Issue 16 Spring 2007

Class of 2010: (left to right) Eliza Spaulding, Amy Tjiong, Lindsey Tyne, Melissa Gardner, and Lalea Vellanoweth (NL Roberts)

In This Issue:Conservation Center Implements New Courses Aimed at Modern and Contem-porary Paintings Conservation by Suzanne Siano*

A Stranger in New York: Dr. Hannelore Roemich Joins the Conservation Center Faculty by Dr. Hannelore Roemich

Conservation in Ladakh, India by Melissa Buschey and Laura Brill

Whats New in the Conservation Center Library? by Daniel Biddle

Events & Media

Cesare Brandi: A Day of Research and Study

New York University Hosts Florence Symposium Conservation Legacies of LAlluvione

Alumni News & In Memoriam

Fourth-Year Internships 2006 2007

An Unused Lab Space Gets a Much-Needed Facelift

The Conservation Center Visits Storm King Art Center

Museum Opens in Morocco with Help from the CC by Nina Owczarek*

Ashok Roy Visits the Conservation Center

The Conservation Treatment of Medieval Sculpture: Stone and Wood

The Conservation Center Remembers Mario Modestini

Guest & Institute Lecturers 2006 2007

Our Grads in Conservation: Deborah L. Trupin

News and events from the Conservation Center Institute of Fine ArtsNew York University

NEWSLETTER

Dear Alumni, Colleagues and Friends,

Welcome to our first digital-format edition of the Conservation Center Newsletter! Thank you to all for updating your electronic addresses, and please keep us informed of any changes, so that we can keep you up to date with our news.

With the semester just wrapping up, students and faculty alike feel as if we have been running the NYC Marathon: class assignments and qualifying papers have to be turned in or read, grades submitted, treatments brought to an end, ANAGPIC talks refined into papers for on-line access, and the incoming class of students to be welcomed. On this last item: we interviewed 23 outstanding applicants this spring, and have accepted eight extraordinary people for admission to the Conservation Center in the fall of 2007. Their promise bodes well for our program, and for the future of conservation! Please join me in welcoming Amanda Holden, Raina Chao, Katie Sanderson, Jennifer Hickey, Briana Feston, Lisa Conte, Lisa Nelson and Joannie Bottkol. Watch for upcoming issues with more on each of these terrific new Conser-vation Center students.

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Before moving to the Stephen Chan House, the Conservation Center was located in the base-ment of the James B. Duke House. Here, its the year 1972 and stu-dents of the Center are working in the lab.

Revealed from the Vaults

1. Larry Majewski 2. Norman Kleeblatt* 3. Nancy Harris*

The Conservation Center Newsletter contains items of interest from the 2006/07 academic year.

Michele D. Marincola* Sherman Fairchild Chairman and Professor of Conservation

Dr. Norbert S. Baer Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Conservation

Margaret Holben Ellis* Professor of Conservation

James H. Frantz* Lab Supervisor

Dr. Hannelore Roemich Associate Professor of Conservation Science

Anuja Butala Assistant to the Chairman for Administration and Public Affairs

Eileen Hughes Administrative Assistant

Kevin Martin Administrative Assistant

Daniel Biddle Supervisor, CC Library

Dianne Dwyer Modestini Conservator, Kress Program in Paintings Conservation

Nica Gutman Associate Conservator, Kress Program in Paintings Conservation

The Conservation Center Institute of Fine Arts New York University 14 East 78th Street New York, NY 10021 (212) 992-5848/47 (212) 992-5851 fax

Inquiries can be directed to: conservation.program@nyu.edu

Alumni are encouraged to submit their news and/or articles to: conservation.newsletter@nyu.edu

Newsletter Editor: Kevin Martin

Conservation Center graduates are identi-fied throughout with a small asterisk*.

We have had a wonderful addition to the Center, Associate Professor of Conservation Science Dr. Hannelore Roemich, who began in her new, full-time position in January 2007. Thanks to the generosity of the Sher-man Fairchild Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we were able to persuade her to leave Europe for the Big Apple, and join Dr. Baer, Tony Frantz*, and Chris McGlinchey in our science faculty. Dr. Roemich, a materials scientist, will teach classes in the core cur-riculum, including a new version of Materials of Art and Archaeology and in Preventive Conservation for Museum Conservators. In the fall of 2007, Dr. Roemich will teach a seminar for upper-class students on light and color. In addition to this welcomed input into our curriculum, she will carry on the tradition of research at the Institute and engage in collaborative study in the areas of non-invasive examination, glass deterioration and conservation, and the museum environment. An article by Dr. Roemich on her research inter-ests and background is on page 4. Please join me in welcoming her to our community.

Fundraising news continues to be upbeat. In the past year weve

successfully raised $2.9 million to support our new conservation sci-ence position, mentioned above, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, with its characteristic generosity, has funded projects and student support for a total of $140,000. The Hagop Kevorkian Fund supported a student fellowship and the archaeological conservation workshop in the amount of $31,000, and the Dedalus Founda-tion once again underwrote a modern art conservation student for $18,000. You, our friends and alumni, donated approximately $12,500 for student aid. Our extra-curricular projects in the fall of 2006, the Florence Flood conference and a symposium on the legacy of Cesare Brandi, were generously supported by the Kress Foundation, the Booth Heritage Foundation, and anonymous donors in the amount of $45,400.

I wish you all a pleasant summer, and look forward to seeing you either here at the Conservation Center, or at the beach!

Sincerely,

Michele Marincola* Sherman Fairchild Chairman and Professor of Conservation

Conservation Center Implements New Courses Aimed at Modern and Contemporary Paintings Conservationby Suzanne Siano*

Examination and Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Paintings I and II were new courses offered to accommodate the growing interest, at the Conservation Center, in the conservation of modern art. Along with courses in modern offered by Margaret Holben Ellis*, Nora Ken-nedy, and Glenn Wharton, students had the opportunity to study conser-vation issues associated with modern and contemporary painting within the school setting. The class was taught in the penthouse studio at the Chan House, as well as at museums with modern collections and at pri-vate conservation studios. In the fall of 2007, an interdisciplinary course on modern painted surfaces will be offered to include students interested in paper and objects.

In designing the course, it was our intention to have the students treat good quality paintings by established artists in order to align this course with the other paintings treatment courses offered at the Conservation Center. We were very fortunate to have works from the Grey Art Gal-lery of NYU, which has works mainly from the late 19th through the 20th centuries and is particularly strong in

mid-century modern. Michele Wong, head registrar for the gallery, and her staff were wonderful collaborators with us on this project.

