Midwest Regional Conservation Guild

Fall 2015 Newsletter

Volume XXXIV, Number 2 September 2015

Letter from the President Contents Page

Megan Emery Letter from the President 1-2 Annual Meeting Schedule 3-4 About the Kelsey Museum 5-6 Scholarship Recipients 7 2015 Elections 8-9 Highlight a Conservator 10 In-Situ in Ahmedabad 11-12 Dear Friends and Colleagues, Registration Form 13

I am always surprised by how fast time flies. This is my fourth and final letter to you as President of MRCG. I joined MRCG in 2006 when I moved to Cincinnati to work at the Cincinnati Art Museum. I MRCG Officers for 2015 knew little of the organization at the time, but Cincinnati was hosting the 2006 symposium so I quickly became involved. What a President great organization. The Midwest covers a lot of territory and Megan Emery through MRCG conservators who are 100’s of miles apart have a [email protected] way to connect on a regular basis. Over the course of MRCG’s history the organization has ebbed and flowed in size and activity, Vice-President however it has always held fast and I know that is in part due to a Claire Winfield core group members. I am happy to report, that MRCG is now [email protected] larger in size than ever. At the end of 2014 we had 115 active members! The website is regularly updated and the officers are Secretary always looking for ways to connect with our members. MRCG is Suzanne Davis also doing more and more to support new generations of [email protected] conservators. This is very important because it is these emerging professionals that will eventually make up the “core group” of Treasurer MRCG. I encourage you to get to know them, support them, and Nicole Grabow help them see the importance of this fine organization! [email protected]

I look forward to seeing many of you at this year’s symposium at the Kelsey Museum of Archeology in Ann Arbor, MI the weekend of Encourage your colleagues October 2-4. Suzanne Davis, MRCG Secretary extraordinaire has to join the MRCG and been very busy planning a fantastic meeting for us along with the help of Caroline (Carrie) Roberts and Madeleine Neiman. There Renew Online Today! will be workshops, tours, food, cocktails, oh and wait - great talks! The schedule has been finalized and can be found in this newsletter (or mail in the form here) on pages 3-4 and on the website. Volume XXXIV, Number 2 Page 2

I would like to thank those of you who will be presenting at the meeting. There is an impressive selection of talks covering a wide range of topics. If you have not already done so, please register for the conference in advance so we can get a good sense of numbers for planning the receptions! You can register online or by the mail. If you haven’t yet renewed your membership for 2015 (shame on you!) you can do so when you register.

In Ann Arbor, we will be holding an election during the business meeting for the positions of President and Secretary. More information can be found on page 8-9. If you are interested in holding an officer position or know of someone who would be a great candidate please send us your nominations by September 21st.

Don’t forget to send regular lab updates, job announcements, or other news to Vice President Claire Winfield (formerly Walker – congrats on your wedding Claire!) which she will gladly post on the MRCG blog for you.

Lastly, planning for the 2016 symposium is well underway. It will be a one-of-a-kind meeting and not one to miss! The meeting will be held in Cooperstown, NY November 4-6th. Mark it on your calendars now. While more details will follow, I will let you in on one secret: on Saturday, participants will spend a fabulous day at Golden Artist Colors with Mark Golden!

Thank you for letting me serve as your President. It has truly been an honor.

Warmest regards,

Megan Emery President MRCG

got news?

MRCG Blog: Do you have an announcement to make, such as a workshop to be hosted in your area, a job posting, or a brief note about what your colleagues have been up to recently? Then please send a few paragraphs with any relevant links and photographs to include!

Newsletter: Have you just finished an interesting project or treatment, or have you attended a conference or workshop that our community would benefit from? Please send a more thorough write-up with images! There is no word limit, but to give a rough idea, 1-2 pages in Word with 3-4 photographs is about average.

Do you have a friend or colleague who would be willing to answer a few questions for our “Highlight a Conservator” page in the newsletter? Please put them in touch with us!

Please send inquiries and submissions to: [email protected] Page 3 Fall 2015 Newsletter

Annual Meeting 2015 Don’t miss the fun – register today!

