Spring Cleaning

It’s that time of year again…time to clean ayear’s worth of grit, grime, and grackles off the Henry Moore sculptures, Upright Motives No. 1, 2, and 7, in the Carter’s plaza. Caring for outdoor sculpture is never easy, but Fort Worth’s extreme weather doesn’t exactly help.

Every spring Carter staff install scaffolding around the Moores at the east end of the plaza. Preparators Steve, Greg, and Les are working on the sculptures this week because the weather is warm (but not too warm!) and dry.

The sculptures are gently cleansed with a mild soap and water, rinsed, and left to dry overnight.

The preparators continue the process the next day. Here, Les applies a specially formulated wax with a daubing brush. He works only in small areas at a time and wipes up any excess wax with a soft cloth. Spring is a good time for waxing bronzes because hot weather makes the wax melt too fast to apply properly.

Greg buffs the wax with a flat brush, making sure it is applied evenly over the sculpture’s rough surface. The wax is formulated to protect the sculpture’s patina from the hot Texas sun, pollution, and storms. During the cleaning process, the preparators also examine the sculpture’s surface for any conservation issues that might have developed since the last examination.

Thanks to Steve for taking pics from atop the scaffolding!

Back to the basement until next year…

— Jana H., April 15, 2008, 1:39 p.m.