The works selected for the students in the fall semester offered challeng-ing condition issues not encountered in other courses. The students learned about the techniques and materials that might be used to treat unvarnished paintings and were introduced to the often unpredict-able nature of modern paints. Chris McGlinchey, Senior Conservation Scientist at MoMA, co-taught the fall course and provided the students with a framework regarding the aging of paints and tools for analysis. The paintings in the fall semester were Will Barnets 1960 Little Deluth Bathers treated by Winnie Murray; Helen Frankenthalers 1957 Cosmo-polit Blue treated by Emy Kim; and Hale Woodruffs 1958 Blue Intru-sion treated by Sayaka Fujioka. In addition to treatment, the students visited Christies contemporary and modern auctions, in order to learn to write condition reports to form an understanding of painting technique and condition. The students exam-ined and wrote about the paintings of Clifford Still, Willem de Kooning and Morris Louis.

In the spring course, Sayaka treated Yayoi Kusamas No. Red A from 1960, an unvarnished work with a thick layer of accumulated dirt and damage to impasto from wrap-ping materials. Katie Patton treated Amde Ozenfants 1926 Still Life, a work with damage to the textured plaster gesso underlying the paint layer that had yellowed overall from nicotine and discolored varnish.

Both paintings presented cleaning and compensation challenges.

We were fortunate to have Pepe Karmel, Associate Professor of Fine Arts at NYU and IFA alumnus, visit the class and give an art histori-cal perspective on the works being treated. Several of the works will be included in a 2008 exhibition he will curate at Grey. We are also plan-ning to make contributions to the INCCA (International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art) database as the treatments are completed.

It is hoped that these new courses provide the students with tools and techniques they might use for a variety of artworks and pique their interest in the challenging world of modern and contemporary paintings conservation.

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Top corner: Sayaka Fujioka shows Yayoi Kusamas No. Red A during our Open House this spring. Above: Katie Patton, treating Still Life by Amde Ozenfant. (Suzanne Siano and NL Roberts)

http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/http://www.incca.org/

A Stranger in New York: Dr. Hannelore Roemich Joins the Conservation Center FacultyBy Dr. Hannelore Roemich

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Top: Dr. Hannelore Roemich, Associate Professor of Conservation Science; Profes-sor Norbert S. Baer, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Conservation; and Michele Marincola*, Sherman Fairchild Chairman and Professor of Conservation; Above: Marit Westermann, Judy and Michael Steinhardt Director of the Institute of Fine Arts, delivers a warm welcome during Hannelores Einstand. (NL Roberts)

Going from Europe to the U.S. is not just a jump across the ocean, but a very big move. The professional challenge to teach science at the Conservation Center gave me the motivation to change continents.

I was born in Romania and grew up in Germany, where I have citizen-ship. After being trained as a chemist (PhD at the University of Heidelberg, Germany), I started to work as a conservation scientist at the Fraun-hofer-Institut fr Silicatforschung (ISC) in Wrzburg, Germany in 1988, where in 1994, I became head of the working group Research for Conservation. My research was focused at first on inorganic materi-als, especially glass, ceramics, metals, and enamels, but has more recently expanded to include the conserva-tion issues of archaeological objects and preventive conservation. I have studied, for example, impact assess-ment with glass sensors and helped develop LightCheck, an affordable light dosimeter providing a visual response to fading. During sabbati-cal leaves in the early 1990s, I visited

the Conservation Center at NYU and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2001 and 2002 I partici-pated in archaeological excavations in Romania and in 2004, I had a fel-lowship at ICCROM in Rome, Italy.

Although my engagement at Fraunhofer ISC was concentrated on research projects, I had several occasions to teach students by special invitation, such as the Doc-toral Course Sciences and Materials of the Cultural Heritage in Ravello, Italy, and on a more regular basis at the training school at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp on all topics relevent to glass conservation.

From November 2004 to 2006, I worked as Sci-

ence Officer at COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) in Brus-sels, Belgium. I was responsible for networking activities in the area of chemistry and materials.

Upon joining the Conservation faculty in January of 2007, I co-taught the core course Materials of Art and Archaeology II: Organic Materials with Professor Baer. I will be teaching the materials course during the fall 2007 term, as well as a new course Light and Color, which will cover a broad variety of topics from pigments and dyes to measurement and fading, from museum lighting and color theories to cognitive aspects. In the spring of 2008, I will again be co-teaching the materials course and the new course Preventive Conservation. I would also like to continue research on non-destructive testing of materi-als with Synchroton and desktop tomography and on monitoring light conditions in museums.

http://www.lightcheck.co.uk/

At the moment I am involved in the organization of two international conferences: Past present predic-tion: about simulation techniques, dosimeters, sensors in conservation research and application, in Ohrid (former Yugoslav Republik of Mace-donia (FYROM)), May 31 June 2, 2007; and the 41st World Chemistry Congress, Chemistry Protecting Health, Natural Environment, and

Cultural Heritage scheduled for August 5 11, 2007 in Turin, Italy.

Although I still feel like a stranger in New York, I know the city from the many visits I have taken since 1975. And, after all, my favorite song by Frank Sinatra is The Best is Yet to Come!

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Dr. Roemich with Linda Nochlin, Lila Ache-son Wallace Professor of Modern Art, Insti-tute of Fine Arts, NYU (NL Roberts)

HeresalistofDr.Roemichsmustreadpublications:

Rmich, H., Historic Glass and its interaction with the environment and Laboratory experiments to simulate corrosion on stained glass windows, in The Conservation of Glass and Ceramics, ed. N. Tennent (James & James, London, 1999), pp. 514 and 5765.

Mller, W., D. Kruschke, C. Kcher, M. Pilz, H. Rmich, C. Troll, Das Emailprojekt Welches Festigungsmittel eignet sich? Experimentelle Forschungen an der BAM und am ISC, Restauro 6 (2000), 442-446.

Rmich, H., E. Lpez-Ballester, F. Mees, P. Jacobs, E. Cornelis, D. van Dyck, T. Domnech-Carb, Micro-computed tomog raphy (mCT) as a new non-destructive tool for the characterisation of archaeological classes. Proceedings of the 7th Int. Conf. on Non-Destructive Testing and Microanalysis for the Diagnostics and Conservation of Cultural and Environmental Heritage, ed. University of Antwerp (CD-ROM, 2002).

