Preventive conservation vs. potential risks

My studio is in the heart of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. For small businesses in caretaking, such as my studio, compartmentalization is key. So is trusting the transit to professional art-moving companies under the direction of an appointed courier from the Carter, Assistant Conservator of Photography and Works on Paper Cristina D’Amico.

"Being a courier for a work of art is a responsibility that goes far beyond transport and logistics,” explains D’Amico. “From the moment an artwork leaves its home, every step is about safeguarding something irreplaceable, feeling both the weight of that duty and the profound privilege of carrying something that truly matters."

I was aware the painting was due for reinstallation after a long-term loan, and, due to political events, transportation around the area can be very difficult, so I wanted to ensure the artwork was out of the district before another high-profile event took place. In addition, a converging blizzard (a rarity in DC) affected the transportation of the experts coming in to review the painting before it was returned to the Carter.

A fresher surface for familiar faces

While Red Cannas was in my studio during one of the most difficult periods of my life, it served as the most profound treatment that could have been provided to me. At the same time, the Museum was preparing to receive and re-display the painting. As mentioned in my previous blog posts, it is important to know that your work matters. When it comes to returning a painting to its museum, you want to be sure that the eyes that know the artwork best are pleased with the work you have done. It is art’s capacity to connect and heal that drives so much of the museum professions.

The Carter’s Head of Conservation, Jodie Utter, found herself in front of the conserved painting on a particularly troubling day for her. The painting reminded her that the work we do “is more than just making the painting look good. We are giving the artwork agency again. It is sublime.”

Back at the Carter, Shirley Reece-Hughes, Senior Curator of Paintings, Sculpture, and Works on Paper, said, "Seeing Red Cannas return with its surface reawakened was like meeting an old friend anew. The conservation reveals O’Keeffe’s hand with renewed clarity, reminding us how attentive care can restore not just a painting’s appearance, but our relationship to it."

There is a moment when I know that I have completed treatment to the point of it being “enough,” without running the risk of an adage that runs through our profession; often attributed to Voltaire, the phrase is, “Better is the enemy of good.” However, my own standard of a finished treatment dances between that and kaizen, the Japanese concept for small, continual improvements. The dance between the struggle to improve the overall condition of the painting, tempered with the desire for improving oneself, was best served through my fingers with the help of cotton swabs and porcupine quills.

Acknowledgments

I’m grateful to the entire Carter staff for entrusting me with the care of an icon in the collection. I have only been able to communicate with a few personally, but the care each has for the collection has been evident throughout our individual relationships, and for that, I am truly honored to be asked to represent them with this series. Thank you, especially, to Jodie Utter, Head of Conservation, for entrusting me with this task; Marci Driggers, Registrar, for carefully planning the movement of the artwork; and Michelle Padilla, for helping me translate the tangible properties of caretaking into the intangible digital for you.