Formaldehyde Oxidation and Lead Corrosion

Abstract

Carbonyl compounds are of concern in museums because of their potential to damage artifacts. The mode of damage for aldehydes is far from clear and seems to require oxidation. Lead coupons were exposed to gaseous formaldehyde (methanal) and formic acid (methanoic acid) in various humid oxidizing atmospheres. The resulting corrosion products were weighed and identified using X-ray diffraction analysis after as much as 56 days exposure. When fomaldehyde was in more oxidizing environments (atmospheres containing hydrogen peroxide) it caused heavy corrosion but in the dark, with no oxidant, there was only very slight tarnish, even at high humidities. This suggests that oxidation is an important control on corrosion by formaldehyde. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that at low formic acid concentrations (below about 1 ppb) the corrosion products should be carbonates (plumbonacrite and hydrocerussite) while at higher concentrations lead formate would be expected. The mineralogical complexity and the importance of oxidants make it very difficult to set standards for formaldehyde in the museum environment.     

Reflections on light monitoring: Evaluating museum lighting options for modern and contemporary art

Spectrometric handheld light meters that can provide adequate data for evaluation of replacement bulbs for contemporary art objects are now commercially available. This approach was taken to assess potential replacements for the incandescent street lamps in Chris Burden's Urban Light at LACMA, Los Angeles, USA. These meters are also useful tools for monitoring and characterizing museum lighting, which are currently done with illuminance (lux) meters. The new spectral light meters will enable conservators to tailor lighting recommendations for individual artworks, when spectral information from these meters is combined with damage function data on artists’ materials. The latter information can be obtained for some materials by a small modification to the microfade testing procedure, as exemplified by microfading colored samples Henri Matisse created during the design phase for La Gerbe.     

Overview of preventive conservation and the museum environment in China

Based on a nationwide investigation of the current state of preservation of museum objects in China, around 51% of the 35 million museum objects show different degrees of deterioration. Although treatment of objects is necessary, treatment alone is not sufficient. In China's present situation, preventing damage to museum objects is much more cost-effective than allowing damage to happen and then treating it. The number of museums in China is increasing very fast: 23?000 exhibitions are held, 600 million visits are made, and 35?000 archaeological objects are excavated nationwide, each year. At the same time, these museums are widely distributed and have different levels of resources. We need both technical knowledge and preventive conservation to safeguard our precious museum objects. This paper introduces research achievements in preventive conservation, and traces the development of this discipline in China. Starting from the classification of museums in China, legislation is detailed on preventive measures such as selecting appropriate light sources, controlling temperature, relative humidity, light damage, and pollutants. This paper describes achievements in monitoring, analysis, evaluation, and control of museum environments in China. It also proposes future directions for museum environment studies during China's twelfth Five-Year Plan.     

Collecting participatory art at the Denver Art Museum

Participatory art is a contemporary movement requiring viewers to take an active part in the artwork, by means ranging from interaction with materials to creative contribution. Artistic developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, such as political and social engagement, led to the rise of participatory practices. Concurrently, museums have reacted to falling attendance and cultural shifts by seeking to create more engaging experiences for visitors. At the Denver Art Museum, this has led to an increased interest in displaying and collecting participatory art. Through case studies of works in the collection of the Denver Art Museum, Walking in Venus Blue Cave (2001) by Ernesto Neto and ¿Being Home? (2009) by Rupprecht Matthies, this paper explores the conservation of participatory artworks in museum collections, including their maintenance on display, long-term preservation of their interactive nature, and the possibility of involving communities in conservation actions and decision-making.     

The Web and the Unassailable Voice

In most existing art museum Web pages, the values of the museum dominate the values of the Web. Therefore, museum Web pages often electronically duplicate familiar museum products – floor plans, collection catalogues, event calendars – rather than transforming the idea of the museum by adapting the values of the Web.This paper will seek to show how art museums and technologists can come to understand each other and use their differences productively by:1. Orienting museum Web sites towards projects that can only be done on the Web and not on paper.2. Using the Web to overcome the many limitations to understanding imposed by the physical art museum.3. Using the interactive potentials of the Web to change the one-way flow of information from art museum to visitor to a two-way flow which also moves from visitor to museum.4. Infusing the orientation towards constant change into the art museum so that the Web helps the art museum to reinvent itself.     