Rmich, H., Studies of Ancient Glass and Their Application to Nuclear-Waste Management, MRS Bulletin, July 2003, Vol. 28, No. 7, (ISSN 0883-7694), pp. 500504.

Rmich, H., K. Dickmann, P. Mottner, J. Hildenhagen, E. Mller, Laser cleaning of stained glass windowsFinal results of a research project, Journal of Cultural Heritage, 4, 2003, pp. 112117.

Rmich, H., G. Martin, B. Lavedrine, M. Bacci, LightChecka new tool in preventive conservation, V&A Conservation Journal, No. 47, 2004, p. 18.

Bacci, M., C. Cucci, A.-L. Dupont, Loisel L. Lavedrine, S. Gerlach, H. Rmich, G. Martin, LightCheck: new disposable indicators for monitoring lighting conditions in museums, Proc. 14th Triennial Meeting of ICOM in The Hague, 2005, pp. 569573.

Rmich, H., E. Lopez, F. Mees, P. Jacobs, E. Cornelis, D. Van Dyck, T. Domnech-Carb, Microfocus x-ray computed tomography (mCT) for archaeological glasses, in Cultural Heritage Conservation and Environmental Impact Assessment by Non-Destructive Testing and Micro-Analysis, (Taylor & Francis Group, London, 2005), (ISBN 90 5809 681 5), pp. 3747.

Rmich, H., P. Mottner, J. Hildenhagen, K. Dickmann, G. Hettinger, F. Bornschein, Comparison of Cleaning Methods for Stained Glass Windows, eds.: K. Dickmann, C. Fotakis, J. Asmus (LACONA V Proceedings, Lasers in the Con servation of Artworks, Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, 2005), (ISBN 3-540-22996-5), pp. 157161.

Rmich, H., Glass and Ceramics, ConservationScienceHeritage Materials, eds.: E. May and M. Jones (The Royal Society of Chemistry Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2006, Chapter 7.

Gerlach, S., H. Rmich, E. Lopez, F. Zanini, L. Mancini, L. Rigon, Phase contrast microtomography for archaeological glasses, in COST Action G8Non-destructive testing and analysis of museum objects (Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, 2006), pp. 147151.

http://www.cost.esf.org/heritage-ppphttp://www.cost.esf.org/heritage-ppphttp://www.cost.esf.org/heritage-ppphttp://www.cost.esf.org/heritage-ppphttp://www.iupac2007.orghttp://www.iupac2007.orghttp://www.iupac2007.org

wall-painting was discovered under layers of whitewash during a roof restoration at Red Jampa Lhakhang Temple near Leh Palace. A team of European conservators was assembled, and along with several Ladakhi volunteers, the conservation work began. After documentation and testing, the whitewash layer was mechanically removed, the paint layer stabilized, and the losses filled.

The THF conservation team will complete the wall-painting conserva-tion at Red Jampa this summer before beginning preparatory work in-cluding documentation, preparation of paint samples, and cleaning trials for the conservation of wall-paint-ings at the Tsatsapuri monument at Alchi, a gompa famous for its

During the summer of 2006, we traveled to Leh, Ladakh, a remote village situated on a high plateau (13,000 feet) in the Himalayas, with the help of our Levy-White travel scholarship. Although Ladakh is part of India, the region is often referred to as Little Tibet due to its geographic and cultural similarities with Tibet, including a strong Bud-dhist influence. Both regions had very little contact with the outside world for many years because of their geographical location and political climate. Ladakh has only allowed tourism since 1974.

Due to Buddhisms strong influ-ence, there are many monasteries, or gompas, in Ladakh. While the gompas are not as populated as they were in the past, many are still active. The Ladakh gompas, like those of Tibet, are filled with colorful Buddhist wall-paintings and ritual objects. While in Ladakh, we visited several gompas and had the opportunity to witness European and Ladakhi methods of wall-painting conservation.

Thanks to funding provided by The Tibet Heritage Fund (THF), a

beautiful 11th century-wall-paintings. The treatment of the Tsatsapuri wall-paintings will be the focus of the 2008 season and anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to write to The Tibet Heritage Fund at info@tibetheritagefund.org for more information.

Hemis gompa, established by Ladakhi King Sengye Namgyal in the 17th century, is the headquarters for the Dryupa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Last summer the wall-paintings in its large temple were being restored, as the majority of the walls are severely deteriorating with significant losses and buckling. The wall losses were filled and the miss-ing areas of design were redrawn by a local thangka painter. Guided by the old design and under the direction of the master painter, several monk and lay painters were in the process of repainting the entire mural. In keeping with traditional restoration practices, losses as well as exist-ing areas of the wall-painting are equally repainted.

In addition to seeing the con-servation of the wall-paintings at Hemis, we were invited to share tea with monks who had just completed routine maintenance re-gilding the faces of four small metal statues. They asked us to take pictures of the sculptures so that they could have images of the sculptures for their personal altars.

Our trip to Ladakh was a wonder-ful experience, offering very different examples of how cultural heritage is preserved.

Conservation in Ladakh, Indiaby Melissa Buschey and Laura Brill

The Tibet Heritage Fund is a non-profit

organization registered in Berlin committed to the preservation and

advancement of Tibetan cultural heritage.

Partially-restored wall painting at Hemis Gompa, Ladakh with outlines redrawn by local thangka painter. (Julie Krouse)

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mailto:info@tibetheritagefund.orghttp://www.tibetheritagefund.org/http://www.tibetheritagefund.org/

7Whats New in the Conservation Center Library?by Daniel Biddle

In addition to the authorship of this corner of the newsletter, previ-ously sculpted by the CCs universally admired former librarian Robert Stacy, the library has witnessed a number of recent changes. With the goal of documenting the pres-ent state of the collection, in part to prepare for future growth, and with the tireless assistance of third year student Winnie Murray, the library has recently completed an inventory of each volume of this remarkably focused yet surprisingly diverse collection.

Keeping pace with historic trends, the library has maintained its active collection of material published within the ever-evolving field of conservation, and this past year has seen its share of notable acquisitions. Included among these are five publi-cations from Butterworth-Heinemann on the topics of conservation of ruins, architectural tiles, tapestries, leather, and digital files. After adding the two print volumes of the Pigment Compendium in 2005, the library has more recently acquired the increas-ingly popular Pigment Compendium

on CD-ROM. And with thanks to the endowment established in honor of Lawrence J. Majewski, we have added to the rare book collection tomes on the subjects of dyes and dyeing, var-nishes, and papermaking.