Registration online or with the form on page 13.

Accommodations, transportation, parking, dining, Friday, October 2 and even shopping information are on our 1:00 – 4:00 pm Workshop: Multispectral Imaging (preregistration required) website! 3:00 – 6:00 pm Registration Desk Open 3:00 – 5:00 pm Regional Lab Open Houses : Papyrology, Special Collections Southeast Michigan: Institute of Arts, The Henry Ford 5:00 – 6:00 pm Tour of Special Exhibition with Curator Margaret Cool Root “Passionate Curiosities: Collecting in Egypt and the Near East, 1800s – 1950s” 6:00 – 7:00 pm Opening Reception, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology

Saturday, October 3 8:15 – 9:00 am Registration Desk Open 8:30 – 9:00 am Coffee and Pastries 9:00 am Welcome 9:05 – 11:00 am Morning Session I – Technical Studies

Audubon’s Colors: Utilizing XRF to Examine Watercolor Pigments used in a Double Elephant Folio Birds of America Set Amber Kehoe, Pre-program Conservation Intern, Midwest Art Conservation Center

The Diego Rivera Cartoons – Drawing Materials and Methods Cathy Selvius DeRoo, Research Scientist, Detroit Institute of Arts and Christopher Foster, Conservator of Art on Paper and Photographs, Detroit Institute of Arts

Transposing the Original: Analysis and Restoration of an Early 16th c. Polychrome Saint Cybele Tom, Assistant Conservator of Objects and Ken Sutherland, Conservation Scientist, The Art Institute of Chicago

Decorating with DNA: Analysis and Treatment of a Victorian-Era Hairwork Wreath Janelle Batkin-Hall, Conservation Intern, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan and Graduate Student of Art Conservation at Buffalo State College

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break 11:30 – 1:00 Morning Session II – “Not Really My Job”

Relying on the Kindness of Strangers: Gathering Information for the Treatment of a Suit of Japanese Samurai Armor Anne Battram, Upholstery Conservator, Biltmore Estate

Under the Eyes of Krishna: Bringing the Paintings of the Pustimarg to the Art Institute of Chicago and Some Observations on the Changing Materials of Nathdwara Artists Rachel Freeman, Assistant Paper Conservator; Daniela Leonard, Mellon Fellow in Paintings Conservation; and Annette Gaspers, Asian Art Departmental Specialist, The Art Institute of Chicago

Italian Linings for American Paintings at the Cincinnati Art Museum Serena Urry, Chief Conservator, Cincinnati Art Museum

Volume XXXIV, Number 2 Page 4 Annual Meeting 2015 (continued) Saturday, October 3 (continued)

1:00 – 2:00 pm Lunch 2:00 – 3:30 pm Afternoon Session – Three Talks in Honor of Chris Young

Non-chemical Means to Bleach Cellulose Harold Mailand, Director and Textile Conservator, Textile Conservation Services

2-D or not 2-D: The Conservation Treatment of a Convex Crayon Enlargement Portrait after a Failed Decoupage Attempt Thomas Edmondson, Heugh-Edmondson Conservation Services, LLC.

Charles Russell, A Forensic Examination: An In-Depth Examination Reveals More Questions Than Answers Jodie Utter, Conservator of Works on Paper, Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Evening Pub Crawl and/or Dinner – Location TBD – Check the website for more information!

Sunday, October 4

8:30 – 9:00 am Coffee and Pastries 9:00 – 10:30 am Morning Session – Collections Care and Education

Mixed Media Part Two: Looking Back on a Multi-year Grant Funded Project While Planning for the Future Jessica Lafrance-Hwang, Project Conservator and Clara Deck, Senior Conservator, The Henry Ford

A Collaboration of 3-D Modeling and Automated Box Manufacture for Library Special Collections Enclosures Doug Sanders, Paper Conservator, Indiana University Library Preservation

Conservation in the Classroom Heather Galloway, Galloway Art Conservation LLC.

