The second day’s itinerary was briefly delayed by a government strike, although late start was greeted thankfully by many of us. When the 1.5 hour strike concluded, we travelled to the Centre de Conservation du Quebec (CCQ), a government-sponsored institution that provides conservation services and advise to organizations across the province of Quebec. The facility services the national museums of Quebec, the National Library and Archives of Quebec, and the Ministry of Culture and Communications among other museums and archives. The CCQ is one of the largest conservation centers in North America and employs over 30 conservation professionals specializing in furniture, sculpture, paper, textiles, painting, photographs, archeology and ethnology, metal, stone, and wood. The center also conducts research related to conservation and art materials, documents museum objects, and publishes frequently in French and occasionally in English. Numerous publications are available on the CCQ website on the “centre de ressources” page under the the publications tab: http://www.ccq.gouv.qc.ca/
The director of the CCQ warmly welcomed us, after which the labs were free for us to explore in an open house format. The majority of CCQ conservators spoke excellent English, and we were able to discuss their current projects and discover the facilities at our own pace. From frames and sculptures to musical instruments and religious artefacts, the items undergoing conservation at the CCQ spanned hundreds of years of creativity and presented a wide range of complex treatment concerns. Staff from each specialty expressed how rewarding it is to work alongside and collaborate with such a large team of conservators and how helpful that can be while tackling difficult and complex problems.
One such collaboration on display at the CCQ resonated with the conference theme, Emergency! Preparing for Disasters and Confronting the Unexpected in Conservation. A recent fire at a museum collection was quickly extinguished by firefighters. While the emergency responders were well prepared and managed to drape the majority of the collection with plastic sheets, a few archeological and ethnographic objects were severely water damaged. Conservators at the CCQ’s textiles lab and archeology and ethnography lab worked together to slowly dry and stabilize the objects before performing exquisite treatments to bring the objects back to life.
Apart from the labs, the CCQ invited us to their rooftop to see three current research projects that explore the durability of various materials in the highly variable climate in Quebec City. One test is investigating the effectiveness of various paints and coatings on cedar shingles, another is testing the effectiveness of several varnishes as anti-graffiti coatings for use on outdoor acrylic murals, and the third is looking at the performance of several mortar recipes for use with limestone masonry. The CCQ is very passionate about finding answers to pressing conservation questions and sharing their findings with those individuals and institutions, especially those who may not have the resources to conduct equally technical studies.
After our tour of the spacious facilities, we enjoyed lunch with the conservators at CCQ. With the warm conversations, an invitation to a conservator’s classical music performance that evening, and a lively infant who joined us, the room where we dined was full of a familial spirit. Though we could have spent the entire day at the CCQ, we gathered for a group photo and departed for the Musée de la Civilization. A special thanks to Michael O’Malley for arranging the group visit to the CCQ.
The Museum of Civilization is located in Quebec atop an historic waterfront which gradually expanded through rubble and earth in-fill over the past centuries. The museum’s design by Moshe Safdie dates from 1988, his first building in the province of Quebec since his Habitat 67. We had a guided tour of two exhibitions that highlight many of the museums inititatives. The first, This is Our Story, walks visitors through Inuit and first nations’ histories and contemporary experiences while posing questions about the future of over 90,000 individuals from eleven Aboriginal nations currently living in Quebec. The second, Lifelines, features indigenous contemporary art from Australia that grows out of a dynamic range of political, cultural, and aesthetic ambitions. A special thanks to Annie Beauregard for arranging the visit to the Museum of Civilization and the two Friday tours.
We met David Mendel at the museum after visiting the exhibits and set out for a walking tour of the lower town. The urban fabric of Quebec City cascades over the extreme topography near the banks of the St. Lawrence, creating a series of stepped town squares and magnificently composed views of cobblestone streets. David brought drawings from the 17th and 18th century that highlighted the dramatic changes that the lower town has seen over the years. With his deep involvement in the architectural preservation of the city, David also shared some of the political conversations and decisions that resulted in the cities current approach to restoration. The city has opted to preserve as much history as possible without choosing to build new structures in a historical style, which many were worried might produce an inflated sense of architectural heritage.