THE CONSERVATION OF TAPESTRIES FOR MUSEUM DISPLAY

Abstract

A broad outline of the considerations which arise with regard to the conservation of a museum collection of tapestries is given in this paper. The various types of damage to, and deterioration of, tapestries is discussed.

Various methods of washing and dry cleaning, and the equipment necessary for these procedures, are reviewed, and a caution is included as to the necessity of testing all dyes for colour fastness in both water and any solvent used for dry cleaning. The equipment, materials and techniques of repair are discussed; three methods of repair being currently used in museums and specialist workshops — re-weaving, stitching on to a backing and the use of synthetic resins for impregnation and adhesion to a woven support. It is suggested in conclusion that the optimum method of repair in museums is stitching on to a backing. More research must be undertaken into the use of synthetic resins, and re-weaving usually alters the original appearance of the tapestry.

Finally, the need for specialised conservation staff in a museum with a tapestry collection is emphasised.     

Stay Behind the Yellow Line: Young Children Constructing Knowledge from an Art Exhibition

Studies exploring very young children visiting museums and art galleries are few. The majority of research about museum and gallery visitors explores family group interactions. This paper examines the findings of a study involving three‐ and four‐year‐old children visiting an art exhibition in a national museum on more than one occasion. The children's construction of knowledge about being a museum visitor and exhibitor indicates their ability to develop an appreciation of art and an understanding of the purposes of museums and art galleries.     

Finding common ground and inherent differences: Artist and community engagement in cultural material and contemporary art conservation

Comparisons are often made between the conservation of cultural material collections, often described as ethnographic, and contemporary art collections, and indeed there are significant parallels. The stewardship of both of these types of collections can challenge traditional tenets of conservation, requiring conservators to ask themselves ‘What are we preserving?’ as preservation extends beyond the physical. The work must be placed in a broader conceptual context and the conservator must seek out those who are deemed to have the most authority – whether it is the artist, the artist's assistants and estate or the source community – to establish this context. Engagement with constituents creates valuable reciprocal relationships, which can benefit the artist, community, and museum. The relationships and the parallel practice of two seemingly disparate fields are examined using examples from the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG). Conservators at NMAI, a living culture museum containing archeological, historic, and contemporary art collections, are in the unique position of working with community stakeholders with direct ties to historic collections and contemporary artists whose work is actively acquired by the museum. Conservators at YUAG, an encyclopedic museum with a pedagogical directive, are attempting to establish a more rigorous program of artist engagement to direct preservation and understanding of contemporary art collections.     

Conservation of a contemporary lacquered screen: A collaborative,interdisciplinary, international project involving the artist,fabricators, and conservators from three different areas

This paper discusses issues surrounding the conservation of contemporary art within the private sector using a real example, a freestanding hinged and lacquered screen. The artwork developed severe damage whilst on display in a private collection when a section of the lacquer cracked and delaminated from the bottom of one of the panels, taking paint with it. This significantly compromised its pristine appearance, and preliminary observations suggested that restoration using traditional consolidation, retouching and varnishing techniques was highly unlikely to be successful. Initial contact with the artist led to negotiation with the original fabricator's studio. This highlighted the challenges involved in reinstating the badly damaged paint and resin using an approach that would still be acceptable within the code of ethics of the conservation profession, and the potential problems of sharing information with experts who are not conservators. Part painting, part sculpture and part furniture, the screen does not fall into the standard divisions of conservation practice. Its eventual treatment demanded collaboration between specialists in paintings, sculpture, lacquer work, and conservation science. The paper addresses three areas of importance to the conservation of contemporary art: the challenges of working as an interdisciplinary team to deal with complex (and sometimes conflicting) ethical approaches and material requirements; the difficulty in balancing the desire to preserve original materials with the need to produce a pristine result, and the importance of the artist's ratification of conservation to the market value of the work.     

Analysis and conservation of modern modeling materials found in Auguste Rodin's sculptures

Prior to the exhibition Portrait-making, Rodin and his models (2009), the Rodin museum wanted to restore two busts of Hanako and Clemenceau. Interestingly, these two sculptures contain pieces of modern modeling materials (MMMs) invented at the end of the nineteenth century as an alternative to clay or waxes. The poor state of conservation of the two portraits made any handling and exhibition impossible. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is twofold: to contribute to technical art history and conservation. Elemental and chemical analyses were done on samples from 12 sculptures (SEM–EDX, FTIR, GC–MS, GC–FID, XRD, synchrotron-based µXRF, µXANES, and µFTIR) aimed at identifying the composition of MMMs used by Rodin on plaster sculptures and establishing hypotheses about the origins of their degradation. This thorough study of their composition and degradation was necessary to implement an appropriate restoration plan. The development of conservation protocols adapted to such materials is rarely documented. Different tests were performed on mock-ups (pH, solubility, adhesion, consolidation, and cleaning). In particular, a protocol based on laser cleaning was developed and successfully applied to remove superficial dust and crusts so that the sculptures regained their original aspect.     