10:30 – 11:00 am Coffee Break 11:00 – 1:00 pm Business Meeting 1:00 pm Meeting Adjourned

All events at Kelsey Museum of Archaeology unless otherwise noted. Image courtesy wikiwand.com Page 5 Fall 2015 Newsletter The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology: A Brief History of Your 2015 Meeting Host Suzanne Davis, Associate Curator and Head of Conservation, Kelsey Museum

The Kelsey Museum’s story begins with the man himself: Francis W. Kelsey. At the 2012 MRCG meeting in Bloomington, I confessed to a crush on Kelsey. That crush is still going strong. Actually, it’s not that I want to be with Professor Kelsey - that would be impossible - he died in 1927; it’s that I want to be Francis Kelsey. Yes, I am aware that this is equally impossible. Nevertheless, as we prepare to welcome you to the museum that bears Kelsey’s name, I hope you will allow me to indulge in a little tribute to Kelsey and those who have worked to continue his vision.

Francis Kelsey came from a modest background, growing up on a farm in a small town near Rochester, New York. He went on to become a highly influential teacher, archaeologist, and scholar. Here are just a few of the many things I admire about Kelsey: he worked hard and loved his work; he believed that knowledge of the ancient past was crucial for understanding the society we inhabit today; he was a prolific letter writer; he was a prolific writer, period; he was a tireless fundraiser for the arts, archaeology, and humanitarian endeavors; and he was committed to professional and community service, acting as president of the American Philological Society and the

Archaeological Institute of America, as well as president of the University of Michigan’s Musical Society. His enthusiasm for life, the arts, and his work has touched and inspired the lives of many people both past and present. The author with a portrait of Francis W. Kelsey

As a young man, Francis Kelsey also demonstrated a particular type of resourcefulness appealing to conservators. According to his biographer, at the age of 18 while studying at the , “Francis built a chemistry lab for home experiments in a small room at the head of the stairs in his boardinghouse. Having taken exception to the noisy visits paid by suitors to the landlady’s daughter, he concocted stink bombs; these produced such appalling smells in the parlors where the assignations took place that the visits came to an end. Francis thought this was a huge joke.” (Pedley 2012, 13).

In 1889, Kelsey began his tenure as a professor of Latin language and literature at the University of Michigan. This was a time of great development in education. Philosophers like Vygotsky and Dewey were presenting new theories of learning, and teachers like Kelsey were driven to find better ways of helping students construct knowledge for themselves. Kelsey began to collect ancient artifacts for this reason; he wanted to bring the ancient world alive for his students. In 1924 he launched a series of archaeological excavations that continues to this day. In part these excavations were meant to acquire artifacts for the University of Michigan (prior to the UNESCO convention of 1970, many countries permitted the excavating institution to retain a portion of the artifacts). More importantly, these excavations were meant to increase knowledge about the ancient world. Taking place at the dawn of modern archaeological theory and method, they did. Unlike many early twentieth century digs, Kelsey Museum excavations recorded and saved pedestrian artifacts from daily life, even (I am not making this up) dirty socks. Volume XXXIV, Number 2 Page 6

Although Kelsey began collecting artifacts for teaching in the 1890’s, the Museum that bears his name was not officially created until 1929. From the very beginning, conservation has been valued by the Kelsey community. In the 1920’s, correspondence on the proper treatment of excavated finds flew across the Egyptian desert between Enoch Peterson, director of the University of Michigan’s Karanis excavations in the Fayum, and Alfred Lucas, who was an early conservation scientist and a consulting chemist for the Cairo Museum. Peterson, who was the Museum’s director from 1950 to 1961, continued to research conservation treatments for the collection throughout his career. In 1953, while Peterson was the Museum’s Director, the University acquired a building to house the collection. Constructed in the late 1880’s as the Christian Student Association, it included a Tiffany Studios stained glass window on the second floor and bore the name Newberry Hall, after the family who helped to finance its construction. The pink granite, Richardsonian Romanesque building was attractive, but better suited for worship than artifact storage. Still, a less-than-ideal home was better than none at all and demonstrated the University’s commitment to the collection.