The tour terminated at the Musée de la Place Royale, a building that succinctly embodies the city’s attitude toward preservation: historic walls remain preserved while a series of architecture modifications in explicitly contemporary materials allow the building to be simultaneously historic and new. We enjoyed a reception at the museum with refreshments, hors d’oeuvres, and wonderful views of the quaint square and church adjacent to the museum. After the reception, several of us ventured back into lower town in search of a regional dessert called beaver tail. After meandering through the twisty streets, a large beaver carved in wood led the way; we found our fried dough with cinnamon and sugar, and found the confection especially delicious with a squeeze of lemon!
Tag: AIC’s 44th Annual Meeting
AIC Quebec City Trip Travelog Part 1
After the magnificent whirlwind of the joint AIC, CAC-ACCR meeting, over twenty conference-goers and guests set out on an early bus towards Quebec City. As the Montreal skyline receded behind us, we caught glimpses of two groundbreaking works of architecture from the 1967 World’s Fair: Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 erupting as a brutalist landscape in the distance and Buckminster Fuller’s Montreal Biosphere, a futuristic pavilion encapsulated in a striking geodesic dome framework. The landscape quickly dissolved into forests and farmland, and we travelers began to get to know each other and share our conference experiences. One of the many pleasures of attending the post-trip was hearing fresh, first-hand accounts of the tips, breakout sessions, and lessons gathered by others at the meeting.
Our conversations on the bus revealed the great variety of experiences among the group: from emerging conservators to spouses and seasoned conservation professionals, we came from diverse backgrounds and represented Australia, Canada, Portugal, and US locations from the east coast to California and Hawaii. The dynamic mix would be a great asset as we explored the history, culture, and collections of Quebec City together.
As we approached the city over the St. Lawrence River, our bus driver pointed out the storied Quebec Bridge and informed us that the name of the city derived from an Algonquin word that means “where the river narrows.” This etymology is a point of pride for Quebec City inhabitants and was affectionately recounted by several others over the following days.
Upon arrival, we had a few moments to settle into our regal accommodations at the Chateau Frotenac before gathering for lunch and a lesson in Quebec City’s history led by David Mendel. David is a walking encyclopedia of the region, and his enthusiasm for the history, architecture, and culture of Quebec City was infectious. He shared the origins of the city, outlined military and trade history, and explained the national and international role that the city has played across time. David is such a talented raconteur that he makes Quebec City appear to be the center of all North American history, if not the whole world.
After our lesson, David led us on a brief bus trip across the Plains of Abraham, site of an historic battle during the French and Indian War during which British soldiers took control of the city from the French. The battlefields are also home to the Quebec Citadelle, the strategic architectural forefront of the city’s ramparts. This series of defensive structures make Quebec City the only fortified city in the US or Canada, a fact that helped the city gain UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1985. After our bus tour, David led the group by foot across the charming, winding streets of Old Quebec. We stopped in several magnificently gilded churches, learned about historic building methods, and saw an especially breathtaking collection of tapestries at the Museum of the Ursulines of Quebec.
After some restful free time, we indulged in a spectacular feast at Le Saint-Amour. A well-decorated restaurant, Le Saint-Amour prides itself on highlighting local products in traditional, regional dishes updated with innovative and contemporary culinary techniques. The company was as delightful as the food, and it was an ideal way to wrap up our first day in Quebec City.
AIC 44th Annual Meeting – Paintings Session, May 15, “The Painting Materials and Techniques of J.E.H. MacDonald: Oil Sketches from 1909-1922” presented by Kate Helwig, Senior Conservation Scientist at CCI, and Alison Douglas, Conservator at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Conservation scientists at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) continue to examine artists’ works and contribute each year to the growing database of information on Canadian artists’ working methods and materials.
One of their latest projects is the characterization of the materials used by painter J.E.H. MacDonald (1873-1932). The study looks at the supports, grounds and paint formulations MacDonald used during the period 1909-1922. This study compliments an important retrospective of the artist’s work planned for 2018 at the McMichael Collection of Canadian Art.
