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Objects conservation

What exactly is a conservator’s role when dealing with huge, monolithic objects?

Posted by Lesley Bone on February 3, 2011

The objects conservation lab is busy doing their part for the installation of Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico. So what exactly is a conservator’s role when dealing with huge, monolithic objects?


 

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Are you dusting the art? Common questions about our dusting routine

Posted by Arielle Hambrecht on January 20, 2011

Even in a museum environment, objects can become dusty and it is the responsibility of the objects conservation department to dust each artwork. We sometimes dust artworks when visitors are in the galleries and we have noticed that many people are curious about what we are doing.  Here is a brief selection of the most common questions about dusting artworks and our responses:

Dusting the suspended Ruth Asawa sculptures.

Assistant Conservator Alisa Eagleston dusting the suspended Ruth Asawa sculptures.

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Man Observing: Installation of an 8.8′ tall sculpture

Posted by Lesley Bone on December 21, 2010

Viola Frey’s monumental sculpture, Man Observing Series II, is back from its travels!  This is a larger than life sized sculpture made of 13 heavy sections of glazed earthenware ceramics.  Teamwork by staff at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco returned the sculpture to its original home in the Saxe Gallery at the de Young.

The empty platform awaiting Man Observing Series II.

 

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Behind the Scenes: The Journey of Irethorrou

Posted by Andrew Fox on August 26, 2009

the mummy of Irethorrou gets CT scanned

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A Day at the FAMSF Photo Studio

Posted by Lesley Bone on May 21, 2009

Amazing art comes through the photo studio on a regular basis.
 
We tend to save Mondays (when we’re closed to the public) to photograph artworks that are normally installed in the galleries. This way we can take the objects out of the galleries and into the photo studio without impacting the public.
 
Recently we shot two recent acquisitions from the AOA department. The images will appear in the next edition of the museums' Fine Arts magazine.
 
The first object: Mayan plate with Maize God head in cacao tree and "kill hole" passage to the afterlife
 

Lesley Bone, our objects conservator, deinstalling the plate in the morning.
 

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Bouquets to Art: Annual invasion of the flowers

Posted by Lesley Bone on March 16, 2009

The Fine Arts Museums’ annual floral extravaganza, Bouquets to Art, takes place in March every year. It’s FAMSF’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and it’s extremely popular with museumgoers. It can be especially challenging to the FAMSF conservation staff, however, given the potential to admit insects and pests to the museum. This photo essay chronicles the conservation staff (a.k.a. The Conservation Patrol) at Bouquets to Art 2009.

Bouquet in front of Stela with Queen Ix Mutal Ahaw

Bouquet in front of Stela with Queen Ix Mutal Ahaw.

 

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