By the early 1970’s, however, the Museum had fallen on hard times. Interest in the collection had dwindled, the building had become dilapidated, and there were only a few display cases, open by appointment to local school groups. The few staff members struggled to care for the collection, and the University began to consider deaccessioning it. A special committee was appointed to investigate the Museum’s future viability. The committee was chaired by John G. Pedley, a professor of Classical Archaeology and Greek. Pedley was horrified by the state of the building, but saw great potential in the collection. He recommended that the Kelsey’s collection be retained and the museum reinvigorated as a dynamic primary resource for teaching and research.

Pedley made his case so well that he was asked to become the Museum’s new director. After careful consideration, he agreed, but with a few conditions. One was that a salary line be created for a professionally trained archaeological conservator. Pedley had previously worked with conservators at the British Museum, at Harvard’s Fogg Museum, and on several excavations. He believed that a conservator was a non-negotiable necessity for the Kelsey to advance as an institution. His conditions were accepted, and Amy Rosenberg, a graduate of the University College program in archaeological conservation, was hired in 1975.

Ms. Rosenberg was responsible for establishing the Kelsey’s conservation laboratory and for beginning a program of written and photographic documentation of all conservation work. Many conservators now in practice across the country began their training under her tutelage. Today the Kelsey Museum employs two full-time professional conservators, yours truly and my colleague Carrie Roberts. We support the Kelsey’s conservation activities in the Museum as well as on its excavations, and try valiantly to live up the example of energy and commitment set by Mr. Kelsey. We continue to enjoy hosting pre-program students from University of Michigan as well as graduate students and post-graduate fellows interested in archaeological conservation. We look forward to welcoming you to our small, quirky, and very active conservation home.

References: Pedley, J.G. 2012. The life and work of Francis Willey Kelsey: archaeology, antiquity, and the arts. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan. Page 7 Fall 2015 Newsletter 2015 Emerging Professionals Scholarship Recipients

We are pleased to announce the first recipients of the new MRCG Emerging Professionals Scholarship: Catarina Figuerinhas, Steph Guidera, and Amber Kehoe. All three women are in the pre-program phase of their conservation journey. Catarina is an intern in book conservation at the Preservation Lab in Cincinnati, OH. Steph has been building storage mounts as an intern in the Registration department at the Walker Art Center and is interning at the Midwest Art Conservation Center in the Objects lab. Amber is also at the Midwest Art Conservation Center working as a conservation technician in the Paintings conservation lab with time spent in the Paper lab as well.

This is a new initiative of MRCG. Each year, MRCG will commit funds to defray annual meeting costs for early career conservation professionals. Pre-program students, current graduate students, and recent graduates (within 2 years of graduation) are eligible to apply. Current MRCG officers review the applications and select recipients based on the merit of their applications and the number of eligible candidates. The scholarship award covers the registration fee for the annual meeting, one year of MRCG membership, and hotel accommodation during the meeting.

Steph Guidera, Minneapolis, MN

Catarina Figuerinhas, Cincinnati, OH

Amber Kehoe, Minneapolis, MN Volume XXXIV, Number 2 Page 8 Elections for MRCG Officers

At this upcoming symposium in Ann Arbor we will be holding elections for two positions: President and Secretary. If you are interested or know someone who would be a great candidate we are currently accepting nominations. Please send the candidate’s name and contact information to Megan Emery at [email protected] no later than September 21st. All terms are two years in length.

Here is what Megan and Suzanne have to say about the positions they have held:

Megan Emery, outgoing President I have loved my 2-year term as guild president! I had no idea what I was getting myself in to, but it has turned out to be a very rewarding experience and a great way to give back to the conservation community while meeting and getting to know other conservators in the Midwest.

As the president, your biggest responsibility is organizing the annual symposium. The location of the symposium varies, so there is usually a local contact that you plan the meeting with. The President solicits presentations, organizes the meeting schedule, and runs the business meeting. The president also corresponds with members through the newsletter and occasional emails… basically you keep membership informed on the goings-on of the guild. However, you will get lots of help and support from your fellow officers- and be sure to return that favor!