MacDonald was a founding member of the famed cohort of Canadian landscape painters known as the Group of Seven, and was closely associated with the celebrated painters, Lawren Harris and Tom Thomson
In all, 32 works from Ontario museum collections were examined, comprising 11 oil paintings and 21 oil sketches. The goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the artist’s working methods and materials, and to assemble some reference data to help attribute works of uncertain date or origin. This particular presentation focused on observations and results from 13 of these works.
Throughout the period under study, MacDonald used a variety of rigid painting supports, including fiberboard, pulpboard, laminated pulpboard, and thin bookbinder’s board, which may have been his preferred support.
The study reveals that there was a shift in the size of the support he favoured through this period. Early works before 1914 were varied in size, often small, less than 7 x 9 inches. Through the years 1914-1917, he often chose a standard 8 x 10 inch format, and after 1918 he chose a slightly larger size, 8.5 x 10.5 inches, which was also the size favoured by his friend Tom Thomson, who died mysteriously in 1917.
This change in size of the support was also paralleled by a gradual change in his preparatory layers and painting technique. A variety of materials were found in the grounds of his early works. Sometimes he employed coloured double grounds. After 1918, he abandoned traditional grounds, preferring simply to seal the board surfaces with shellac. It was noted that this layer could prove to be solvent-sensitive during future varnish removal operations.
There was a gradual shift in his painting technique as well: his palette changed from muted colours, layered wet into wet, to a bolder paint application. By 1918 in his Algoma paintings, the brushstrokes are more confident and vigorous, often applied using complimentary-coloured paint strokes. An interesting feature of these works is the fact he often left the support or underlayers visible at the edges of his brushstrokes. Bold outlines of oil paint underdrawing are also sometimes seen through the brush strokes of the upper layers of paint.
Paint pigments and fillers were also characterized for the paintings and sketches studied. MacDonald’s paints were generally complex mixtures made of multiple colours, composed of 2 or 3 main colours, adjusted by the presence of small amounts of 2 or 3 more colours. A distinguishing element of his favoured palette include a characteristic mixture of lead sulfate and zinc oxide for his whites – a mixture that was commonly used by Tom Thomson and members of the Group of Seven. This particular white is likely the new “Flake White” paint manufactured by the renowned British colourmen, Madderton & Co. (founded by A.P. Laurie) used for its Cambridge Colours paints that were sold worldwide in the first three decades of the 20th century. Viridian was the only truly green pigment the artist used, while various blues and yellows were also combined to make other shades of green. Yellows, blacks, reds and blues were also characterized. Of interest is the bright yellow paint, likely a Winsor and Newton tube paint, since it contained chrome yellow and a magnesium carbonate filler, materials not found together in the Cambridge paints line.
The publication of this information on MacDonald’s materials will be a welcome contribution to the advancement of our knowledge of the artist’s working methods. This information will also be essential as scientists begin to examine and ponder the materials used in a controversial group of small oil sketches that were purportedly buried for decades on the artist’s estate, before they finally entered (in recent months) the collection of a major Canadian institution. Tip of the iceberg indeed…
44th Annual Meeting—Book & Paper Session, May 15, “The Challenge of Scale: Treatment of 160 Illuminated Manuscripts for Exhibition,” Debora D. Mayer and Alan Puglia
With a team of 25 conservators, technicians, and interns, the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard University is responsible for 73 individual repositories. A large-scale preservation program is essential to care for the vast amount of material in their collections, and Debora Mayer began her talk by commenting on the shifting attitudes in conservation to large collections. As the title of her talk had been changed last minute and large-scale treatment of collections is often associated with terms such as “business plans” and “time management” in my mind, I was expecting to hear a talk about compromises, budgets, and efficient treatment alternatives. Talks about these subjects are often impressive in demonstrating how much work can get done in a limited time, but can sometimes be a little sombre as they often remind us how often conservators don’t have the time to do everything we want. Debora’s talk was therefore uplifting and inspiring in describing how her team avoided burnout by working together to complete large amounts of high quality work within a reasonable time frame.
