PR and Outreach-Exhibiting Conservation 2010 - present

Back to Main Catalogs Page
Back to Public Relations and Outreach Resources
Back to PR and Outreach-Exhibiting Conservation

Entries are listed in reverse chronological order by exhibition opening date. Expanded entries are given when additional information is submitted or available. For information on how to contribute new content or edits to this page please visit the How To Help section of the PR and Outreach-Exhibiting Conservation page.

2024

Institution:The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: Conserving Eden: Cranach's Adam and Eve from the Norton Simon Museum
Topic/Brief Description:Luca Cranach the Edler's paintings of "Adam" and "Eve" (Norton Simon Museum collection) presented for the first time at Getty following a multi-year conservation treatment and technical study which is documented in the exhibition.
Dates: January 23–April 21, 2024
City/State: Los Angeles, California
Website:https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/cranach
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2023

Institution: Museo del Prado (Madrid, Spain)
Title: On the Reverse
Topic/Brief Description: 100 works of art from the Prado's own collection and loans from elsewhere, some of which are hung backwards or so that both sides can be seen, and others (hung right side out) which are painted representations of the back of a canvas or contain a representation of the back of a canvas.The works from the Prado collection have been the subject of a lengthy process of research on their other sides and that research is presented.
Dates: November 7, 2023- March 3, 2024
City/State:Madrid, Spain
Website:https://www.museodelprado.es/en/whats-on/exhibition/on-the-reverse/97f46507-60c9-197b-8632-274da919ea3f
Curator:Miguel Angel Blanco
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Washington< DC)
Title: Palace Life Unfolds: Conserving a Chinese Lacquer Screen
Topic/Brief Description: On display for the first time after a major conservation project, this Chinese lacquer screen dated to 1672 titled Spring Morning in the Han Palace, presents an idealized, ahistorical view of the lives of women in an imperial palace of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). This exhibition examines the screen’s meaning and use in China, the techniques of its manufacture, and the efforts of museum staff to research and conserve this work of art.
Dates: July 15, 2023–January 28, 2024
City/State: Washington, DC
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Courtauld Gallery (London, England)
Title: Art and Artifice: Fakes from the Collection
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibit showcases drawings, paintings, sculpture and decorative arts that are not what they seem. Presenting remarkable forgeries from The Courtauld’s collection - including forgeries of works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Sandro Botticelli - this display will tell the stories behind their making and the discovery of their deception.
Dates: June 17 - October 8, 2023
City/State: London, England
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: American Bookbinders Museum(San Francisco, OH)
Title: The Many Lives of Books: Exploring the Work of Book Conservators
Topic/Brief Description: Drawing on historic book models, diagrams, books, and photographs from several collections, the exhibit provides a glimpse into book conservation work. It offers a history of the field, examples of damaged and repaired books, a presentation of conservation treatment techniques and materials, and an exploration of the links between book arts and book conservation.
Dates: January 28 -April 29, 2023
City/State: San Francisco, CA
Exhibit Curators Elizabeth Ryan and Kimberly Kwan, Stanford Libraries Conservation Services, and Michelle C. Smith, San Francisco Public Library Preservation Department.
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2022

