How does contemporary artwork change the rules of conservation?
The biggest problem is that artists don’t always take into consideration the materials they use. They’ll stick on a feather in a collage or use newspaper, which is not acid free, so it disintegrates upon touching it shortly after it’s been completed. Many artists want to come up with something new and inventive, which goes back to the Pre-Raphaelites experimenting and using things like mayonnaise in their medium. These things aren’t always stable and don’t tend to last. You need to be practical in figuring out the best way to do the work in the most responsible manner. What role do you have before a large painting exhibition like [Dutch Seascapes]? Curators decide what they want in the show. We get called in if a painting needs work. Rarely, but sometimes a work that comes in on loan requires work on an emergency basis and we take care of that. We document everything we do, with photographic and written records. What’s the first step in the process? You start with an overall look at wh