Treatment for over 160 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts with varying issues concerning structure and media stability had to be carried out within a two-year timeframe in preparation for a loan to a multi-venue exhibition. Since visual identification of unstable media using a microscope was insufficient (media that appeared unstable could actually be stable and vice versa), the team at the Weissman Preservation Center concluded that testing had to be done individually. Within the timeframe, it was not feasible to carry out an extensive study of all objects or to consolidate every illuminated leaf; only the ten leaves on either side of the display opening and the first leaf, often handled, would be tested and treatment carried out if necessary. Even so, this meant a staggering 57,000 cm2 of illuminations requiring consolidation. Based on previous treatments, it would take a conservator two to three minutes consolidating every cm2, but Debora pointed out that it was also important to remember the extra time required for handling or treating large items, housing needs, packing, documentation, etc. during time estimates for treatments. A 5,000-hour time estimate was drawn up, with 2,800 hours expected for consolidation. This was equivalent to three conservators working full time on the project for two years. I shuddered trying to imagine being one of three conservators tasked with the responsibility of this enormous project.
To reduce the work-fatigue that three conservators working on the project full time would inevitably experience, ten conservators worked halftime on the project over the two years, using excel spreadsheets to plan and keep track of workflow. With the amount of people working on the project, it was important to maintain uniformity in treatment procedures and judgment. All conservators followed the same protocols (e.g. using the same magnification or tools) to give the appearance that a single person treated the collection. For quality control, one conservator carried out treatment while another assessed to ensure the media was stable and that there was no visual change. Debora explained how the quality of treatment increased when multiple conservators could agree with a procedure and work together to set standards.
I really admired Debora’s emphasis on teamwork and communication—being open minded, ready for sharing observations and extensive discussions, and letting go of egos. Her talk was encouraging, showing that it is possible to get such a large amount of work done within a short timeframe while maintaining positivity and enthusiasm.
44th Annual AIC Meeting – Track A: Confronting the Unexpected, May 16, "Preservation of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Collection: Protecting Art at Risk" by Barbara Heller
Here was a distinctly man-made disaster of epic proportions. Director and Conservator, Special Projects, Barbara Heller’s past experience had included work on 1966 Florence flood-damaged books and paintings and she was a responder for the DIA’s emergency team, yet no amount of disaster mitigation had prepared her for the stress and uncertainty of bankruptcy. At the risk of oversimplification, the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts’ collection was put at risk of being sold when the city of Detroit declared Chapter 9 in July, 2013.
The DIA collection, one of the largest in the country, includes iconic works by Bellini, Breugel, Frans Hals and Diego Rivera to name a few. Incorporated as a private nonprofit “Founders Society” in 1885, the DIA had moved from the private sector to a city-owned entity in 1919, with a new building dedicated to the people of Detroit. Now the City’s creditors believed the artwork should be sold against municipal debts. The DIA maintained that it held the collection in trust for the public and that it was not for sale.
Christie’s was contracted to appraise the entire collection over a period of four months. Museum staff had to oversee the evaluators while they examined the collection in three phases. Collections management set up a designated examination room in an effort to limit access to museum storage.
Barbara was asked to conduct research, both for the evaluators and the DIA’s lawyers. Her talk emphasized the importance of maintaining access to original collection files, including registration, donor/dealer, curatorial and conservation reports. Barbara’s search revealed critical discrepancies between the museum’s digital database and the original files. For example, several early acquisitions including a Van Gogh and Matisse were listed as city donations in the digital database. Original minutes from early meetings revealed the works had been purchased by private donors and transferred to the City.
A “Grand Bargain” was eventually struck which became the City’s plan to exit bankruptcy, fund pensions and prevent the sale of DIA’s artwork. The Court found that selling the DIA’s collection would be to “forfeit Detroit’s identity.” Not quite out of the woods yet, the DIA had to raise 100 million dollars as part of the deal. Happily, a key piece of the fundraising was a 26 million dollar gift from the Ford Foundation. As of 2015, the DIA once again became a nonprofit corporation aka Founders Society Detroit Institute of Arts. As etched on the marble facade in the late 1920’s, the collection remains “Dedicated by the People of Detroit to the Knowledge and Enjoyment of Art.”