Institution: Ferdinandeum of theTyrolean State Museums (Innsburck, Austria)
Title: Im Detail: Die Welt der Konservierung und Restaurierung (In Detail: The World of Conservation and Restoration)
Topic/Brief Description: A glimpse into the working world of restorers. Case studies explain the diverse activities involved in researching, preserving and presenting works of art.
Dates: November 25, 2022- August 27, 2023
City/State: Innsbruck, Austira
Online Resources: https://www.tiroler-landesmuseen.at/ausstellung/im-detail/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Taft Museum of Art (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Title:' Fakes, Forgeries, and Followers
Topic/Brief Description:  A small exhibit which reveals the histories of selected paintings and works of decorative art normally kept in storage. Among them, portraits originally thought to be by Rembrandt van Rijn which demonstrate how authenticating Rembrandt's paintings has evolved in the century since Charles and Anna Taft built their collection. Also included are paintings previously believed to have been created by Francisco de Goya and John Constable but later discovered to be works by their followers, nineteenth-century carved stone plaques once masqueraded as Renaissance portraits of royalty, and a pair of porcelain vases was made in France in the late 1800s rather than, as the Tafts believed, in China a century earlier.
Dates: October 22, 2022– February 5,2023
City/State: Cincinnati, Ohio
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Fondation Baur – Museum of Far Eastern Art (Geneva, Switzerland)
Title:' The Secret of Colours: Ceramics in China and Europe from the Eighteenth Century to the Present
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibition contrasts two crucial moments in the history of porcelain driven by the desire to extend the range of enamels. They occurred at the turn of the 18th century in China and during the 19th century in France, two periods during which the interactions between Europe and China, whether cultural or belligerent, were particularly intense. The first room in the exhibition introduces visitors to enamelling techniques,This is followed by a presentation of Chinese enamelled porcelain, principally from the reigns of Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1723-35), and Qianlong (1736-95), which exemplify the use of colour on porcelain over a period of more than a century. The new palette developed in the imperial workshops was soon exported from the port of Canton on porcelain and copper-enamel wares on that had been specially designed for the Western market. The second section of the exhibition takes place a century later in France, at the Sèvres manufactory, where Chinese colours, long coveted for their brilliance, were keenly researched. The last part of the exhibition introduces more contemporary research on the use of colour, first of all by Fance Franck (1927-2008), who from the late 1960s worked with the Sèvres factory to recreate the famous “fresh red” or “sacrificial red” that had been mastered by the potters in Jingdezhen several centuries earlier.
Dates: September 14, 2022 – February 12, 2023
City/State: Geneva, Switzerland
Exhibit Curator Pauline d’Abrigeon
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
Title: Vermeer's Secrets
Topic/Brief Description: An intensive study of four paintings by and attributed to Johannes Vermeer yielded surprising information, which will be shared for the first time in the exhibition as well as two 20th-century forgeries, The Lacemaker (c. 1925) and The Smiling Girl (c. 1925), which were attributed to Vermeer when they first entered the museum’s collection in 1937.Visitors can take a closer look at Vermeer’s paintings through technical images made using hyperspectral reflectance imaging techniques as well as x-ray fluorescence imaging .
Dates: October 8, 2022– January 8,2023
City/State: Washington,D.C.
Exhibit Curators : Marjorie E. Wieseman, Alexandra Libby, Kathryn A. Dooley, John K. Delaney, Dina Anchin
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Diocesan Museum St. Afra (Augsburg, Germany)
Title: KEBAB.Preserving, conserving, exhibiting, understanding cultural heritage
Topic/Brief Description: A look behind the scenes of the museum and the restoration sciences. Visitors learn about the peculiarities , damage patterns and various restoration techniques for different genres of materials such as wood, metal, textile, paper and ivory. Every second Sunday the public can watch restorer Maria Winner at work on the Gothic sculpture of St. Wolfgang and ask her questions. A 3D scan of the sculpture enhances the experience.      
Dates: September 11- December 4, 2022
City/State: Augsburg, GER
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Nelson Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO)
Title: Silver Splendor: Conserving the Royal Thrones of Dungarpur, India
Topic/Brief Description: A pair of ornate silver thrones with an intriguing history are presented following a multi-year conservation effort to bring them back to their original glory, a process that is documented for visitors with a video in the exhibition.      
Dates: May 21 2022 - May 28 2023
City/State: Kansas City, MO
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Title: Chroma. Ancient Sculpture in Color
Topic/Brief Description: Exploring the practices and materials used in ancient polychromy, the exhibition highlights cutting-edge scientific methods used to identify ancient color and examines how color helped convey meaning in antiquity, and how ancient polychromy has been viewed and understood in later periods.                                                                                              
Dates: July 5, 2022 – March 26, 2023
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2022/chroma
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Getty Center (Los Angeles, California)
Title: Conserving de Kooning: Theft and Recovery
Topic/Brief Description: The newly conserved painting, "Woman- Ochre (1954-55)" by Willem de Kooning is displayed alongside a look at the Getty Conservation Institute Science division's role in the project-- identifying materials and techniques and developing a conservation strategy.
Dates: June 7, 2022- August 28, 2022
City/State: Los Angeles, CA
Online Resources:https://www.getty.edu/news/long-lost-willem-de-kooning-painting-goes-on-view-for-first-time-since-theft/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Musee d'Archeologie Nationale (Saint-Germain-en-Laye)
Title: Stolen Past (Passe Vole)
Topic/Brief Description: The exhibit highlights the seriousness and extent of heritage loss through archeological looting, emphasizing the importance of the archaeological context. The consequences of looting are illustrated by striking examples,including the "treasure" of the Couan sanctuary (Nièvre), the deposit of axes at Mouilleron-Saint-Germain (Vendée) or the Gallic coins seized at the foot of the airplane at Roissy airport.
Dates: May 26- August 29, 2022
City/State: Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France Exhibit Curator: Daniel Roger
Online Resources:musee-archeologienationale.fr/actualite/passe-vole
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Bard Graduate Center (New York City)
Title: Conserving Active Matter
Topic/Brief Description:An in-person and online exhibit which explores the activity of matter through items that span five continents and range in time from the Paleolithic to the present. It envisions the work of conservation as essential for the lives of the things that sustain us, posing the questions: How is matter active? Who acts on matter--when and why? What is conservation? Where is the future of conservation?
Dates: March 25, 2022- July 10, 2022
City/State:New York City
Online Resources:https://exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu/cam/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, Ohio)
Title: Cycles of Life: The Four Seasons Tapestries
Topic/Brief Description:An in-depth look at a rare, complete set of tapestries in the museum’s collection that has not been displayed since 1953 because of the tapestries’ fragile condition. Each tapestry depicts seasonal activities. When viewed together, the tapestries represent a full cycle of life. Taking the “four seasons” motif as inspiration, this exhibition tells the story of the life of the tapestries through four themes—their initial design and production, subsequent reproduction and alteration, later acquisition by the museum, and recent conservation treatment by tapestry conservation specialists in Belgium, at Royal Manufacturers De Wit, under the supervision of the CMA’s textile conservator. The exhibition also offers an in-depth look at the difficult craft of tapestry conservation, including its ethics, techniques, and concerns.
Dates: February 13, 2022- February 19, 2023
City/State:Cleveland, OH
Online Resources: https://www.clevelandart.org/exhibitions/cycles-life-four-seasons-tapestries
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2021