2006 also saw the arrival of one of the more eagerly awaited books in many years Studying and Conserv-ing Paintings: Occasional Papers on the Samuel H. Kress Collection, jointly pub-lished by the Conservation Center, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and Archetype Publications with contri-butions from numerous members of the CC community discussing the conservation and analysis of paint-ings from the Kress Collection.

Appealing on a somewhat differ-ent level is the latest in monographic investigations of individual hues, Pink: The Exposed Color in Contempo-rary Art and Culture, edited by Barbara Nemitz and published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Hardbound in cotton

candy pink ultra suede and loaded with dreamy, pastel photographs, the book is soft outside and in. Pink includes essays investigating the hue from a variety of artistic perspectives across time and place, as well as a general discussion of its role in biol-ogy. Among the captivating images of cherry blossoms and ambiguous organic forms by Louise Bourgeois is a six-page spread of a sanguine reclining figure, Gelitins Rabbit, a mountainous, straw-stuffed, woolen sculpture, occupying a good portion of a hillside in the Italian Alps. A weary hikers hallucinatory respite, a textile conservators nightmare, this giant bunny captures a fraction of the depth inherent in pink.

While a delightful object in esthetic terms, Pink offers minimal content of practical use to conservators. Unlike its noteworthy predecessor Indigo by Jenny Balfour-Paul, this volume does not delve into sources for pigments or issues involved in production or preservation. So though it may not be recommended as a reference source for information on say, colorfastness of alizarin lakes, the books popular-ity derives from its promotion of the unique value of this color and the complexities of la vie en rose.

http://www.archetype.co.uk/

Events & Media

A Hidden Picasso, the exhibi-tion that premiered in 2004/2005 at the Museo Guggenheim in Bilbao, is being presented as a didactic instal-lation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from February 23 through May 28, 2007. The exhibition will be on view in the second-floor Koret Visitor Education Center, several meters from the permanent collection gallery where Picassos Scene de Rue (oil on canvas, 1900) is on display. It is presented through the generous support of the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao.

Will Shank*, former Chief Con-servator of SFMOMA, developed the content, which is based upon the discovery by Ann Hoenigswald of the National Gallery of Art, of the presence of what appeared to be an almost-complete composition by Pablo Picasso beneath the SFMOMA painting, Scene de Rue. Working with a digital imaging expert, Shank applied colors visible through cracks and abrasions in the surface of the upper painting in order to create a color version of the black-and-white x-radiograph, in which the design of the hidden painting showed clearly. The resulting image, on view as a back-lit transparency, appears to be a prototype for Le Moulin de la Galette, one of the masterpieces of the Solomon Guggenheim Museums

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Richard McCoy* is featured in one of Indianapolis Museum of Arts self-produced videos made available on YouTube. Richard writes, While my

Thannhauser Collection. It was previously considered the nineteen-year-old Picassos first painting in Paris, in 1900. In the Hidden Picasso, a group of gaily dressed nightclub patrons at the left observe a group of French Cancan dancers kicking up their heels on the right. The Scene de Rue, which obscures the nightclub scene, is a somber view of three anonymous figures in a Paris cityscape.

There is an active link to the interactive element created by the visiting curator with the conservators at the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao.

For more information on this and other exhibits, visit the web site of the SFMOMA.

Factory Work: Warhol, Wyeth, and Basquiat, curated by Joyce Hill Stoner*, is on exhibit from May 5, 2007 August 26, 2007 at the Farnsworth Museum in Maine.

On exhibition, March 9 June 17, 2007, at Oberlin Colleges Allen Memorial Art Museum are two new works by Sol LeWitt, along with a selection of earlier work. Heather Galloway*, conservator at the Inter-museum Conservation Association, was invited to lecture at the opening reception on the conservation of 49 Three-Part Variation on Three Differ-ent Kinds of Cubes.

Tropicana Nights, by Rosa Lowinger* and Ofelia Fox, is the story of Tropicana, a cultural and social hotspot in pre-Revolutionary Cuba. Tropicana Nights is available now from Harcourt Books.

role in this long and involved project was minor, I thought I would share the video for the CC Newsletter as it shows a cool way that the IMA show-cased a conservation project. Below are screen captures of the video, Moving Love. Richard is seen in the center shot, dark hair and light blue shirt!

Select objects from the Centers study collection are currently on exhibit at the Bruce Museum for their show, Fakes and Forgeries: The Art of Deception, from May 12 Sep-tember 9, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBYMts4Vdcshttp://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/un_picasso_escondido/ingles.htmlhttp://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail.asp?id=284http://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/http://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/http://www.oberlin.edu/amam/default.htmlhttp://www.harcourtbooks.com/bookCatalogs/bookpages/9780151012244.asphttp://www.brucemuseum.org/

New York University Hosts Florence Symposium Conservation Legacies of lAlluvione

New York University symposium Con-servation Legacies of lAlluvione, com-memorating the 40th Anniversary of the Florence Flood, November 10 11, 2006, Florence, Italy, Villa La Pietra and the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts. Left to right: Andrea Scavetta, Lynne Brown, Michele Marincola*, Marit Westermann, Senator Edward M. Ken-nedy, Ellyn Toscano*, Alicia Hurley, and David Travis.

The Conservation Center, and Villa la Pietra, NYUs Florentine campus, in a joint American-Ital-ian venture with Mayor Leonardo Domenici of Florence and the Opifi-cio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori di Restauro marked the 40th anniver-sary of the Arno River flood with an international symposium held in

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Florence, Italy. The two-day event brought together many of the surviv-ing participants of the initial rescue effort both the leaders and the mud angels who were in the field. The international response to the 1966 flood revolutionized the field of art conservation and served as a catalyst for new and improved emergency

procedures and responses. Senator Edward M. Kennedy delivered the keynote address and on November 11, Mayor Domenici, Kennedy, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, and the mayors of Dresden and Prague cities that have all suffered severe flooding signed a Declaration of Commitment to conservation and protection of art treasures in the wake of natural disasters.

For more details on the confer-ence, including a list of speakers, please visit our web site, www.ifa.nyu.edu.