I have never felt overwhelmed by the time commitment; although there are definite times of the year where you will need to regularly work on MRCG “stuff”. The most time consuming part happens between June and the symposium when you gather abstracts, work with the local planning committee, and get prepped for the meeting.

If you have any questions or want more information, just let me know. Also, all officers are committed to making transition as easy as possible and I will help get you started.

The MRCG President is responsible for: • Writing two Letter’s From the President each year (Spring/Fall) • Organizing the annual symposium, this includes soliciting papers, establishing the program agenda, working with local coordinator, communicating with Treasurer about meeting expenses • Running the annual business meeting • Work with officers to ensure all tasks are being completed • Maintaining legal status of the guild • Meeting the needs of Guild members

Requirements: • Good communication skills • Time management and organization • A desire to see the Guild flourish

Helpful (but not required) skills include: • Familiarity with Gmail accounts & Google Drive • Interest in event planning • Knowing Roberts Rules of Order

Service term: • 2 years, beginning January 2016. Page 9 Fall 2015 Newsletter

Suzanne Davis, outgoing Secretary After 3 enjoyable years as the Guild's secretary, I'm stepping down at the end of this year and we are seeking nominations for a new secretary. The service term is 2 years, beginning Jan. 2016 and ending Dec. 2018.

The job of Secretary is an easy, low-stress service position that puts you in touch with conservators across the Midwest. The time commitment is relatively small - less than half an hour per week. The most time- consuming parts of the job are taking and typing up the annual meeting minutes and producing the membership directory. These activities probably take one to two hours each and happen only a few times per year.

If you're a reasonably social person and can devote a little time to it, the MRCG Secretary position is a nice way to get involved and give back. I have enjoyed getting to know my fellow Midwest conservators better, and I have especially enjoyed the opportunity to work closely with the other officers. My fellow officers and I will provide the new secretary with any necessary training and will assist in making a smooth transition.

I've listed the responsibilities and requirements below, and I'm happy to give further details. You can email me directly at [email protected].

The MRCG Secretary is responsible for: • Managing the Guild's Gmail account and member contact lists • Emailing updates and news items as necessary • Timely email correspondence with members on membership issues • Taking minutes at the annual meeting • Coordinating with Treasurer to maintain an up-to-date membership directory • Producing a bi-annual membership directory • Participating in ~6 conference calls per year with the other Guild officers • Assisting with planning the annual meeting • Occasionally assisting the Vice President with website updates

Requirements: • Enjoying correspondence with your fellow conservators • ~10 to 20 minutes each week to respond to Guild emails and assist with other Guild business • 1 to 2 hours each quarter to participate in other Guild business (conference calls, updating and issuing the directory, etc.)

Helpful (but not required) skills include: • Familiarity with Gmail accounts & contact lists, Google Drive, etc. • Familiarity with WordPress • Familiarity with InDesign or other publishing software

Service term: • 2 years, beginning January 2016.

If you or someone you know is interested in the President or Secretary positions, please send the candidate’s name and contact information to Megan Emery at [email protected] no later than September 21st. Volume XXXIV, Number 2 Page 10 Highlight a Conservator

Meet Anna Weiss! Anna is an object conservator based in the Chicago area. She recently completed projects in Makrygialos, Greece on an archaeological site and a fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum – this conservator has range! Currently, Anna is the Campus Art and Artifact Collections Coordinator, Conservator, and Guest Lecturer in Art History at the University of Chicago and is a Freelance Conservator through Weiss Art Conservation. When not working, Anna enjoys volunteering for local animal shelters and Belgian beer.

1. What first attracted you to the field of conservation? Growing up I was surrounded by engineers and was somewhat the family oddball spending my free time painting and drawing instead of reconstructing engines. In college, I was torn between majoring in the sciences or in the arts. A chance encounter with a curator who studied at Winterthur enlightened me to the field, and that's when all the puzzle pieces of my varied interests and skills finally fit together.