Institution: Musée Dauphinois (Grenoble, Switzerland)
Title: Art and Science. Half a century of existence for the  ARC-NUCLÉART Laboratory
Topic/Brief Description: A series of thirty photographs tracing the history of ARC-Nucléart, founded in Grenoble in 1970 by the Commissariat for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA) and several other partners, including the Musée Dauphinois. The Musée Dauphinois was  the first institution to collaborate with the laboratory. One  project that occupied the laboratory for a long time beginning in the 1970s was the treatment and conservation of the collections from the archaeological excavations of Lake Paladru.
Dates: November 26, 2021- June 19,2022
City/State: Grenoble, Switzerland
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Title: Live Conservation of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Spring, 1948
Topic/Brief Description: Visitors will watch the conservation team at work, and view in-depth information about the conservation of O'Keeffee's painting, Spring(1948).
Dates: September 16, 2021- November 29, 2022
City/State: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Title: Deep Fakes: Art and Its Double
Topic/Brief Description: The exhibition poses crucial questions about the potency of digital replicas to absorb audiences in enduring emotional encounters with universal art treasures. It revolves around digital facsimiles of artworks, and includes projects by artists, universities, start-ups, and research labs. Many exhibits represent the results of complex research projects that seek to gather data on, digitally duplicate, or otherwise mediate precious art objects, culturally significant places, and intangible heritage scenarios.
Dates: September 17, 2021- May 1, 2022
City/State: Lausanne, Switzerland
Exhibit Curator: Sarah Kenderdine
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Clark Art Institute (Williamstown, MA)
Title: Durer and After
Topic/Brief Description: Dürer’s prints, whose aesthetic and intellectual qualities delighted collectors, also inspired numerous imitators during his lifetime and long afterward. Ranging from strict copies to free interpretations, these “after-Dürer” work reflect an array of motives. While many imitators copied in the spirit of learning from or paying homage to his brilliant art, others sought to deceive or profit by sowing confusion around an image’s true authorship. In this exhibition, originals and copies are grouped together to reveal the complex afterlife of some of Durer's most celebrated images.
Dates: July 17- October 3, 2021
City/State: Williamstown, MA
Online Resources: https://www.clarkart.edu/microsites/durer-and-after/about-the-exhibition
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Penn Museum (Philadelphia, PA)
Title: Invisible Beauty. The Art of Archaeological Science
Topic/Brief Description: Highlights the important role of microscopic research in archaeological discovery—from undergraduate student research opportunities at the University of Pennsylvania to the professionals leading cutting-edge work inside Museum’s Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM
Dates: January 16 - June 6, 2021
City/State: Philadelphia, PA
Exhibit Curators: Marie-Claude Boileau, Ph.D. Director of the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM) and Adjunct Associate Professor of Classical Studies Graduate Group in the Art & Archaeology of the Mediterranean World and Sarah Linn, Ph.D. Research Liaison
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2020

Institution: Russian Center of Science and Culture (Chennai, India)
Title: Twice Rescued
Topic/Brief Description: A photo exhibit tracing the restoration of artifacts damaged in World War II, organized by the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Department of Conservation and the Russian Center of Science and Culture. The physical exhibit is accompanied by an online exhibit.
Dates: September 3, 2020- 2021
City/State: Chennai, India
Online Resources: museumconservation.ru/data/specprojects/twice-rescued/01-eng.html
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Museum Ludwig (Koln, Germany)
Title: Russian Avant-Garde at the Museum Ludwig: Original and Fake. Questions, Research, Explanations
Topic/Brief Description: With the help of international scholars, the Museum Ludwig has been systematically investigating the authenticity of the works in its collection of paintings. This exhibition focuses on one of the Russian Avant Garde paintings in its collection that has been identified as a fake by these scholars.
Dates: September 26, 2020 – January 3, 2021
City/State: Koln, Germany
Online Resources: https://www.museum-ludwig.de/en/exhibitions/russian-avant-garde-at-the-museum-ludwig-original-and-fakequestions-research-explanations.html
Organizers: Rita Kersting and Petra Mandt
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI)
Title: Bruegel's 'The Wedding Dance' Revealed
Topic/Brief Description: The exhibition will trace the life of the painting from its creation to the present, emphasizing its status as a material object, from its very free under drawing and its thin paint application to the conservation treatments and restorations to which it has been subjected over time.
Dates: December 14, 2019 - August 30, 2020
City/State: Detroit, MI
Online Resources: https://www.dia.org/bruegel
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2019