The Laboratory on 53rd Street: Victor D’Amico and the Museum of Modern Art, 1937–1969

Abstract This essay addresses the pioneering work of Victor D’Amico, the first director of education at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and an influential art educator. During his tenure at MoMA, D’Amico explored the role of museums in developing creativity through direct aesthetic experience and the larger social implications of art museum education. Victor D’Amico led the Education Project at MoMA, which began as a part‐time school partnership program in 1937. By the time he retired in 1969, he had become an internationally recognized leader in the field of art museum education. Yet today his influence is little known and seldom discussed. This essay focuses on two important programs he developed at MoMA: his most widely acclaimed and influential program, the Children’s Art Carnival (1942‐1969), and the groundbreaking art education television series Through the Enchanted Gate (1952‐1953).     

Museum Fever in France

In the 1980s, a wave of construction and renovation swept through the French museum world. It was driven by the need to renovate badly deteriorating museums and a growing awareness of the importance and potential of museums for tourism, economic dynamism, and local prestige. Until the early 1990s, a new museum opened every month, covering an impressive scale of subjects from art and archaeology to salt and combs. The French museum has witnessed many relatively sudden changes, some of them bringing French practice closer to American methods. But change is selective, and the French museum remains typically French. Recent developments are here evaluated in the dual context of the history of French museums and the ways in which they differ from the American style.     

Interpretation and the Role of the Viewer in Museums of Modern and Contemporary Art

Abstract What does the term “interpretation” mean when it's encountered in museums of modern and contemporary art — and is something missing? Studies conducted by the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the University of Leicester in England reveal that visitors want more information about art. In this article, interviews with the directors of the Phillips and the Walker (as well as other museum professionals and academics) examine interpretative practices today and suggest plans for tomorrow. When preparing future interpretive materials, the author advocates that museums expose visitors to the idea that they make their own meaning when viewing art.     

CHRISTIAN SACRED ART: A CONSERVATION CHALLENGE

Abstract

Christian sacred art is not only an artistic and aesthetic phenomenon, but can also be seen as a manifestation of the divine, the objects becoming a presence of what they represent. A substantial proportion of this kind of art remains dispersed in churches and ecclesiastic treasuries without any special provision for its care and much is still in ceremonial use, continuing to be handled and moved. Recording by inventory and transfer to museums are only recent developments. Portugal has developed various strategies for the preservation of these collections, including the creation of Diocesan Sacred Art Commissions, diocesan museum networks where small museums and museological treasuries are maintained separately but have a common technical staff, a Secure Church Programme and temporary exhibitions, which play a role in conservation, promotion and public awareness. Although not conventional conservation, these actions have helped us to keep the memory of the past alive and let us carry it into the future.     

Influence of Process Parameters on Chlorinated Biocide Decontamination by li-CO2 on Artificially Contaminated Model Materials

ABSTRACT

Previously, heavy use of biocides for the treatment of objects made of organic materials in museum collections (e.g. ethnographic, historical collections) was very common. Now suitable decontamination methods/technologies are being sought. A decontamination treatment by li-CO₂ was optimized that considered the specific requirements of museum objects. The treatment was tested on model materials artificially contaminated with biocide solutions containing dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), pentachlorophenol (PCP), lindane, and permethrin or cypermethrin. High decontamination was achieved for DDT, lindane, PCP, and permethrin on artificially biocide loaded wool and wood model materials. Optimal process parameter settings for li-CO₂ decontamination include a single 30?min cycle for woolen materials and three sequential 30?min cycles each for wood. These methods allow a reduction of at least 90% of all biocides for wool and between 70% and 85% for wood. Decontamination of the latter was more effective for less polar biocides as DDT and permethrin. Despite a significant improvement in decontamination for wood using co-solvents such as acetone, ethanol, and methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), their use is not recommended due to the increased risk of damage to the objects, in particular if a surface coating is present.     