On October 4, 2006, the Conserva-tion Center in cooperation with the Associazione Giovanni Secco Suardo, the Associazionne Amicic di Cesare Brandi, and the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, held a daylong symposium marking the 100th Anni-versary of the birth of Cesare Brandi (1906 - 1988). The symposium brought together prominent Italian and American scholars for a day of study and reflection on the importance of Cesare Brandi on the development of modern conservation theory and his impact on conservation practice in America. Although similar events

were held in Italy to mark the cente-nary of Brandis birth, this was the only event to commemorate Brandi in America.

The event included talks on the life and legacy of Brandi, includ-ing his most lasting and influential accomplishment, the creation of the Istituto Centrale del Restauro in Rome in 1938, as well as his remarkably diverse and prolific literary and criti-cal output.

To see the event program and a list of speakers, please visit our web site, www.ifa.nyu.edu.

Cesare Brandi: A Day of Research and Study

http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/ifa/Florence/florence.htmhttp://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/ifa/pdf/brandi_program.pdfhttp://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/ifa/pdf/brandi_program.pdf

Wendy Bennett*85

Starting July 2007, after fourteen years in private practice, including part-time staff positions at the Carn-egie Museum of Art and The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, I will be relocating to Los Angeles to work as paper conservator at The Huntington Museum and Library, in San Marino, CA. David Coul-son, my husband, will continue freelance cartooning, a career he started when we first moved to New York. Well be closer to the entire CA-based Coulson family, including our oldest, Bud, a sopho-more at Caltech. Jules (17) will matriculate to the University of Michigan and Hill (13) will begin his high school career in CA. To keep myself busy as I power down my Pittsburgh operation, Ive been trav-eling regularly to Hawaii, where, as Lange Foundation Paper Conserva-tor, Ive been working on the James

Alumni News

Elise Effmann*00

Elise has accepted the position of Associate Conservator of Paintings at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The de Young Museum is part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Previously, Elise was Assistant Conservator of Paintings at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. We wish her much luck in her new position.

SanchitaBalachandran*03

After almost two years in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, I headed back to the east coast in May. My husband and I have re-located to Baltimore and I am very excited to join the conservation community in the area. Im thrilled to have the opportunity to teach one course a year in conservation ethics and history at Johns Hopkins University in their new minor, Museums and Society. This year, I hope to teach a course related to major conservation controversies, examining the multiple meanings of art objects and sites for different stakeholders, the way those meanings are constructed and changed, and the underlying values that affect conservation decisions. My article, Object Lessons: The Politics of Preservation and Museum Build-ing in Western China in the Early

Michener Collection of ukiyo-e prints. At the end of this year Ill have the opportunity to serve as exhibi-tion curator of Prelude to the Print: Drawings from the James Michener Collection. My family and I had a great time in Manhattan recently, checking out museums and recon-necting with conservation friends.

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JoyceHillStoner*73

Rebecca Rushfield* and I are co- ed-iting the multi-author, international, 700-page Butterworths - Elsevier book on Conservation of Easel Paintings due to be published in 2011. I was commissioned to write and then performed with a quartet a song and 10-minute history poem on the his-tory of Wilmington, Delaware for the Mayors office anniversary gala on March 7, 2007.

Rebecca Rushfield*80

With Dr. Joyce Hill Stoner*, I am editing the Butterworths - Elsevier Series in Conservation and Museol-ogy volume on the Conservation of Easel Paintings (publication date: 2011). I am also consulting on con-servation for the one - volume Oxford University Press Grove Dictionary of Materials and Techniques.

Congratulations to our recent graduates!

Mark Benford Abbe*, objects

Melissa Cacciola*, paintings

Rebecca Capua*, paper

Corey DAugustine*, paintings

Grace Jan*, paper

Kelly Keegan*, paintings

Kate Moomaw*, modern

Camille Moore*, paper

Mary Oey*, paper

Nina Owczarek*, objects

J. Corey Smith*, objects

Sylvia Schweri*, objects

Twentieth Century was accepted for publication in the International Journal of Cultural Property and appeared in the March 2007 issue. I look forward to seeing East Coast colleagues and friends more often once I am in Baltimore! Do write to me at sanchita@gmail.com.

mailto:sanchita@gmail.com

Sandra Sardjono* (left) and Lucy Commoner, IFA Lecturer for the Conservation Center, take a break during a Technology and Structure class on dyes held at the Textile Laboratory of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, NYC. In the background, our students are working on their assigment to dye wool fol-lowing a very stringent and calculated recipe. (Sandra Sardjono*)

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DiannevanderReyden*80

Dianne van der Reyden has been selected as Director for Preservation at the Library of Congress, where she will oversee the Preservation Directorates Reformatting, Con-servation, Binding and Collections

Care, and Preservation Research and Testing Divisions. Since 2004, she has been serving as Acting Director of the Preservation Directorate and as Chief of the Conservation Division. Prior to joining the Library of Con-gress, Dianne spent twenty years as a conservator at the Smithsonian Institution, working with library and archives collections, overseeing two different laboratories during that period, and publishing numerous articles.

The Preservation Directorate of the Library of Congress has just received two million dollars in reprogrammed funds to upgrade the Preservation Research and Test-ing lab (in addition to upgrades in conservation). This reflects the keen awareness the Associate Librarian of Congress for Library Services, Deanna Marcum has for the need to support preservation of col-lections in all formats.

WillShank*82

The initiative, of which I am co-founder, Rescue Public Murals! (RPM!), was launched this year by Heritage Preservation in Washing-ton, DC. With generous funding from the NEA, the Getty Foundation, the Wyeth Foundation, and the Booth Heritage Foundation, RPM! is now in its pilot phase as we address our mission to preserve the public murals of the United States. Its prototype is the highly successful Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!)

Please visit my web site, which features not only my conserva-tion achievements, but also my creative work and exhibitions as a photographer.

SandraSardjono*05

Sandra has recently accepted a new position as Assistant Textile Curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. We wish Sandra much luck in her move to the West Coast and all the opportunities that lie ahead!

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Institute of Fine Arts, I put together a slide presentation culled from images in its archive. I would very much like to put together a similar presentation for the 50th anni-versary of the Conservation Center (2010) and ask anyone with interest-ing historic images to contact me at wittert@juno.com.