Institution: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York City)
Title: A Wonder to Behold: Craftsmanship and the Creation of Babylon's Ishtar Gate
Topic/Brief Description: Close to 150 brightly-colored large and small scale artworks from across the ancient Near East, together with raw materials in a variety of stages of workmanship demonstrate how seemingly mundane materials were actually potent substances further transformed by expert craftspeople into a propitious and protective monument.
Dates: November 6, 2019- May 24, 2020
City/State: New York, NY
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Università degli Studi Roma Tre (Rome, Italy)
Title: In defense of beauty. Humanistic and technological-scientific diagnostics for the unveiling of the art forgery ( "In difesa della bellezza")
Topic/Brief Description: 108 works seized by the Carabinieri Command Corps for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) and analyzed by students, teachers and experts of the Laboratory of forgery Roma Tre University.
Dates: November 22, 2019- December 18, 2019
City/State: Rome, Italy
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: John Rylands Library, University of Manchester (Manchester, Eng)
Title: Seeing the Invisible: Medieval Hidden heritage Revealed
Topic/Brief Description: Multispectral images of hidden undertext on the "Syriac Galen Palimpsest" ( a medieval manuscript containing a Syriac translation of Galen's main pharmacological treatise, "On Simple Drugs" ) shown side by side with the document
Dates: Oct 30, 2019- March 8, 2020
City/State: Manchester, Eng
Online Resources: https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/whats-on/seeing-the-invisible
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Rembrandthuis (Amsterdam)
Title: Rembrandt Laboratory. Rembrandt's Technique Unveiled
Topic/Brief Description: Visitors are given the opportunity to step into the conservation scientists’ shoes and think about the dilemmas faced by researchers and restorers. Six cases with different research questions are highlighted, accompanied by surprising new insights.
Dates: September 21, 2019- February 16, 2020
City/State: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2018

Institution: Museo de Arte de Zapopan (Zapopan, Mexico)
Title:No Longer Art: Salvage Art Institute
Topic/Brief Description: Works of art which have been removed from circulation after accidental damage because an insurance company declared them a total loss. While some are relatively intact, they have no value and have been liberated from the art market.
Dates: November 29, 2018- March 24, 2019
City/State: Zapopan, Mexico
Online Resources: http://salvageartinstitute.org/ and https://maz.zapopan.gob.mx/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/NLA_ENG.pdf
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Title: Conserving Photographs
Topic/Brief Description: A wide selection of works from the museum’s collection that showcase the technical history of photographic processes from the 19th century to the present, as well as the related conservation, preservation, and connoisseurship issues that attend them.
Dates: Nov 21, 2018–Apr 28, 2019
City/State: Chicago, IL
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Gemäldegalerie (Berlin, Germany)
Title: Bellini Plus: Research and Restoration
Topic/Brief Description: The results of the examination by x-radiography, infrared reflectography, and stereo-microscope of a group of paintings by the father and son Jacopo and Giovanni Bellini, their workshop, and their followers.
Dates: October 14, 2018 - July 21, 2019
City/State: Berlin, Germany
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI)
Title: Repair and Design Futures
Topic/Brief Description: A multidisciplinary exhibition that investigates mending as material intervention, metaphor, and as a call to action. Repair is framed as a useful exercise applied to beloved textiles and as a global, socially engaged practice within contemporary art and design culture, addressing environmental and sociopolitical ruptures
Dates: Oct 5, 2018 – Jun 30, 2019
City/State: Providence, Rhode Island
Online Resources: https://risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/repair-and-design-futures
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Huntington Library Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (San Marino, California)
Title: Project 'Blue Boy'
Topic/Brief Description: A year long exhibit mounted in conjunction with the conservation of the painting. With displays related to the painting's structure and materials, condition and treatment, and the conservation profession. For several months, the public will be able to view the conservation work in progress.
Dates: September 22, 2018- September 30, 2019
City/State: San Marino, California
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum at Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg, VA)
Title: Upholstery CSI: Reading the Evidence
Topic/Brief Description: Explores the work of Colonial Williamsburg's upholstery conservator Leroy Graves and the methods he developed
Dates: May 26, 2018- December 2020
City/State: Williamsburg, VA
Online Resources: https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/art-museums/wallace-museum/upholstery-csi
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Getty Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: Pastels in Pieces
Topic/Brief Description: Explores the practice and purpose of the 18th century technique of piecing together small sheets of paper to form large (painting size) papers for pastel portraits
Dates: January 16- July 29, 2018
City/State: Los Angeles, CA
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Block Museum of Art (Evanston, Il)
Title: Paint the Eyes Softer: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt
Topic/Brief Description: A series of Roman-Egyptian funerary portraits painted on wooden panels between the first and third centuries CE in Egypt which have been the focus of a technical study using imaging techniques.
Dates: January 13- April 22, 2018
City/State: Evanston, IL
Online Resources: https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/view/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/paint-the-eyes-softer.html
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2017