44th Annual Meeting, Book and Paper Session, May 15th, "Treatment of a Terrestrial Cary Globe by Joanna P. McMann"
Joanna P. McMann presented the conservation treatment of a terrestrial globe from 1835 made by John and William Cary in London (UK). She, Janet Mason, and Sherry Guild completed the treatment as well as the treatment of its partner celestial globe at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) over two years ending in 2013.
The terrestrial globe required treatment due to a fall out of a window. To quote from the abstract of this talk: “Impact upon landing forced the central pillar of the globe to move, pushing the sphere out at the North Pole and pulling it in at the South Pole. Extensive cracking, with losses of paper and plaster at both poles, had been repaired prior to the mid 1970’s with a generous application of polyvinyl acetate adhesive. An area of plaster loss, where the papier mâché foundation was indented, had been filled with a thick plaster.”
The damage meant that the globe was no longer spherical and could not rotate on its axis and the brass Meridian ring was distorted. Each hemisphere of the globe is covered in 18 half-split gores. Each of these gores is comprised of 20 degrees of longitude. Bodies of water were hand colored and the landmasses were either fully or partially colored. The globe was coated with a colophony varnish, which had discolored and become brittle over time.
One of the first steps in the treatment was figuring out how to support the globe. This was done by creating a stand made of a beanbag chair insert placed inside a ring to create a ‘nest’ that was then covered in polyester film. Once this problem was resolved the next tackled was how to remove the varnish. It was soluble in both ethanol and acetone, however these were not used due to concerns of staining the paper gores. Instead mechanical removal under stereomicroscopes was undertaken with ethanol and acetone used sparingly. This setup allowed up to four conservators to work on the globe at once!
Next the plaster repair was removed to inspect damage to the papier mâché. Then a small hole was cut in the papier mâché to insert a small camera into the globe and make sure there was not more structural damage hiding. This examination found the wooden support rod and the rest of the papier mâché to be in good condition. It also allowed the conservators to discover that the papier mâché globe was made of waste sheets of printed paper.
The next step was to examine the paper gores. Raman spectroscopy and a portable XRF were used to determine the chemical makeup of the colors. The brown color on the landmasses was found to contain copper. Following this a 5% Gellan gum was used to clean certain areas of the globe and to remove soluble copper II ions. Only certain areas were cleaned because the Gellan gum was found to remove colors in some areas.
The repairs at both Poles required the gores to be lifted and supported with pieces of wove paper before being rolled back out of the way. Polyester film was used as a barrier layer to protect the gores during the plaster repairs. The film was adhered to the gores using methylcellulose. Rhoplex W24 was used to repair cracks in the plaster and they found that Jade 403 had enough bulk to fill small losses. Flugger was chosen after testing to be used for the larger plaster fills. Once these steps were completed the gores were put back in place and repaired where needed. At the North Pole losses were filled with digitally printed fills made of Griffin Mill paper. The infills were sized with a 1.5% B type gelatin.
Next the entire globe was sized with five coats of a 2.5% gelatin in order to achieve the correct look after varnishing. There were six resins tested as potential varnishes: UVS (Regalrez 1094), Regalrez 1126, MS2A, Golden MSA, Soluvar, Paraloid B-72. In the end Paraloid B-72 in toluene was chosen and 10 coats were applied via sprayer.
Finally, when the globe was reconstructed the Meridian ring had to be flipped due to the distortion left from the fall out the window.
This was a very insightful talk into a vast and complex treatment of an interesting object. One thing I could not convey in my post without it becoming overly long was the amount of thought and testing of different options that went into every decision made in regards to this treatment.
44th Annual Meeting – Book and Paper Session, May 15th, "The Rationale for Rebinding at the Pierpont Morgan Library in the Early Twentieth Century: A Case Study by Saira Haqqi"
I was very excited for Saira Haqqi’s talk about rebinding at the Pierpont Morgan Library when I first saw the 2016 AIC Conference Program. Most of my scholarly interests lie in book history and early binding structures. Inevitably this means coming across manuscripts and incunabula that have been rebound.