New equipment and lab upgrades will enable the Library of Congress to identify new materials, develop new techniques, and set new standards to meet preservation needs of constitu-ents nationally and internationally. The upgrades will enhance our abil-ity to continue forensic analysis and product testing, as well as increase our capabilities in many ways. These include our ability to monitor changes in the condition of collections, iden-tify decomposition mechanisms of magnetic media, evaluate failure mechanisms of new digital storage systems, evaluate production proto-types for scanning sound recordings, mimic degradation caused at a microscopic level by temperature and relative humidity, analyze collections non-destructively, examine collec-tions in situ, reduce time needed for accelerated aging studies, and take and analyze air samples. It will also provide better space and equipment to attract scientists to work with us.

http://www.loc.gov/preserv/http://www.heritagepreservation.org/RPM/index.htmlhttp://www.willshank.commailto:wittert@juno.com

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Internships 20062007

MelissaCacciola Yale University Art Gallery Supervisor: Mark Aronson

RebeccaCapua Metropolitan Museum of Art Paper Conservation Supervisor: Marjorie Shelley*

AmandaFrisosky National Gallery of Art Paintings Conservation Supervisor: Sara Fisher

GraceJan Metropolitan Museum of Art East Asian Paintings Studio Supervisor: Sondra Castile

KerithKoss Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Supervisor: Ellen Chase*

KateMoomaw Department of Sculpture Conser-vation at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam Supervisor: Sandra Weerdenburg

CamilleMoore University of Texas, Austin Photograph Conservation at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Supervisor: Barbara N. Brown

MaryOey Herzog August Bibliothek (Sept. 2006 Dec. 2007) Supervisor: Almuth Corbach

Thaw Conservation Center Morgan Library & Museum (Jan. 2007 May 2007) Supervisor: Maria Fredericks

In Memoriam

The Conservation Center is saddened to report the passing of three of its distinguished graduates:

PatriciaConnell*81Pat Connell brought her wit and humor, her intelligence and erudition,

her level-headedness and sense of fair play to everyone and everything she encountered.

Patricia Connell Litwinko (19512006) was a native New Yorker, then a California girl, an editor, a writer, a gourmet, a gardener, a traveler, an aesthete, a lover of literature, a lover of animals, a very crafty woman and a crafter of fine things, including edibles.

A woman of many studies, after receiving an MA in English from Bryn Mawr, she attended the Institute of Fine Arts from 19771981 and was granted an MA degree in art history and a certificate in conservation. She specialized in paper and textiles, but soon returned to words and food. Her first job as an editor was at Bon Appetit magazine, located across the street from the Los Angeles County Museum.

As daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend, she loved deeply and was deeply loved by many. She is survived by her husband Tony Litwinko and daughters Kate and Elena.

PhilipVance*67

Born in New Haven, CT in 1936, Philip Vance graduated from the Conservation Center in 1967 after completing his undergraduate degree in Geology at the University of Virginia and serving a short tour in the United States Navy. Philip studied paintings conservation and held positions at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 1977, Philip joined the staff at the Intermuseum Laboratory in Oberlin, Ohio, where he became the senior conservator before leaving in 1988. Philip was also a founding member of what is now known as the Western Association for Art Conservation (WAAC).

Philip, known for his keen interest in book conservation, subsequently gave up his paintings conservation career to indulge his passion for book-binding and book conservation.

Philip is survived by his two daughters, Kathleen Wirth of Seattle and Elizabeth Vance of Cambridge, Massachusetts; his two sons, Christopher and Michael Vance of San Francisco; his sister Joan Rae, and five grand-children. Sadly, Philips wife Jeanette, whom he shared many years, died in 1995.

(remembered by Debbie Schorsch*)

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EdithMacKennan*75

Born in Austria, Edith emigrated to the United States in 1955. She earned a B.A. from Vassar College in 1969 and an M.A. and Advanced Certificate in Conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, in 1975, completing internships at the Museum of Modern Art and the Pierpont Morgan Library. Fellow classmates included Barbara Appelbaum*, Tony Frantz*, Sarah Chapman Riley*, Youngia Lee Kim*, Norman Kleeblatt*, Andrew Lins*, and Lynda Zycherman*. A specialist in the conservation of works of art on paper, she established an active private practice in Poughkeepsie and served as a consultant to the Vassar College Art Gallery and Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park.

Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001, Edith dealt with her illness, as in all her affairs, with composure, graciousness, kindness, and humor. She is survived by her husband, Robert, of Poughkeepsie, and a son, Peter, of Riverdale, New York.

(remembered by Margaret Holben Ellis*)

An Unused Lab Space Gets a Much-Needed Facelift

The space in room 4F, once home to the XRD machine, was transformed this past fall into a wonderful workspace and digital imaging lab. Recent changes to our curriculum, a need for more office space, and advancements in our imaging needs necessitated the remodel. As you can see, the transfor-mation was a success! Where the old environmental chamber once lived, the students have a state-of-the-art, Mac imaging lab. Dr. Roemich and Professor Ellis* now have beautiful new office spaces with a common area for small, informal meetings. Two additional work areas were also incorporated into the common area to accommodate the needs of our adjunct faculty. The XRD machine has since been moved to the old chemistry lab in room 3F.

Before...

...and After!

14Museum Opens in Morocco with a Little Help from the CCby Nina Owczarek*

From the Vaults...

Perhaps we are being too easy on our readers this time around since Larry Majewski is once again featured in our From the Vaults... series! However, we couldnt pass up this opportunity to feature 1) our new facilities and home at the Stephen Chan House, and 2) a quiet mug for the camera!

Occasionally, there are projects that I hear about from my friends and colleagues that make me a little envious, and I wonder how did that person get to be so lucky. A prefect example of this is a friend of mine from another program treated C-3PO and visited the Skywalker Ranch two years ago. I feel like that is the type of project I am working on right now. Although the work itself is far from glamorous, everything else about the scenario is like a fairy tale:

Some months ago, I received an email from Jack Soultanian*, a former professor of mine at the Conservation Center, asking if I would be interested in working on a project in Morocco for three months. Right away I replied, YES! before knowing anything more. I had just secured a one-year Fellowship at the Smithsonian Insti-tution at the National Museum of African Art, so I was worried that I might not be able to accept. After a flurry of emails and telephone calls, it turned out that a leave of absence could be arranged and considering that the project was in Morocco, an African country, my supervisors were supportive. In the meanwhile, I learned a little bit more about what the project actually entailed.