Institution: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Washington, D.C.)
Title: Secrets of the Lacquer Buddha
Topic/Brief Description: Explores how two 6th century life size Chinese lacquer buddha sculptures were made and shows how science can contribute to an understanding of art.
Dates: December 9, 2017- June 10, 2018
City/State: Washington, D.C.
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: BNKR (Munich, Germany)
Title: No Longer Art: Salvage Art Institute
Topic/Brief Description: Works of art which have been removed from circulation after accidental damage because an insurance company declared them a total loss. While some are relatively intact, they have no value and have been liberated from the art market.
Dates: November 11. 2017- February 25, 2018
City/State: Munich, Germany
Online Resources: http://salvageartinstitute.org/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York, NY)
Title: Restoring the Minoans: Elizabeth Price and Sir Arthur Evans
Topic/Brief Description: Presenting artifacts from Minoan Crete and archival materials from the Sir Arthur Evans Archive together with a video installation by Elizabeth Price which reinterprets Evans's images from his archaeological excavation by layering them with electronic music and synthetically voiced narrators, this exhibition explores the relationship between restoration and art.
Dates: October 5, 2017- January 7, 2018
City/State: New York, NY
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)
Title: The Barberini Tapestries: Woven Monuments of Baroque Rome.
Topic/Brief Description: At the end of a decades long conservation project, the twelve-panel tapestry series designed by the baroque master Giovanni Francesco Romanelli and woven by handpicked weavers for Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, in his own tapestry workshop is being displayed in New York and Eugene, Oregon.
Dates: September 23, 2017- January 21, 2018
City/State: Eugene, OR
Online Resources: http://barberini.uoregon.edu/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Museum at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (Philadelphia, PA)
Title: Things Fall Apart
Topic/Brief Description: From paintings, to plastic toys, to the door of a house that once belonged to the assistant secretary to the Treasury under Alexander Hamilton, this exhibition focuses on how objects from the Philadelphia area break down over time and the often painstaking processes involved in preservation and restoration.
Dates: June 17, 2017- February 2, 2018
City/State: Philadelphia, PA
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Frick Collection (New York City)
Title: The Pursuit of Immortality: Masterpieces from the Scher Collection of Portrait Medals
Topic/Brief Description: An exhibit of more than 100 European portrait medals from the Renaissance through the 19th century which aims to illuminate the place of medals in a larger history of art and their centrality in the history of portraiture in Western art. It contains a section on the processes used to create medals and is accompanied by a short film demonstrating one of the methods by which medals were made.
Dates: May 9- September 10, 2017
City/State: New York, NY
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library (Winterthur, DE)
Title: Treasures on Trial: The Art and Science of Detecting Fakes
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibit of more than 40 forgeries and counterfeit objects of all types from art to wine to fashion explains how scientific analysis and stylistic clues are used to detect fakes.
Dates: April 1, 2017- January 7, 2018
City/State: Winterthur, DE
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Portland Art Museum (Portland, Oregon)
Title: Reunited: Francescuccio Ghissi’s St. John Altarpiece
Topic/Brief Description: Eight dispersed 14th-century paintings are brought together with a recreated missing panel so that the altarpiece can be seen and appreciated as one magnificent work of art. Dutch conservator Charlotte Caspers worked with NCMA Curator of European Art David Steel and Chief Conservator William Brown to determine the probable subject, composition, coloring, and other details; then created the panel with the same type of pigments and gilding used by Ghissi 650 years ago. The exhibition includes a video of the process along with an extensive display documenting all of the pigments and other materials used.
Dates: March 25 – July 9, 2017
City/State: Portland, OR
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, NY)
Title: The Barberini Tapestries: Woven Monuments of Baroque Rome.
Topic/Brief Description:At the end of a decades long conservation project, the twelve-panel tapestry series designed by the baroque master Giovanni Francesco Romanelli and woven by handpicked weavers for Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, in his own tapestry workshop is being displayed in New York and Eugene, Oregon.
Dates: March 21– June 25, 2017.
City/State: New York, N.Y.
Online Resources: http://barberini.uoregon.edu/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
Title: The Secret Life of Textiles: Synthetic Materials
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibition, curated by Costume Institute Head Conservator Sarah Scaturro with Fellow Leanne Tonkin, was the third in a series at The Met focused on textile materials, and featured more than 40 ensembles and accessories from The Costume Institute's collection, along with a special section that illustrated the typical deterioration process of plastics that have been integrated into historic fashions, emphasizing the material's problematic behavior. Analytical images accompany selected objects, highlighting their physical properties.
Dates: March 6- September 4, 2017.
City/State: New York, N.Y.
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
Title: The Unvarnished Truth: Exploring the Material History of Paintings
Topic/Brief Description: Investigates Old Master and modern paintings through stylistic and scientific examination to reconsider their physical history. A multidisciplinary project organized from the collections of the McMaster University Museum of Art, that draws upon the expertise of researchers in anthropology, conservation, and applied radiation science, among others to document the material structure of these works and to refine the narratives of their origins.
Dates: January 7- April 9, 2017.
City/State: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2016

