gilbert’s daughter, who was a painter herself. Although she created her own compositions and even held her own studio in Boston in the mid-19th century, Jane is best known for the meticulous copies made of her father’s work in an attempt to help keep his legacy alive. Recently, one of Jane's copies came through The Center’s doors with a substantial round tear below the portrait's left eye.
Doe, a Deer, a Felt-Head Deer
Some works of art are meant to take you by surprise; a sculpture that came into The Center recently did just that. Half deer and half man, this curious ceramic and felt piece came without an explanation or backstory. However, it did come with a broken hoof and several other complications for our conservators to address.
Gellan Gum: It's Not for Chewing!
Here at The Center, we are always eager to study new methods of treating objects and learn about advancements in the field. That is why we were honored to host the Chicago Area Conservation Group’s Gellan Gum Mini-Workshop on March 13th. The Chicago Area Conservation Group (CACG) is a local group whose purpose is to promote learning and exchange ideas among those interested in or responsible for the preservation of artwork and archives of all kinds.
