Conservation exhibits

A response to David Harvey's inquiry on conservation exhibits, and
Michael Maggen's 8 Apr 98 response:

I was happy to see the mention of our 1993 exhibition on
conservation in Hawaii, and can provide full details:

In September 1993, the Honolulu Academy of Arts held an exhibit
entitled: " The Past Recovered:  Japanese Works of Art Restored
through Grants from the Robert F. Lange Foundation".  This was the
first of many exhibits the Academy has mounted on conservation,
fulfilling both an educational mission and a means of public
acknowledgement for the very generous grants received to conserve
the Academy's world-renowned Japanese art collections.  The
exhibition was organized by then curator of Asian Art Steven Little,
now at the Art Institute of Chicago, who was instrumental in
establishing the conservation program.

The exhibition featured Japanese paintings on screens and scrolls
restored by Ephraim Jose and his studio in Oakland, California, and
Japanese woodblock prints from the Michener collection conserved by
myself and technician Susan Thomas.  Virtually every object was
displayed with photographs of the objects "before treatment" and
didactic panels explaining a variety of conservation techniques.
Featuring over 30 prints and 20 Japanese paintings, the exhibition
also created a "mounting studio" in an alcove gallery,  displaying
tools, papers, and partially restored screens with photo panels
explaining all the steps.

Every year since, the Academy has mounted smaller versions of the
same type of exhibition highlighting recently restored Japanese Art,
and has sent several larger such exhibitions to major venues in
Japan. Currently, the Academy has an exhibition on display  in the
dedicated print gallery entitled:

    "Fugaku Sanju Rokkei:  Hokusai's 36 Views of Mt. Fuji
    Behind the Scenes in the Conservation Studio"
    First rotation March 2-April 17, 1998
    2nd rotation April 27-June 19, 1998

This exhibition celebrates Hokusai's famous series, and is in
preparation for the large exhibit next fall of 200 prints from the
Honolulu Academy on view at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
Prints are displayed side by side with "before treatment" enlarged
photographs, and didactic material includes a glossary of
conservation terms.  There is no catalogue, but the current issue of
the Honolulu Academy of Arts' Calendar News--March/April 1998 (Vol.
70, no. 2) contains an illustrated article on the exhibit.  (contact
Calendar News, Don Brown, Editor, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 900 S.
Beretania St., Honolulu, HI, 96814-1495)

Susan Sayre Batton
Robert F. Lange Foundation Conservator of Asian Art
Honolulu Academy of Arts (Los Angeles-based)

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:83
                  Distributed: Tuesday, April 14, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-83-003
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