Institution: Indianapolis Museum of Art (Indianapolis, IN)
Title: Chemistry of Color
Topic/Brief Description: The history and chemistry of twelve colorants used in art. One of a series of three IMA exhibitions called CSI (Conservation Science Indianapolis) which focus on how science and scientific detective work help inform the study of art.
Dates: December 17, 2016- December 31, 2017
City/State: Indianapolis, IN
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Palazzo Medici Riccardi (Florence, Italy)
Title: Florence 1966 – 2016. Beauty Preserved
Topic/Brief Description: The exhibit highlights works of art that were victims of the Florence Flood on November 3-4, 1966 and have been restored. It features panel paintings, paintings on canvas works, sculptures, books, documents, applied art objects, and musical and scientific instruments, as well as historic photographs documenting the damages and recovery efforts. Several works that are still damaged and waiting to be restored are included.
Dates: December 1, 2016- March 26, 2017
City/State: Florence, Italy
Online Resources: http://video.repubblica.it/edizione/firenze/firenze-la-mostra-la-bellezza-salvata-in-99-secondi/265022/265399
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Frick Collection (New York City)
Title: Pierre Gouthiere: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court
Topic/Brief Description: Two galleries containing twenty-one 18th century gilded bronze objects attributed to Pierre Gouthiere (primarily through technical study and examination) and a third gallery in which is shown a video of his a gilt bronze knob being recreated step by step, and the model, mold, casts, and finished replicated knob are displayed.
Dates: November 16, 2016 to February 19, 2017
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: http://www.frick.org/exhibitions/gouthiere
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: The Shimmer of Gold: Giovanni di Paolo in Renaissance Siena
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibition reunites several panels from one of di Paolo's most important commissions—an altarpiece for the Branchini family chapel in the church of San Domenico in Siena—for the first time since its dispersal. It also offers insights into his technique of working with and on gold to create masterful luminous effects.
Dates: October 11, 2016 to January 8, 2017
City/State: Los Angeles, CA
Online Resources: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/giovanni_di_paolo/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA)
Title: Conservation in Action: Preserving Nirvana
Topic/Brief Description: For six months, museum visitors can watch and interact with conservators as the Museum’s Asian Conservation Studio in partnership with colleagues from the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art publicly restores Hanabusa Itchō’s rare masterpiece, Death of Buddha (1713)—one of the most important Buddhist paintings of its time.
Dates: August 20, 2016 – January 16, 2017
City/State: Boston, MA
Online Resources: http://www.mfa.org/collections/conservation/conservation-in-action/death-of-buddha
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
Title: The Secret Life of Textiles: Animal Fibers
Topic/Brief Description: This installation features works of art made from the most important animal fibers—wool, hair, silk, and feathers—by numerous cultures throughout history and in different regions of the world. The objects on view include fibers from sheep, camelids, goats, yaks, horses, cows, and other small animals; silk filament from cultivated or wild silk worms; and feathers. The exhibition includes a rich selection of reference materials reflecting the transformation of animal fibers through the use of technology. It also reveals the expertise of conservators in fiber identification using advance microscopy.
Dates: August 15, 2016 – February 20, 2017
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/animal-fibers
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Indianapolis Museum of Art (Indianapolis. IN)
Title: What Lies Beneath: Secrets Under the Surface of Paintings
Topic/Brief Description: Illustrates how X-ray and infrared imaging technologies revealed important clues hidden beneath the surface of three paintings in the IMA collection— clues that provided curators, conservators and conservation scientists with critical information on the authenticity of the work and original intent of the artist
Dates: August 6, 2016 – September 10, 2017
City/State: Indianapolis, IN
Online Resources: http://www.imamuseum.org/exhibition/what-lies-beneath
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA)
Title: The Painter on Display
Topic/Brief Description: Consisting of both artists’ materials and works of art, the installation explores how artists enacted, perceived, and depicted aspects of their creative process.
Dates: July 2016 -
City/State: Cambridge, MA
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: New York Public Library (New York City)
Title: Preserving a masterpiece: From Soaring Ceilings to Subterranean Storage
Topic/Brief Description: An exhibition documenting the history of the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building and ongoing preservation efforts there including the restoration of the Rose Main Reading Room and the expansion of underground collections storage. Includes photos of preservation and restoration work as well as historic photos from the construction of the building and its early years.
Dates: June 17- October 9, 2016
City/State: New York, N.Y.