The Artist Initiative at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

The Artist Initiative at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is piloting models for increased collaboration between conservators and curators through joint work with artists. We seek a more integrated, holistic approach to the care and research of our collection. The project, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, comprises five robust research engagements that serve the curatorial collecting departments of the museum (Photography, Painting and Sculpture, Media Art, and Architecture and Design). Three of the projects are monographic studies, examining the work of Ellsworth Kelly, Vija Celmins, and Julia Scher in depth, while two more are thematic, exploring modes of displaying digitally-driven design objects, and developing strategies for addressing the problem of color shift common to photographic prints made with experimental materials during the 1970s and 1980s. The Artist Initiative is also charged with developing hybrid working spaces to advance collaborative approaches to collections research at the museum's new downtown campus and at SFMOMA's new Collections Center in South San Francisco. These spaces include the Collections Workroom, a 56?sq?m (600?sq?ft) space that functions as a studio for visiting artists, a conservation laboratory, an interview suite, and a classroom at SFMOMA's downtown campus. At the Collections Center, a 121?sq?m (1300?sq?ft) Mock-Up Gallery has been built as a working model of one of the museum's new galleries. A functional exhibition space, the Mock-Up Gallery is also a venue for interviewing artists, prototyping exhibition formats, and meeting with students, scholars, museum staff, and community members. With the goal of contributing to critical discourses in contemporary art history, art conservation, and public engagement, each of the Artist Initiative projects includes a colloquium that will bring experts from multiple fields together with the featured artists. Thereafter we aim to share our findings widely through public programs and a range of publications, both digitally and in print.     

Conservation from conception: Commissioning an installation by Cai Guo-Qiang

Over a period of six years, the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art and Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang developed and realized the major art installation Heritage (2013). The artwork comprises 99 life-sized imitation animals congregating at a waterhole and covers 1104 m² of floor space. This paper reviews aspects of the commission, construction, and completion of Heritage – a very large-scale, technically complex contemporary installation. From commission to acquisition, the project was a highly collaborative undertaking and is an interesting example of unconventional conservation. This paper, written from curatorial and conservation perspectives, describes this cooperative endeavour.     

我国图情档学科关于文化信息数字资源整合的研究——以博物馆研究为视角

我国图情档学科认为博物馆是文化信息数字资源整合的主体之一。博物馆中以其展品为代表的文化信息资源对满足公众多样化的文化需求、增强中华文化竞争力起着重要作用。本文借助Citespace分析软件,通过对作者、机构、关键词可视化图谱的绘制,识别出我国图情档学科下以博物馆为主题词的科研文献成果概况、科研机构分布及研究热点词与其研究发展趋势。经分析得知,该学科下以博物馆为主题的研究可以分为两个阶段:第一阶段(1996-2008年)主要是博物馆文献资源的开发与利用、博物馆与图书馆文献资源的开发与利用、博物馆古籍保护管理工作以及古籍文献等主题。第二阶段(2009-2019年)主要探讨三馆馆际合作的资源整合路径、数字资源整合理论模式与合作机制等的研究,并结合相关文献内容,深入探讨以博物馆为主题的研究重点,基于此,我国图情档学科应以博物馆中丰富多样的文化信息资源为视角,开展涵盖档案馆、图书馆、博物馆的全种类、全范围的全文化信息数字资源整合。最后,本文围绕数字资源整合这一具有影响力的研究热点,探讨如何从图情档学科的角度出发,有效地涵盖博物馆,构建以图书馆、档案馆、博物馆三馆为主体的数字资源整合模式与机制,建立为公众文化精神需求服务的信息共享平台。     

Incident preparedness at the National Gallery: Developing a grab bag for rapid response to a corrosive attack

Abstract

Being prepared to address an attack on a painting requires considerable input from both scientific and conservation personnel. When tailoring an appropriate and effective incident response, a well-developed knowledge of the collection, the museum layout, and staffing is also essential. This article discusses the nature of attacks on paintings and the materials and techniques used to mitigate the effects of malicious damage. Previous research into response procedures and the testing of attack substances is also summarized. The primary focus of the article traces the redevelopment of the National Gallery incident response grab bag that caters to various types of attack. Discussions center on developing the customized content of the new bag, material testing, and a practice run-through to establish a response procedure. Ultimately, the practicality and efficacy of the grab bag are demonstrated.