Mrs. Patti Cadby Birch, a long-standing philanthropist for the arts, was opening a museum in Marrakech that would be housed in the Royal Palace. Her extensive travel and relationship with Morocco gave Mrs. Birch the desire to offer something in return. The museum, Dar al Bacha, Patti Cadby Birch Morocco Palace of Arts, would display a diverse collection of art from Mrs. Birchs private collection that she developed

per her own tastes over the years. It is incredibly unfortunate that Mrs. Birch passed away in February, and never saw the museum to comple-tion. Given her foresight to establish a foundation to fund the work still needed, the project continues. The museum is slated to open in June 2007 in her honor, then transferring all rights to the Moroccan Ministry of Culture.

The collection has over 1,300 objects from all around the world. The strengths of the collection lie in Am Lash ceramics, Luristanian bronzes, Pre-Columbian ceramics, sub-Saharan and western African wooden sculpture, and East Asian stone discs and Buddha sculptures. It also includes Egyptian, Roman and Greek antiquities, a group of Korans and Arabic texts, some Thangkas and other textile fragments, and a number

of single pieces from various regions and time periods. All of the objects have quite a bit of surface dust and grime, and a number require more extensive treatment. While some of the objects on the checklist have been recently treated, many have not. My job is to make sure everything is stable and presentable by the time installa-tion begins as well as to consult on mounting and display parameters. Due to Mrs. Birchs recent passing, I also find myself helping out with curatorial and design decisions.

Although there is more work than I could have ever imagined after that initial YES! I am thrilled to be involved in this project while enjoying the pleasures of Moroccan culture, people and food. And the most exciting report of all: Today I saw the king!

The Conservation Center Visits Storm King Art Center15

At the start of each academic year, students are invited to a special event as a way to introduce and welcome the incoming class. This past fall, our group traveled to Storm King, an outdoor sculpture park outside of New York City in beautiful Orange County, New York. Storm King draws many visitors to its beautiful landscape filled with rolling hills and fields flecked with postwar contemporary sculptures by such artists as Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, Nam June Paik, and David Smith, to name a few. Of course, no fall outing would be complete without a trip to the local New York State apple orchards for some fresh apple picking!

Papers Presented at the 32nd Annual ANAGPIC Student ConferenceAssociation of North American Graduate Programs in Conservation

April 27 29, 2006 University of Delaware, Winterthur

Rebecca Capua: Materials and Techniques of George Grosz in America

Mary Oey: Some Problems in Musical Instrument Conservation in Museum Collections

All images courtesy of Tara Hornung

www.stormking.org/http://www.buffalostate.edu/depts/artconservation/ANAGPIC.htm

On October 5, 2006, Ashok Roy, Director of Scientific Research at the National Gallery, London, visited the Conservation Center to present a talk, The re-emergence of the Madonna of the Pinks and Raphaels early painting practice for the Samuel H. Kress Lecture on Paintings Conservation. While visiting the Center, Dr. Roy spent the day with faculty and students currently enrolled in the Paintings Program. In the photos above, Professor Dianne Dwyer Modestini shows Dr. Roy a photo of The Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. George by Cesare da Sesto, indicating where paint samples were taken for analysis. In the photo on the right, Dr. Roy is seen performing cross section analysis under our UV fluorescence microscope to help identify pig-ments and paint layer structure. (NL Roberts)

Ashok Roy Visits the Conservation Center16

The Conservation Treatment of Medieval Sculpture: Stone and WoodG43.3040.014

Students in Professor Marincolas*spring treatment class are seen working on The Krachauer Madonna from The Cloisters collection. Students enrolled in this course had the opportunity to work on painted and unpainted medieval wooden sculpture and stone pieces directly from the collection of The Clois-ters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. In the group photo to the right, the students are treating blistered paint with gelatin. The students are: (left to right) Alisa Eagleston (standing), Anna Serotta, Laura Brill, and Tara Hornung. (M. Marincola*)

The Conservation Center Remembers Mario Modestini17

Sometimes, to make a damage to a painting dis-appear, you just need to interrupt it. Sometimes, you feel you know something about a painting you should just say it. And sometimes for dinner you just want pasta con olio e aglio.

Some advice from Mario that often comes back to me, Jean Dommermuth*, Paintings Conservator and Institute Lecturer for the Conservation Center

I remember when I first met Mario Modestini. An extremely well dressed man stepped off the elevator with Dianne into 6F. The whole atmosphere in the room lightened and brightened, and within a minute he had managed to charm everyone. It was always like that when he came in for a visit. He would ask a question or look at your painting with you, and you felt like you understood paintings conservation and your painting much more clearly. You also felt smarter. He would give us a hard time. What are you doing tonight? hed ask. Were staying here at school and working, wed usually answer. Youth is wasted on the young, hed say, shaking his head. I dont think youth was ever wasted on Mario, and Im not sure that his spirit was ever anything but young and sparkling.

Wendy Partridge*, Associate Paintings Conservator at Intermuseum Conservation Association

Colckwise from top: Mario in the paintings studio; Mario guides Lucretia Kargre*, now Associate Conservator at The Cloisters, during a treatment in the Kress Class from 1994; (left to right) Jenny Sherman*, Mario, Elise Effman*, Helen Im*, Helen Spande*, and Friederike Bhler-Steckling*in the Kress Paintings class; Jenny and Friederike show off their edible panel painting (brownie dough, marzipan, and real gold leaf!) made for Marios birthday celebration at the Conservation Center in 1998; Suzanne Siano*looks on as Mario and Dianne Dwyer Modestini (foreground) examine a painting in the Kress class.

