Author: Rebecca Rushfield

The New York Times has reported (“Minaret on a Storied Syrian Mosque Falls“) that the 11th century Umayyad Mosque in the ancient walled city portion of Aleppo (Syria), a UNESCO World Heritage site, was badly damaged during fighting between insurgents and government forces. Despite UNESCO’s pleas that the integrity of heritage sites be respected, fighting has taken place near them for months. In a two-year long conflict during which tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced, is it unlikely that the combatants will be careful of buildings.

The April 21, 2013 issue of The New York Times featured yet another article about how bureaucratic inefficiency is leading to the total collapse of Pompeii (“The Latest Threat to Pompeii’s Treasures: Italy’s Red Tape“, by Rachel Donadio and Elisabetta Povoledo). This article was occasioned by the start of the Great Pompeii Project, a $137 million project undertaken by the European Union. And the article’s conclusion was the same as that of every other article– i.e., that without major changes in how Italy operates, nothing will be accomplished.

In advance of the May 1, 2013 opening of the Van Gogh Museum’s new exhibit, “Van Gogh at Work” which will present the findings of the eight year long study of Van Gogh’s studio practice, the Wall Street Journal (“New Clues From the Van Gogh Sleuths“, by J.S. Marcus, April 26, 2013) revealed some of the findings. Will one insight– that Van Gogh used various sizes of perspective frames to transfer what he saw to the canvas– disappoint those who think of him as a tortured romantic who painted without planning?

According to the April 12, 2013, issue of The Wall Street Journal (“MoMA Tear-Down”, by Jennifer Maloney) and other news sources, by the end of 2013 the Museum of Modern Art will demolish Tod Williams and Billie Tsien’s 2001 American Folk Art Museum building so that it can build an extension in that space. What should we think when an institution which champions modern architecture and its protection is about to destroy a unique example of it?

According to The New York Times (“Balance Restored, Shard by Shard”, by Randy Kennedy, March 26, 2013), after a little more than fifty years in storage, a shattered Attic pyxis from the Barnes Foundation collection has been restored and will return to view in Room 17 of the installation. Among the reasons for the long wait is that when the Barnes Foundation was in Merion, PA it did not have conservation facilities which could handle such projects. Now that the collection is in Philadelphia, there is a spacious laboratory and a plan to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the condition of all of the objects in the collection.

The AIC’s “not well known” Emergency Response Team was given the chance to become much better known when The New York Times published David Wallis’ article, “A SWAT Team for Waterlogged Artwork” in the Museums supplement of its March 21, 2013 issue. While focusing on the team’s work post-Hurricane Sandy, Wallis mentions its work in other crises including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and notes that the work is done by volunteers on the laughably small budget of $5,000 a year. Perhaps the article will not only make the team better known but will inspire people to donate money to aid its efforts.

All of us will acknowledge that over the centuries there have been restorers who applied their talents to work that was not completely legal. It is, however, frustrating to read in a short piece about the illegally acquired book collection of Count Guglielmo Libri (“A Count With Taste and Sticky Fingers“, by Eve M. Kahn, The New York Times, March 22, 2013) that “he hired restorers to scrub bindings and pages [of stolen books], removing telltale bookplates and stamps” without being provided with some details about this work to back the claim.

Joanne Lee Young’s “A Guardian of Rare, Exotic Fabrics” (Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2013) is a profile of Julia Brennan which discusses both her work designing mounts and cases for the display of textiles as well as her hands-on conservation projects. But why couldn’t Young get Brennan’s job title correct? She is a textile conservator, not a textile conservationist.

According to an article in the February 24, 2013 issue of The New York Times (“Buddhists, Reconstructing Sacred Tibetan Murals, Wield Their Brushes in Nepal”, by Edward Wong), the American Himalayan Foundation is financing a project to restore the art work in two of the main religious buildings in Lo Manthong, Nepal. While the Project Director is Luigi Fieni, an Italian conservator, it is thirty-five local residents who are doing the work which includes painting new images on sections of the walls from which the original images are missing. Scholars of Tibertan art assert that the new painting alters important historical murals and is jeopardizing scholarship, while people involved in the project argue that local worshippers want to have complete art works and not ruins in their temples. Whose belief should take precedence?

According to The New York Times article, “As One Renaissance Door Closes, Others Open” (by Elisabetta Povoledo, February 23, 2013), thirty years after it was begun the conservation of the rooms in the second floor apartment of the Pontifical Palace (Vatican City) decorated by Raphael has been completed. Many insights into Raphael’s working methods in fresco have come out of the project. Only Professor Arnold Nesselrath of the Vatican Museums was able to stay with the project for the duration. If more members of the original team had been part of the project for all thirty years would long term dedication and study have produced even more insights? Or, was it new team members bringing new outlooks and approaches which led to the important discoveries?