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, Eng)
Title: Colour: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibit of 150 illuminated manuscripts from the Fitzwilliam Museum's collections showcases advanced research undertaken by the Fitzwilliam’s curators, scientists and conservators involved in the Cambridge Illuminations and MINIARE projects.
Dates: July 30- December 30, 2016
City/State: Cambridge, England
Online Resources: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/colour
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, TX)
Title: The Brothers LeNain: Painters of Seventeenth Century France
Topic/Brief Description: Includes the results of technical study on materials and working methods
Dates: May 22, 2016- September 11, 2016
City/State: Forth Worth, TX
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA)
Title: Rodin: Transforming Sculpture
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibit of 175 works in bronze, marble, plaster and stoneware—both finished sculptures and process works—offers insights into Rodin's studio practice.
Dates: May 14- September 5, 2016
City/State: Salem, MA
Online Resources: http://www.pem.org/exhibitions/186-rodin_transforming_sculpture
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Getty Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road
Topic/Brief Description: Full-scale replicas of three of Mogao's cave temples hand painted by artists at the Dunhuang Academy installed on the Getty Center's plaza allow visitors to experience the cave temples for themselves and to learn about their conservation. (Accompanied by paintings on silk, textiles, drawings, and manuscripts.)
Dates: May 7, 2016 - September 4, 2016
City/State: Los Angeles, CA
Online Resources: http://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/cave_temples_dunhuang/index.html
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Jewish Museum (New York City)
Title: Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait
Topic/Brief Description: The results of a decade of research and analysis of a pair of companion portraits in the museum’s collection which led to new assumptions about the identities of the artist and sitters.
Dates: March 16- August 14, 2016
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: http://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/masterpieces-curiosities-the-fictional-portrait#about
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Metropolitan Museum of Art iNew York City)
Title: The secret Life of Textiles : Plant Fibers
Topic/Brief Description: This installation focuses on four plant fibers—linen, hemp, ramie, and cotton—and illuminates how the Department of Textile Conservation uses innovative analytical equipment, including custom-designed microscope equipment, to identify and examine materials and weave structure.
Dates: March 7- July 31, 2016
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/plant-fibers
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, NC)
Title: Actual State
Topic/Brief Description: On public view, conservator Noelle Ocon inpaints "The Pentacost" (ca.1530) attributed to a follower of Bernard van Orley to retouch old losses, abrasions, and other damages. Only one side of the composition is retouched at first, so that the change can be readily seen
Dates: February 20- July 7, 2016
City/State: Raleigh, North Carolina
Online Resources:https://ncartmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/13100
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Washington, DC)
Title: Body of Devotion: The Cosmic Buddha in 3D
Topic/Brief Description: The Cosmic Buddha is a life-size 6th century Chinese limestone figure of Vairochana wrapped in a monk's robe that is covered with detailed narrative scenes representing both moments in the life of the Buddha and the Realms of Existence. The Smithsonian Institution Digitization Program Office created a 3D model of the sculpture. "Body of Devotion", an interactive installation, uses the model to explore the sculpture and looks at evolving methods of studying sculpture from rubbings and photographs to digital technology.
Dates: January 30, 2016 – December 2016
City/State: Washington, DC
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, NY)
Title: Pierre-Jean Mariette and the Art of Collecting Drawings
Topic/Brief Description: Drawings which were once part of Pierre-Jean Mariette's important 18th century collection, many of which illustrate 18th century restoration techniques undertaken by Mariette himself.
Dates: January 22- May 1, 2016
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/mariette
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Kyoto University Museum (Kyoto, Japan)
Title: Preserving the Culture of Paper and Silk
Topic/Brief Description: The conservation of cultural heritage is examined from various angles, exploring the history and materials used in Japanese conservation techniques today.
Dates: January 11, 2016 - February 12, 2017
City/State: Kyoto, Japan
Online Resources: http://www.museum.kyoto-u.ac.jp ( Japanese only; English version of website does not include information about the exhibit)
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Bowers Museum (Santa Ana, CA)
Title: The Red That Colored The World
Topic/Brief Description: Combines new research and scholarship to explore the history and use of cochineal (an insect-based dye source for the color red) in art.
Dates: October 31, 2015- March 20, 2016
City/State: Santa Ana, CA
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2015