This talk focused specifically on the early 20th century rebinding of the Morgan’s collection by Marguerite Duprez Lahey. Marguerite was the first binder contracted by Pierpont Morgan to rebind some of his ever-growing collection. Her appointment was a departure from past practices. Until the early 1900’s most bookbinding in the United States was carried out by immigrant binders. For example, the Grolier Club in New York City brought in binders from France when needed. But the Arts and Crafts movement led to the aristocracy taking up bookbinding as a hobby. Many who did so were women. This was how Marguerite entered the field. Originally she took up bookbinding as a hobby, studying with binders in New York and Paris but not as a formal apprentice.
She quickly came to be regarded as one of the preeminent binders of the day in America and began working for Morgan in 1908 and continued to work for him and later the library until her death in 1958. During her career she rebound over 400 books for the Morgan Library as well as working with other collectors. Her own personal style favored sewing books on cord as a tightback with a French double endband (common for the time period) and with limited board decoration, though a healthy amount of spine decoration. Her tooling was something she was particularly proud of—she made sure to mention it in every interview she gave. Marguerite was also very particular about the leather she used in her bindings, which lead to high quality goatskin being used frequently.
Conservation as the field we know today was in its infancy during Marguerite’s lifetime and the modern field of book conservation did not exist at all (most agree book conservation as it is known today began with the response to the Florence flood in 1966). Therefore, there are almost no records of what type of binding books had before being rebound and the records that do exist are mainly Marguerite’s notes about payments received and what work was done. These records tend to read as “X amount of money received, two volumes rebound in goat”, which is not overly helpful when trying to piece back together the history of these objects.
As a result many things were done that today would not be considered in a conservation lab. The tightback structure was regarded as a very strong structure—something Morgan wanted his books to have. Saira points out that there are many conservation issues with tightback structures. This has led to many modern conservation concerns with Marguerite’s bindings. These include books not opening well—especially those with parchment textblocks, flaking of pigments on illuminations, and the joints failing. These issues are not solely Marguerite’s fault.
Pierpont Morgan, Jack Morgan (his son), and Bella da Costa Greene (first librarian and director of the Morgan Library) all had input into the designs of bindings and had very particular thoughts about how books should look without any knowledge about the structure of books. Book collecting during this time period was viewed as collecting art objects and functionality was not considered. Bindings were only considered interesting if they were pretty or had belonged to someone important. And many of design changes can probably be attributed to Morgan’s changing tastes over time.
Marguerite did her best to please her clients and did so while conforming to the standards of the time in her work. As many of us still do with treatments she had to balance practical concerns with aesthetic preferences. It is also likely that many of the books she rebound were purchased by Morgan rebound (though there is not direct evidence of this in her records) and as such makes her own rebinding less problematic. Still in the recent past some of her rebindings have again been rebound due to the conservation concerns mentioned above. However, this does not change that she was regarded as the best American binder of her day and her bindings are still sought after by collectors.
Saira did an exemplary job exploring the use of rebinding at the Morgan Library early on in its history and presenting it at AIC. She has helped shed light on how these decisions were made and explored Marguerite Duprez Lahey’s role in executing these treatments.
AIC 44th Annual Meeting, Book and Paper Session, May 17th, 2016: Post-flood Development of Mass Treatments at the National Library of Florence: The Roots of Library Conservation
Sheila Waters is the widow of Peter Waters, former Conservation Officer and Chief of the Conservation Division at the Library of Congress, and as such she became intimately connected with the conservation world, and more specifically that of library conservation. Ms. Waters’ talk at AIC’s 44th Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, focused on describing how the profession of book conservation originated in the mud of Florence, where the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firence (BNCF) had been inundated by the flood waters of the Arno River in November 1966.
In November 1966 the Arno River, which runs through the heart of Florence, burst its banks and flooded the BNCF. Books had been stored in the basement in 1944 during World War II and had not been removed. Peter, having a reputation for being an innovative binder after collaborating with Roger Powell on the Book of Kells, was contacted by the British Library’s Howard Nixon, who had been contacted by the director of the BNCF, Dr. Emanuel Casamassima. Told to take two other colleagues and depart for Florence immediately, Peter Waters chose Tony Cains and Dorothy Cumpstey to be his seconds and set up a staging area at the Forte Belvedere for the damaged books. Below on the map, the location of the BNCF and of Forte Belvedere are circled. The Forte is quite a bit higher in elevation, which explains why it was chosen as an initial staging location.
