Today (November 1, 2019), I attended a panel discussion entitled “Thoughts from the Scaffold: Conserving Works in Public”, one of the public programs organized in conjunction with the TEFAF New York Fall Art Fair. The panelists—Claire Barry (Kimball Art Museum), Michael Gallagher(Metropolitan Museum), and Robert van Langh (Rijksmuseum)—as well as the moderator Jim Coddington (formerly Museum of Modern Art) had measured and sensible things to say about a subject to which museums are giving greater consideration. However, what stayed with me most were a number of offhand remarks the participants made. I share them for your consideration:
(In response to a comment that art works deteriorate from the moment of their creation) “As we sit here, we’re all deteriorating and we’re glad that there are people studying how to slow that down”
(Referring to the stress of working in front of spectators) “A tired conservator is a dangerous conservator”
(On why museums should not be so quick to undertake conservation projects) “There is flood, fire, and the hand of man that changes the art work”
(On conducting analyses of works of art) “Acquiring data is building the coral reef of knowledge”
(Referring to public interest in conservation) “We are sitting on a pile of gold and we don’t know where to take it”