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Dr.MaryanAinsworthCurator of European Paintings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NYAnnyAviramConservator, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NYHarrietBeaubien*Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DCLucyBelloliConservator, Metropolitan Museum of ArtJohnBidwellAstor Curator of Printed Books and Bindings, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NYNancy BrittonConservator, Metropolitan Museum of ArtJudyBurrStudio Manager, Greenwich Pottery, New York, NYSilviaCentenoResearch Scientist, Metropolitan Museum of ArtDanaCranmerCranmer Art Conservation, New York, NYPeteDandridgeObjects Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of ArtMichael DuffyConservator, Museum of Modern ArtBarbaraDugganCollections Manager, Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, New York, NYMollyFairesProfessor Emerita, Indiana University, Bloomington, INBetty FiskePaper Conservator, Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, Winterthur, DEClaireGerhard*Conservator, Brooklyn, NYE. Melanie GiffordResearch Conservator for Painting Technology, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DCMonicaGriesbach*Griesbach Studio, LLC, New York, NYAlexisHagadornHead of Conservation, Columbia University Libraries, New York, NYJoyceHillStoner*Professor of Art Conservation, University of Delaware at Winterthur, Winterthur, DE

Guest Lecturers for the Conservation CenterAcademic Year 2006 2007

AndrewHoneyBodleian Library, Oxford UniversityHarrietIrgang*Conservator, Rustin Levenson Art Associates, New York, NYPaulaIsabrandObjects Conservator, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MAPepeKarmelAssociate Professor of Fine Arts, NYUStephenKoobConservator, Corning Glass Museum, Corning, NYBarbaraLemmenSenior Conservator, Conservation Center for Art and His-toric Artifacts, Philadelphia, PAAbigailMackObjects Conservator, Rhinebeck, NYDenyseMontegut*Chair, Fashion & Textiles Studies Department, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NYJeffrey MungerCurator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtRachelMustalish*Associate Paper Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of ArtEleonoraNagyObjects Conservator, New York, NYDr.NicholasPickwoadCamberwell College of Arts, The University of the Arts, LondonCarolynRiccardelliAssistant Objects Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of ArtAlisonRossiterPhotographer, Navesink, NJVukaRoussakisTextile Conservator, American Museum of Natural HistoryAshokRoyDirector of Scientific Research, National Gallery, LondonChristianScheidemannContemporary Conservation, New York, NYKentSeverson*Senior Field Conservator to the Excavations in Aphrodisias, Turkey; Consulting Conservator at Sardis, TurkeyAnthonySigelAssociate Conservator of Objects and Sculpture, Straus Center for Conservation, Cambridge, MA

Institute Lecturers for the Conservation Center Academic Year 2006 2007

SamanthaAlderson*Associate Conservator, American Museum of Natural His-tory, New York, NYDrewAndersonAssociate Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtLucyCommonerHead, Textile Conservation, Cooper-Hewitt National Design MuseumJoanBretonConnellyAssociate Professor of Fine Arts, NYU; Director, Yeronisos Island Excavations (Cyprus)JeanDommermuth*Paintings Conservator, New York, Conservation Consul-tant, Villa La Pietra, Florence, ItalyKathyFrancisFrancis Textile Conservation, NJJamesH.Frantz*Lab Supervisor; Research Scientist, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtLeslieRansickGat*Objects Conservator, New York, NYEllenHoweObjects Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtNoraKennedyPhotograph Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtJudithLevinson*Conservator, The American Museum of Natural History

DorothyMahon*Paintings Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtChristopherMcGlincheyConservation Scientist, Museum of Modern ArtDianneDwyerModestiniPaintings Conservator, Kress Program in Painting ConservationLindaNieuwenhuizenObjects Conservator, New York, NYElenaPhippsTextile Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtLisaPilosi*Objects Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtDebbieSchorsch*Objects Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtSuzanneSiano*Paintings Conservator, Brooklyn, NYJenniferSherman*Paintings Conservator, New York, NYJackSoultanian,Jr.*Objects Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Conservation Consultant, Villa La Pietra, Florence, ItalyRichardStoneSenior Museum Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtGlennWhartonResearch Scholar in Museum Studies, Faculty of Arts, and Science, NYU

DonnaStrahanConservator, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtCarolynTomkiewiczPaintings Conservator, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NYJulieUnruhAnnette de la Renta Fellow, The Metropolitan Museum of ArtRobertvanLanghHead of Conservation and Research, Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamDr.AthanasiosVeliosCamberwell College of Arts, The University of London

GeorgeWheeler*Director of Conservation for the Historic Preservation Pro-gram, Columbia University, New York, NYMarkWypyski*Associate Research Scientist, Metropolitan Museum of ArtLyndaA.Zycherman*Conservator, Museum of Modern Art

Many thanks to the following for their continued support:

DieuDonnePapermill,NewYork,NYUrbanGlass,Brooklyn,NY

Application deadline for entering class of fall 2008 is December 18, 2007!

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In June 2006, my colleague Sarah Stevens and I, with the assistance of Winterthur intern Allison McClos-key, completed the installation of the c.1809 Fort Niagara Garrison flag at Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site, Youngstown, NY. This wool 15-star and 15-stripe flag is one of about a half-dozen US garrison flags that remain from the early-nineteenth century. I had completed the con-servation of this 24 x 28 foot flag in 1995/96, working with Gwen Spicer (Spicer Art Conservation) and Robin Hanson (now at the Cleveland Museum of Art).

Finally, after 10 years, Old Fort Niagara completed the renovation of a former warehouse for a Visi-tor Center, for which the flag is the centerpiece. After working with the architects via drawings, phone, and fax, I was very relieved to see that the exhibit space for the flag met our design specifications. The flag rests on a large platform, essentially a slanted wall, in a room with its own environmental and security systems. The public views the flag from the exhibit space outside the room.

(Top left) Deborah Trupin and colleagues from New York State Parks Peebles Island Resource Center and the Old Fort Niagara Association install the c.1809 Fort Niagara garrison flag in the new Visitors Center at Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site, June 2006. In the photograph above, the darker areas of fabric are the actual flag, the lighter areas are the painted support fabric. The dark vertical lines are the mullions support-ing the glazing. The rolling bridge used to access the center of the flag can be seen at the far right. (Photographs courtesy of Old Fort Niagara Association)

Our Grads in ConservationThis issues featured Conservator is Deborah L. Trupin* Deborah Lee Trupin received

her MA in art history and Diploma in conservation from New York Universitys Institute of Fine Arts, Conservation Center in 1982. Since 1986, she has been Textile Conservator for New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservations Bureau of Historic Sites (Peebles Island) in Waterford, NY. She is responsible for the conservation of the textile and upholstery col-lections of the 35 state-run historic sites, as well as for supervising the New York State Battle Flag Preservation Project. In 2004, she was appointed as a consult-ing textile conservator for NYUs Villa La Pietra in Florence, Italy. Ms Trupin is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conser-vation (AIC) and teaches flag conservation and upholstery con-servation at the Finnish national conservation school.

In April 2007, Sarah and I returned to Old Fort Niagara to check on the flag, vacuum it, and train staff there to vacuum it. We were very pleased at how it looked just as we had left it, with negligible soils. I have writ-ten an article on the treatment of this flag for Restauro; it should appear sometime in 2007.

http://nysparks.state.ny.us/http://nysparks.state.ny.us/