Two new additions to the IMA’s renowned Pont-Aven School Collection are now on view in the Jane H. Fortune Gallery. The Corner Cabinet with Breton Scenes by Emile Bernard is a rare example of carved and painted wood furniture from the group of international artists that worked in the village of Pont Aven in Brittany in the 1880s and 1890s. The cabinet was purchased from the collection of Samuel Josefowitz, the distinguished collector who is generously giving the museum the other new work of art on view in the gallery, a preparatory drawing for the cabinet that allows us to see Bernard’s design process at work.

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Filed under: Art

The other day I was asked what I like most about my job. This is an easy question for me to answer, and likely just as easy for any serious art conservator or other museum professional.

Simply put, what I like most about my job is that I get to look at works of art. I probably spend more time looking in one week than most people do in a whole year. When I’m looking, I always start with trying to figure out from what and how a work is made. For me, these are the most interesting questions to investigate. If you can’t put together at least some rough answers, then you really can’t make any further assumptions (art historical or otherwise), and you’re certainly not going to be in a good position to make good conservation decisions.

I rarely ever get to the question of whether or not I like an artwork; in conservation, answering that question doesn’t really get me anywhere.

This week I’ve had the exceptional opportunity to look at a rare corner cabinet with carvings by Emile Bernard. This cabinet is one of only four known examples produced by the Pont-Aven School (one is at the Norton Simon, one is at the AIC, and the other in Paris). It made quite a big splash when we acquired it this year.

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Filed under: Art, Conservation, Technology

Richard getting ready to crush it to left

This year, with Jim Walker’s help from the Big Car Gallery, we resurrected the Indy Cultural Softball League.  We’re fortunate to play on a handsome stretch of grass just behind the Garfield Park Arts Center, and have the park’s historic 1903 pagoda as a backdrop.

League Logo designed by Joel Dale

The teams in the league are:
The Indianapolis Museum of Art
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
Herron School of Art & Design
Big Car Gallery
And this other team, from this other museum here in Indianapolis. What’s their name? I always forget… oh, yeah, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Our softball nemesis!  The Newman to our Seinfeld.

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Filed under: Current Events, Local, Musings

This summer I am fortunate to have two dedicated and hard-working interns working with me to help take care of the IMA’s many outdoor sculptures.  Here is a post by Jessica Ford and Katherine Langdon discussing their experiences treating the Sewall Memorial Torches which are on loan to Herron High School. Katherine and Jessica take their work very seriously and are pursuing careers in conservation.

Historic photograph of Sewall Memorial Torches

“Hey, I have a new project for you guys,” Richard greeted us as we came into the conservation lab one morning. “The museum owns a pair of bronze lampposts that have just been loaned to Herron High School and installed at their original location at 16^th and Deleware. The school is really excited to have them back. Since they are IMA property, we are responsible for taking care of them. That’ll be our job, so start researching bronze. Chop, chop!”

Thus began our first adventure into the world of outdoor bronze treatment and our blossoming knowledge of the subject. Our research fell into two categories: the history of the Sewall torches themselves, and the characteristics and treatment of outdoor bronze sculpture. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Conservation, Guest Bloggers, Local

I wasn’t able to attend the American Institute for Conservation’s (AIC) Annual Meeting last month in Milwaukee.  However, thanks to ArtBabble, today I’m able to watch one of the more potent discussions: The Plus/Minus Dilemma: The Way Forward in Environmental, which was co-sponsored by International Institute for Conservation (IIC).

This discussion, which was moderated by our Director & CEO, was recently summarized in an article in the Art Newspaper, Climate control: time to change the settings.

I also want to point out what a great job AIC and IIC have been doing with their blogs to let members know about conferences and current news.  Check out the AIC blog and read all of the recent posts about the Annual Meeting.  While there’s no substitute for actually going to a meeting, the amount of information the members of AIC are sharing through the blog is impressive. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Art, Conservation, Current Events, Travel