2. Tell us about your experience in graduate school? I went to the Queen's University program in Kingston, Ontario and had a fantastic experience. Yes, the program was very demanding, but I also found it flexible enough to tailor my projects and experiences to my own interests. I was lucky (or crazy) enough to take on a few extra responsibilities in the program, such as workshop supervisor and Teacher's Assistant for Lab and Lecture, which gave me a deeper perspective of not just conservation, but how to run a lab and support students.

3. Where have you been working since graduate school, and how did you find placement? Any tips for other emerging conservators? Right after graduate school I did some subcontracting as an assistant to local conservators in various specialties. I also took on a few consulting jobs on my own; I found that many small community museums and historical societies had very little demand or resources for treatment, but often needed someone to help them troubleshoot collections care and conservation priorities: knowledge that many emerging conservators have just out of school (tip!). During that time, I discovered a love for oversize and technical objects, and was subsequently accepted for a fellowship with the National Air and Space Museum. There I treated objects like space suits and satellites, and learned a lot about the complexities of conserving and preserving technical objects and modern materials. Once I decided to return to Chicago, I checked in on many of the institutions I had come into contact with during my time in private practice (another tip!), and sure enough an institution that was not ready to hire conservation staff at that time, was now!

4. What projects are you working on now? I am currently at the University of Chicago in a new position managing and conserving art and artifacts across the University's campus. I play varying amounts of both project manager and conservator for a few large sculpture projects. One such project is the University's sculpture Concrete Traffic by Wolf Vostell, a 1957 Cadillac DeVille covered in several tons of concrete cast directly onto the vehicle. This is an extremely challenging project; I coordinate conservators, vehicle specialists, structural engineers, asbestos abatement companies, scientists, and art historians in order to try to make the best decisions as possible for the sculpture's siting and preservation, while also facilitating the project's use as an educational tool for University students- not an easy or clear-cut task! My favorite part of this project is exposing students, faculty, staff, and the Chicago south side community to the art, science, and especially importance of conservation through this unusual project. Page 11 Fall 2015 Newsletter An In-Situ in Ahmedabad (Everything is possible in India!) Daniela Leonard, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Painting Conservation, Art Institute of Chicago

Last October I received an unusual request from my boss, Frank Zuccari (Grainger Executive Director of Conservation and Senior Paintings Conservator at the Art Institute of Chicago): would I be willing to spend 2-3 weeks in India to help Rachel Freeman (Assistant Paper Conservator) treat local works on paper for an upcoming exhibition? Now, I should probably own up here and admit that I am a paintings conservator with a background primarily in Old Master European works. I had zero experience treating paper.

So of course I said ‘yes’.

Arriving in Ahmedabad in the region of Gujarat in January, I found myself smack-dab in the middle of a local kite festival. The sky was filled with colorful paper kites during the day and with glowing Chinese lanterns at night. The streets teemed with cars and auto rickshaws, jockeying to get ahead while sharing the road with handcarts, donkeys and camels, not to mention the occasional elephant. Street dogs nipped at the heels of stray calves as they trotted to keep up with their mothers, nonchalantly crossing the road. Oh, and goats in sweaters (it might have been 80°F, but hey—it was winter!) There was noise, smoke, dust and trash, but also smiles, good humor and extreme A street in Ahmedabad patience in the face of the surrounding chaos.

The works we came to treat are part of a collection that belongs to Mr. Amit Ambalal, an artist in his own right who has an interest in the Nathdwara school of painting, particularly pichvais paintings. Nathdwara is a town in the northwest of the country where the Pushtimarg sect settled in the late 17th century. The Pushtimarg worship a child manifestation of the god Krishna, known as Shrinathji, who is cared for like a child in eight ceremonies throughout the day. The Nathdwara school is known for its watercolor miniatures that depict the figure of Shrinathji, either standing in an elaborate outfit, or in a temple setting or scene from his life. Pichvais are painted on cloth and are hung as a curtain behind Shrinathji in Pushtimarg temples.