When Peter arrived in Florence, students were still removing muddy and damaged books from the BNCF. At the Forte, he witnessed the extent of the damage: vellum pages had rotted, and the books were defaced with mud and sawdust. Limp vellum bindings had withstood the onslaught of the flood the best, however, an observation that would have a profound impact on conservation.
Tony Cain and Chris Clarkson took over salvage at the Forte, while Don Etherington took over at the BNCF, where Peter decided to stage future cleaning and triage efforts.
Sheila, an accomplished calligrapher and designer, helped Peter develop a triage “card” in both English and Italian that would help those involved in the recovery effort decide what to do. If a book was labeled “Okay,” for example, it could be handled by a student, but a “STOP” sign indicated that it needed treatment by a specialist.
Benches were installed in the main reading room of the BNCF where books were mended and bound by as many as 30 workers at one time. Starting in September 1967, smaller books began to be rebound in limp vellum, as this binding style was found to be long-lasting, fairly quick to make, and strong. The workers at the BNCF and the Forte cleaned, deacidified, and resized the paper; took pH measurements; and performed on-the-spot chemical analysis when necessary. Heat-set tissue was derived as a means for mending torn paper. As the years went by and the damaged volumes were treated and rebound, the conservation space at the BNCF was moved downstairs into the basement of the library, and the number of staff grew smaller. Today there are only a few employees, compared to the 30 employed there immediately after the flood.
Peter Waters was called to help Florence in a time of crisis in November 1966, but it is clear 50 years later, in 2016, that the innovations and procedures that he and his team implemented during the response to the Florence Flood have formed the structure of many basic tenets of library conservation.
Sheila’s talk was a condensed version of her book “Waters Rising: Letters from Florence,” published by The Legacy Press, which contains the letters that the spouses exchanged with one another while Peter was in Florence. Julian Waters, one of Sheila and Peter’s sons, accompanied his mother on the podium and read excerpts of Peter’s letters to Sheila since “he sounds like his father.”
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the flood, there will be a symposium at the University of Michigan on November 3-4, 2016. Attendance is free, but registration is required.
See below for a few links regarding the Florence Flood.
Peter Waters Obituary, NYTimes 2003
30 Years After the Flood, NYTimes 1997
44th Annual Meeting- Joint Photographic Materials + Research and Technical Studies Session- Surface Roughness, Appearance and Identification of AGFA-Gevaert Photograph Samples- by Dr. W. Wei and Sanneke Stigter
Having encountered some very bizarre textures in matte Gevaluxe prints during a National Portrait Gallery internship several years ago, I was eager to learn more about the characterization of these interesting papers. The popular Gevaluxe papers (made by Belgian company Gevaert) often had a velvety matte appearance that was desired by many mid-twentieth century photographers.
This project was inspired by a concern that the increasing reliance of museums on digital surrogates for original photographs might not capture all of the original properties of the photograph. Even where a traditional silver-gelatin or chromogenic photograph has been used as a surrogate, the textured surface of the replacement paper might not match the original. The work Hoe Hoeker Hoe Platter by Dutch artist Ger Van Elk was used as an example of a mixed media photographic work where texture played an important role in conservation decisions. Texture can influence the perception of color, so it was important to characterize the essential properties of the paper’s texture.
Paul Messier’s research was considered an important first step, but Bill Wei’s research team in the Netherlands sought to leverage some of the technology from other industries where surface texture and roughness are systematically quantified (such as the auto industry). First, Wei gave an overview of some of the techniques employed in texture measurement: polynomial texture mapping and confocal white light profilometry. In this project, confocal white light profilometry was used to create a non-contact contour map with a resolution of 60 nanometers. Gloss measurements were also used; on a matte surface the difference between incident and reflected light is the light scattered, so the glossiness (or lack thereof) can be quantified.
