How to Keep Your Objets d\'Art Looking Magnifique

Tag : fine art materials

Fortunately, Washington area residents have a nearby resource, the Smithsonian 's Lunder Conservation Center, to bombard with questions. Thecenter, which occupies the third-floor mezzanine of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, has workrooms surrounded byglass where visitors can watch conservators in action, cleaning apainting or restoring folk art. The center's staff offers guidance,along with tips on what nonprofessionals can do to maintain theirart and what is better left to the experts.
One of the most important things to understand in caring for anypiece, be it a bronze sculpture, an oil painting or a wooden idol,is the distinction among preservation, conservation andrestoration:
· Preservation is a way to control agents of deterioration, suchas humidity, temperature, pests, light, dust and air pollution.
· Conservation is a more involved process that includes ethics anda scientific understanding of materials. "Conservation is acceptingthe condition that the artwork is in . . . and trying to stick towhat the artists intended as much as possible," says AmberKerr-Allison, the center's conservation paintings intern.Conservators study organic chemistry and art history and have hadhands-on experience as an intern or apprentice. Some may havecompleted a graduate program in fine art conservation.
· Restoration is less about a piece's history and more about itsaesthetics. It's about making an object "look new, polished up,everything looks fine like nothing has happened to the work" if ithas been damaged, Kerr-Allison says. Restorers doesn't usuallyreference material science or an object's background to the degreea conservator does.
No matter whether you do some basic care yourself or hire someone,it's best to take care of any piece before deterioration sets in."Damaged and deteriorated [objects] are never the same. It'svery hard, if not impossible, to completely reverse damage,"so respecting keepsakes, knowing how and where to set objects, isessential to preventing deterioration from fast-forwarding, saysCatherine Maynor, the paper conservator at the Smithsonian center.
What you can do at home: Keep paper, paintings, textiles andplastic objects out of direct sunlight with filtering films orcurtains to prevent fading and structural weakening. (Metals,stones, and generally glass and ceramics aren't light sensitive.)Also, lightly dust your objects with a soft brush, says HelenIngalls, the center's object conservator. Dust absorbs water,Ingalls says, which can cause corrosion and attract insects thatleave droppings on your objects. Moreover, beware of placingobjects in attics, basements and bathrooms. These rooms are proneto drastic changes in humidity and temperature or are too hot orcold. Plus, basements are prone to flooding and damp conditions.
If you've already noticed signs of damage, such as corrosion,instability, surface damage and grime, conservators agree it's agood idea to consult a professional. "This is not ado-it-yourself type of endeavor, especially for any objects withmonetary or sentimental value," says Hugh Shockey, an objectconservator at the center.
Once you've determined what level of care you need, the key isfinding a professional with credentials and experience. First,check whether he or she is a member of the Washington ConservationGuild or American Institute for Conservation of Historic andArtistic Works. (The AIC established the conservator's Code ofEthics and Guidelines for Practice.) Both are good sources to startyour hunt, Lunder programs coordinator Julie Heath says, thoughthey don't guarantee a conservator's work. Also get a list of pastclients and referrals from a conservator to double-check his or herprofessional history.
Once you've narrowed your list of conservators, he or she will wantto see the piece on site to judge environmental conditions. Theconservator will then write a treatment proposal and give you anestimate on how long the conservation will take and how much itwill cost. Expect to spend between $75 and $120 per hour for thetreatment, Ingalls says. "If they're charging you $30, they mightnot be that great" because they may rush through your piece. Bewarethat a conservator may turn down work or not be able to solve everyproblem, too. "Sometimes the best thing to do is to [just]stabilize and preserve the artwork until technology advances enoughto safely address the problem," Kerr-Allison says. For example,conservators won't touch an accidental mark made after someonedragged a pencil along an unprimed canvas because technology hasn'tadvanced enough to safely address that issue.
While working on a piece, a conservator will document the projectwith a written report and photographs. This is for "protection fromliability, an illustration for what we've done and a record for thenext generation," Ingalls says.
Depending on the piece and how much it is damaged, seeking aconservator can run into real money, so your piece should be worththe investment. "Much of what you see at the Smithsonian wasoriginally from personal collections," Kerr-Allison says, so it maypay if you feel "your personal treasures deserve as much attentionas a van Gogh."