3/14/2024
As paintings conservators, we may use chemicals, but we certainly don’t give facials.
3/13/2024
On February 1, 2024, the 10x10 Teen Volunteer Team reviewed submissions for the 6th Annual 10x10 Teen Art Expo. Their evaluation criteria focused on the interpretation of this year’s theme, “Behind the Scenes.”
3/11/2024
Two works by Leslie Dill (American, b. 1950)
3/7/2024
Two prints by Willim Hentschel came through the paper lab with old hinges and pressure sensitive tapes. The artist’s work is unlike any other in the collection.
2/29/2024
These elegant pale blue kid leather shoes came to the lab for a new storage tray and interior padding, but they are interesting because they bear tell-tale damage from a specific collection pest: silverfish.
2/22/2024
This week in objects conservation, we are working on several pieces of micromosaic jewelry made in Italy during the late-19th century.
2/15/2024
Last month, three Northwestern scientists brought their highly specialized scanning and imaging equipment to the museum and spent a week in our Paintings/Objects lab.
2/13/2024
If you’ve visited the Cincinnati Art Museum in the past few months, you might have noticed construction work on the museum’s first floor, just past the Great Hall, where Hiram Power’s marble sculpture of Eve Disconsolate once stood.
2/8/2024
Preparations are well underway for the upcoming exhibition From Shanghai to Ohio: Woo Chong Yung (1898-1989). In fact, we have been developing the show for more than four years.
2/1/2024
Something is afoot with these shoes! Can you put your finger (or toe) on the difference?
1/25/2024
This iridescent green shade came to the lab in a box of fragments. Piece by piece, I built the individual fragments back into a shade.
1/18/2024
This visitor favorite, Girl Eating Porridge, by French artist Adolphe William Bouguereau (1825–1905), was acquired by the museum in 1884, a mere ten years after the artist painted it.
1/16/2024
If we look at just one example—the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago—we can see how these celebrations of artistic and scientific achievements also communicated complex messages about identity and race.
1/11/2024
In my post of November 30, I promised to explain what it took to improve the appearance and the mechanical condition of Emil Klauprecht’s 1830s lithograph, Galt House.
1/10/2024
The main goal of the 10x10 Teen Art Expo is to highlight 7–12 graders' artwork—all created in a 10-inch-by-10-inch format—interpreting a theme the 10x10 Teen Volunteer Team chooses.
1/4/2024
Check out some small wonders from the world of textile artwork!
12/28/2023
These tiny ceramic fragments are part of a Japanese doll’s tea set. I am working on putting these pieces back together so that they can be displayed with their doll in the future.
12/21/2023
As a curator, I’m often asked how long it takes to bring an exhibition together. The answer is . . . it varies.
12/14/2023
Join us as we look back on our noteworthy milestones and accomplishments of the past year.
12/14/2023
What happens to an exhibition’s display cases after a temporary show has ended and all the art has been de-installed?
12/7/2023
This small painting by American artist Julian Alden Weir (1852–1919) was donated to the museum by the artist in 1911.
11/30/2023
At first glance it is obvious the print has had a rough life.
11/16/2023
We’ve got it all! All the width of this 1920s embroidered voile (fine soft sheer fabric), that is.
11/13/2023
In early October, I was delighted to participate in a scholars’ day at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). For those outside the museum biz, a scholars’ day is a convening of curators, academics, and sometimes expert collectors, artists, and gallerists, who gather to share a deep dive on an artist or movement featured in a special exhibition.
11/9/2023
Several small copper alloy objects, pieces of jewelry and articles of adornment, are all showing signs of bronze disease.
11/2/2023
These three portraits by 18th-century British artist Thomas Gainsborough are in the paintings conservation lab to be examined for the British catalog project.
10/12/2023
In the Conservation Lab, we are working on this large ceramic jar from Dynasty I Egypt (3100–2900 BCE).
10/11/2023
As the new Curatorial Assistant for South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities, finding “my favorite piece here at the museum is a serious task! The possibilities for finding “the one” are endless.
10/5/2023
This small round painting, attributed to the studio of the 17th century Dutch artist Frans Hals, was recently in the paintings conservation lab to have its discolored varnish removed.
9/28/2023
An interesting artifact has entered the museum Archives, courtesy of Archivist/Records Manager Geoff Edwards. This glass paperweight holds a small photograph of the museum and the Cincinnati Art Academy (now located downtown).