The study compared human perception with quantitative texture measurements in observations of textured paper and their apparent roughness or smoothness. An Agfa-Gevaert sample book from the 1970’s served as the source material. Only three of the samples were color papers, so they were more difficult to evaluate. The 25 samples were categorized into 5 groups. Some of the groups had a “macro” texture of waviness, versus a “micro” texture of roughness on a much smaller scale. Group 1 was smooth. Group 2 papers had a very fine texture. Papers assigned to Group 3 displayed the fine texturing in the Group 2 papers, combined with a large-scale waviness. Group 4 exhibited the waviness of Group 3, without the fine texture. Group 5, which included some of the color papers, was comprised of a very regular pattern of raised circular nubs or dots. For anyone who has a lot of family photos from the 1970’s, that dot texture will seem quite familiar.
The research is ongoing, so the presenter mentioned some preliminary observations, without drawing any conclusions. There was not a direct relationship between roughness and gloss. For example, samples from Groups 4 and 5 were just behind group 1 in gloss. The human observers demonstrated that their perceptions of smoothness did not always correlate with the quantitative measurements, especially for some papers in Group 2. It will be interesting to hear the follow-up results as the research team continues the project.
44th Annual Meeting – Emergency Session, May 16, “Lighting a Fire: Initiating an Emergency Management Program,” by Rebecca Fifield
Instituting an emergency management program at your organization is hard. I don’t think anyone would ever argue that. And it’s not just about a written emergency plan. While this is a great place to start, and certainly integral to a complete program, it doesn’t inspire and excite. It doesn’t create an emergency preparedness culture. Rebecca Fifield, a Preservation Consultant and owner of Rebecca Fifield Preservation Services, spoke about several ways to ignite a planning effort and maintain momentum when starting an emergency management program at your institution.
First, create a vision. Don’t just update your phone tree. Get a budget line, meet with your local community, and set up training exercises. Asking for a premium plan built on best practices creates the greatest impact and helps staff get behind the change.
Next, refine and strengthen that vision by creating relationships with allies. Allies can make your project stronger by challenging assumptions, informing the project with their industry expertise, and using their connections to develop momentum around your idea. But how do we identify these allies? Are they our supervisors? Yes! If they haven’t considered it before now, educate your supervisor about how risk management and emergency preparedness go hand-in-hand and how they both are part of our professional responsibility. (See Marie Malaro’s A Legal Primer for Managing Museum Collections). Are our allies Conservators, Registrars, Collections Managers, Security, Facilities Managers, Curators, Educators, IT staff, Human Resources, Communications, and Development? YES TO ALL! Emergency preparedness efforts can often be attached to efforts such as the institutional audit process, health and safety initiatives, construction, or large-scale conservation projects. Start a talking campaign. Remember that a disaster effects every staff member, so it only makes sense to have them as part of your web of allies.
Set a time-sensitive goal. Put a time frame on preparedness to create a challenge, because it can be easy to keep putting off planning. Pose questions that reveal preparedness needs for specific institutional goals: Could there be a potential protest related to an upcoming exhibition? Will you be effected by the upcoming hurricane season? Are you in a region that often deals with large amounts of snow? Look at your historical record. Has your organization suffered a past emergency, and what was the impact on people and collections? Are you dealing with aging infrastructure? Survey your staff. Does everyone know their role in an emergency? These aren’t meant to be scare tactics. This is to make sure that the decision-makers at your institution are well-informed.
Connect with other institutions and your community. Reach out to similar organizations to your own and find out who’s on their planning team and their responsibilities. Take this time to establish an informational exchange. Meet other emergency managers in your region. Get involved with professional organizations such as Alliance for Response, as well as regional responders like the Virginia Association of Museum’s Emergency Response Teams and your local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Encourage involvement from staff by having some of these organizations come to you for a talk or training exercises.
Be resilient in the face of negativity. We are all very busy and you may receive some push-back from management and staff. Use emergency management as an opportunity for situational leadership, which allows you to display your ability to lead for the future. It hones your persuasion skills, creates ties with operations and administration colleagues, and provides you with a ready opportunity for development that your current position may not provide. It may take months, and even years, to understand how your institution will function in an emergency, the decisions that will need to be made, and the conversations to confirm direction and readiness. Just remember, that time is as important as developing the plan itself.