In 2007 the museum received a gift of Indian paintings from long-time museum supporters Alice and Carl Bimel. Their gift included this striking eighteenth-century Mewar School painting, The Goddess Vakreshwari and Female Attendants Boating in a Crimson Sea. The following year, it made its debut in the museum. My initial examination of the painting revealed that some of the paint was poorly attached to the paper support, so before the work went into the gallery, it made a stop in the paper lab. With the painting under the microscope, I consolidated flaking paint with adhesive applied with a small brush. The adhesive was directed only where needed, allowing it to flow under the loose paint. I checked each area when the adhesive was dry to ensure that the paint was secure.

With the painting scheduled for display again, I examined it for insecure areas I might have missed in 2008. There were many small losses of gold noted when the painting entered the museum’s collection, indicating that it was not well bonded to the underlying smooth paint. I did one more round of consolidation before releasing it for framing. This time it will be travelling to the Cleveland Museum of Art, so it is important that it be as stable as possible for the journey north.

When the painting returns in June, I will check again to see how it fared during its trip. When working with paintings that have a history of flaking and separation of layers of media, new areas of insecurity can develop, even when we handle, display, and store them the best way possible.

CAM’s painting will be included in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s exhibition Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior, coinciding with Cincinnati’s own companion exhibition.