Whether a small work on paper or a 5’ x 6’ canvas, the paints and techniques used by artists from India are generally the same: thick, opaque watercolors that have an appearance similar to gouache, applied in layers that are burnished to create shiny and matte passages within the composition. The medium-lean paints of traditional Indian paintings often suffer from powdering, especially blue passages made from azurite or ultramarine, and white passages made from kaolin clay (both of which feature prominently in the lotus blossom pichvais). Areas that have been repeatedly burnished during the painting process can be prone to delamination. Pushtimarg temple in Ahmedabad Volume XXXIV, Number 2 Page 12

The humid conditions of India are not ideal for organic materials that are susceptible to damage by mold, insects and other pests like mice, squirrels and lizards (not to mention monkeys!) In addition to atmospheric conditions, the dust in India is truly everywhere, leading to the local cost-effective solution of stapling thick plastic around the fronts of paintings and bringing them outside where the sun’s heat causes the plastic to shrink (if this description makes you think of the plastic you can put in your windows in winter, you’re not far off!) From a museum conservation standpoint, shrink-wrapping a painting seemed far from an ideal solution, but when we found not only a layer of fine dust, but also many scratches and lizard poo on the surface… well, let’s just say your perspectives can change.

Our mission for the two and a half weeks we were in Ahmedabad was to make the paintings safe for travel, focusing on consolidating powdering and delaminating paint, mending tears in supports, removing tape from the versos of the miniatures, and dusting. We were limited to a few household tables set up by the Ambalal’s in Kamal Chok (“Lotus House”) a 15th century traditional Indian house called a haveli located on the Ambalal’s property. The family scoured their own house for acceptable lights, and even borrowed a lovely desk lamp from a neighbor (the kind with a green shade and a pull-chain that one might see in a library or lawyer’s office) before finally digging up a more serviceable spotlight with an adjustable head.

The lotus painting I treated (Kamalan ki Pichvai) is executed on a very fine canvas that has been attached to a secondary canvas and mounted to a Masonite support. The original canvas was torn and suffered loss in areas, and has been adhered only around the perimeter and around the edges of the tears, which resulted in areas of wavy wrinkling. Water damage is believed to be the cause of paint loss, powdering and fading along the left side, and brown stains in the bottom quadrant. Scattered linear losses to the paint are likely due to the work being folded when not on display. The thicker paint passages were cracked and flaking, but the entire surface is also underbound, almost like a pastel, so many areas suffered from crumbling and powdering Treating Kamalan ki Pichvai at the “Lotus House” in the paint.

We chose to use sturgeon glue as a consolidant because it is relatively sympathetic to the original paint medium, yet fairly strong as an adhesive even at low concentrations. A 3% solution in water was applied to the areas of cracked paint, after a separate application of ethanol to help pull the adhesive down into the cracks. A 1% solution in water mixed at 1:1 with ethanol was misted with a nebulizer onto the surface of powdering paint and along the linear losses. Repeated passes were made over the most severely damaged passages along the left edge, and a 2% solution was used over the figure of the god.

In all, although the structure and surface of the painting remain delicate, the consolidation treatment made a notable difference to the stability of the paint with minimal surface alterations. Considering Mr. Ambalal’s passion for his collection, and his very sincere desire to share it with people outside of India, the work we were able to accomplish in order to make these paintings safe to travel was a very satisfying experience. Paintings from Mr. Ambalal’s collection will be included in the upcoming exhibition Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings, September 13, 2015 – January 3, 2016 at the Art Institute of Chicago. Page 13 Fall 2015 Newsletter

Midwest Regional Conservation Guild Meeting Registration Form October , 201

Name: ______(REQUIRED - please print legibly)

Mailing Address: (If you are using the address of a business or institution, please include the name of that organization. Members in good standing with no changes need not fill out this section.)

Email: _______(please print legibly) Telephone: Work ______Fax ______Home ______ Specialty: ______

New Member _____ Address Change _____ Number ofRegistrations: x $55 201 Membership Dues: x $20 (include if you have not yet paid for 201) Total Amount Enclosed: $

Please provide the requested information and mail your check payable to the Midwest Regional Conservation Guild (or MRCG).

ail to the MRCG Treasurer:

If you have questions, please contact at or email For more information about MRCG visit www.themrcg.wordpress.com