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"A Day in the Life" at The Conservation Center: Summer Edition

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"A Day in the Life" at The Conservation Center: Summer Edition

This year’s cool Chicago summer months flew by fast, but The Conservation Center has been brimming with activities. Our warehouse currently has a record-breaking 7,000 pieces currently in storage, waiting to be conserved--keeping our expert conservators challenged by exciting new projects that cross many disciplines. Our "A Day in the Life" photo essay  in January allowed readers a behind-the-scenes peek into The Conservation Center team at work. We’ve once again compiled a series of candid images, capturing a slice of daily life in our work space.

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Pure Michigan: Framing an 1836 John Farmer Map

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Pure Michigan: Framing an 1836 John Farmer Map

Sometimes an artwork is not merely an expression of the artist—rather, it is a legal document, or perhaps a blueprint, or even a map. At The Conservation Center, we enjoy coming across pieces that are not only beautiful, but also informative. This was just the case with a piece recently treated for Battle Creek-based private collector, Greg Allen. The said piece is by John Farmer (1798–1859), who is recognized for his cartography of early 19th century Michigan. What makes his maps so incredible is that they serve as primary sources of history for this region.

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Paper Conservation Anecdote: Prints by Henry Thomas Alken

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Paper Conservation Anecdote: Prints by Henry Thomas Alken

Hunting may be a fall sport—but art conservation is a year round activity. Whether he was drawing, etching, or painting his famous hunting scenes, Henry Thomas Alken (English, 1785–1851), judging by the amount of work he produced during his career, was always, like us, working. The Conservation Center is always thrilled to treat high quality works by artists such as Alken. Not only can we appreciate his skilled artistry, but we can also admire the humorous point of view through which he saw his subject matters.

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Paint It Mick, Andy: A Private Collector's Very First Acquisition

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Paint It Mick, Andy: A Private Collector's Very First Acquisition

Sometimes in life, a piece of artwork takes you by surprise and before you know it, you can’t live without it. Such is the case for Mark, a private contemporary art collector in Chicago, who is also a friend of The Conservation Center. Mark began collecting art in the early 1980’s while living in New York City. He recently brought his very first acquisition from “way back when” to The Center to be reframed—and the piece Mark brought us has such a heartfelt story behind it we couldn’t resist sharing.

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Expect the Unexpected: Recent Arrivals at The Conservation Center

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Expect the Unexpected: Recent Arrivals at The Conservation Center

On any given day, taking a walk through The Conservation Center’s 25,000 square foot facilities, with a 10,000 square foot storage space, is always quite an experience—because you’ll never know what kind of artworks and cultural objects you might encounter. Since our dedicated staff members are all art enthusiasts here at The Center, we love geeking out at the amazing items we work on every day. This spring, we have had the pleasure of either conserving or preserving some unexpected pieces. We’ve compiled a series of visual highlights documenting what makes The Conservation Center such a delightful place to work.   

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Before & After Stories

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Before & After Stories

These images speak for themselves! Check out some recent items to come through the doors of The Conservation Center, how they looked by the time they left, and the stories behind the artwork.

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The Conservation Center's Services During EXPO CHICAGO

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The Conservation Center's Services During EXPO CHICAGO

The Conservation Center is proud to announce we will once again be serving as the fine art conservators for EXPO CHICAGO 2013. Please mark your calendars for September 19th-22nd 2013 for The International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art in Chicago located at Navy Pier. 

Conservation of an Albrecht Dürer Print

Conservation of an Albrecht Dürer Print

A private collector brought this print to The Center several months ago. To a critical eye, the print was in poor condition: the sheet was soiled and distorted, and there were two tears that were barely visible except upon close inspection (see figs. 1-3). The tears required intricate repair work to realign the edges and provide necessary structural support to the compromised sheet, while keeping the repair as discreet as possible. After the piece was safely returned in its improved condition, the collector wrote the following testimonial for us to share:

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Corporate Collections and The Center

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Corporate Collections and The Center

Whether a corporation’s art collection is a curated investment, a donation from an art-loving CEO, an act of community connection, or a trove of archival material, keeping it in good condition requires the knowledge of experts. The Conservation Center has a long history of caring for corporate art holdings in four categories: disaster response, re-housing, storage, and display.

Chinese Tariff Map: History Flaking Apart

Chinese Tariff Map: History Flaking Apart

The Chinese Tariff Map came to The Conservation Center from a private collector who clearly understood the physical limitations of its condition. Our initial observations of the map made it clear that this would be an enormous and complicated treatment challenge. The best description of the paintings layers would be: paper on paper, then adhered on fabric. These very old layers beneath a much older painting or primary support helped us immediately understand that the panorama painting’s condition problems had a long history. 

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