Institution: Shiva Gallery at John Jay College (New York, NY)
Title: The Missing: Rebuilding the Past
Topic/Brief Description: Images and information about a variety of scholarly projects to digitally capture and recreate destroyed or threatened cultural property.
Dates: December 9, 2015- February 5, 2016
City/State: New York, NY
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibit developed by the Field Museum (Chicago, IL) shows how, using a mobile CT scanner, scientists were able to look inside twenty mummies without having to unwrap them. Interactive touch tablets allow the visitor to digitally replicate the peeling back of the mummies' layers.
Dates: September 18, 2015- January 18, 2016
City/State: Los Angeles, CA
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Bard Graduate Center (New York, NY)
Title: Revisions-- Zen for Film
Topic/Brief Description: Using Nam June Paik's work "Zen for Film" as a starting point, the exhibit explores the questions of how works of art endure over time in the face of aging materials and changing interpretations of their meaning and how decay, technological obsolescence and the blending of old and new media affect what an artwork is and can become.
Dates: September 18, 2015- January 10, 2016
City/State: New York, NY
Point of Contact: Hanna Holling, Curator and Andrew W. Mellon Visiting Professor, Cultures of Conservation, Bard Graduate Center
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield


Institution: McMaster Museum of Art (Hamilton, Ontario)
Title: The Unvarnished Truth: exploring the material history of paintings
Topic/Brief Description: Brings together discoveries made by an international team of nearly 30 researchers―scholars of applied radiation sciences, anthropology, art history, biomedical engineering, as well as conservators, conservation scientists, forensic art historians, and curators―who worked together to examine nine historical paintings from the collections of the McMaster Museum of Art.
Dates: August 27- December 19, 2015
City/State: Hamilton, Ontario
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Title: The Red That Colored The World
Topic/Brief Description: Combines new research and scholarship to explore the history and use of cochineal (an insect-based dye source for the color red) in art.
Dates: May 17- September 13, 2015
City/State: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Mauritshuis (The Hague, The Netherlands)
Title: Rembrandt? the Case of Saul and David
Topic/Brief Description: Rembrandt's "Saul and David", back on view after eight years of research and careful restoration, is the centerpiece of an exhibition that lets visitors become acquainted with the latest restoration techniques and research methods.
Dates: June 11- September 13, 2015
City/State: The Hague, The Netherlands
Online Resources: https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/discover/exhibitions/rembrandt-the-case-of-saul-and-david/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, New York)
Title: Ennion and His Legacy: Mold-Blown Glass From Ancient Rome
Topic/Brief Description: Mold-blown master works by Ennion and other Roman glass makers drawn from the Corning Museum’s collection of Roman glass. Accompanied by a video presenting a modern interpretation of how Roman mold-blown glass was created.
Dates: May 16, 2015- January 4, 2016
City/State: Corning, New York
Online Resources: http://www.cmog.org/collection/exhibitions/ennion
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (Vienna)
Title: An Egyptian Puzzle. Restoring the Coffin Lid of But-har-chonsu
Topic/Brief Description: In collaboration with the Institute of Conservation - Restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna the coffin-lid was restored in 2011-2014. Following extensive analyses, previously wrongly assembled pieces in the construction of the lid were identified, removed and correctly re-assembled; countless previously “homeless” fragments were also identified and incorporated. The exhibition documents this procedure, and offers insights into the painstaking work of the conservators.
Dates: May 12- October 26, 2015
City/State: Vienna, Austria
Online Resources: http://www.khm.at/en/visit/exhibitions/an-egyptian-puzzle/
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Title: Van Gogh: Irises and Roses
Topic/Brief Description: Four paintings painted by Van Gogh in May 1890 brought together for the first time since then. The exhibit considers the impact of dispersal and color fading (an unstable red lake pigment was used in all four works) on the artist's intended results.
Dates: May 12- August 16, 2015
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/van-gogh
Point of Contact: Susan Allyson Stein, curator and Charlotte Hale, conservator
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid)
Title: El San Juanito recuperado: Una escultura de Miguel Ángel en Espana (Saint John Recovered: A Sculpture by Michelangelo in Spain)
Topic/Brief Description: After almost 20 years of work, a sculpture by Michelangelo which was hammered to pieces and partially burnt in 1936 at the start of the Spanish Civil War is displayed in its restored condition before being returned to its centuries long home in the Chapel of the Savior of Úbeda in Andalusia.
Dates: March 31- September 20, 2015
City/State: Madrid, Spain
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Wallace Collection (London, England)
Title: Joshua Reynolds: Experiments in Paint
Topic/Brief Description: A snapshot of Joshua Reynolds’s creative process revealing discoveries made during a four-year research project into his works at the Wallace Collection. The exhibit traces Reynolds’s working practice on the material level through his use of pigments and media and on a conceptual level, through his development of composition and narrative.
Dates: March 12- June 7, 2015
City/State: London, England
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Dulwich Picture Gallery (Dulwich, England)
Title: Made in China: A Doug Fishbone Project
Topic/Brief Description: An inexpensive replica of a priceless painting, commissioned online from a Chinese studio which churns out masterpieces from any period and style, will be hung in a genuine frame alongside the gallery’s collection of dazzling Old Master painting. The public and art experts will then be invited to spot the fake.
Dates: February 3- July 26, 2015
City/State: Dulwich, England
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2014

Institution: The Getty Villa (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: Dangerous Perfection: Funerary Vases from Southern Italy
Topic/Brief Description: The results of a six year study of thirteen decorated Apulian vases which had been restored by Raffaele Gargiulo in the 19th century to such a level of perfection that it was difficult to identify ancient from modern elements.
Dates: November 19, 2014- May 11, 2015
City/State: Los Angeles, CA
Online Resources: www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/apulian_vases
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
Title: Tullio Lombardo's 'Adam': A Masterpiece Restored
Topic/Brief Description: The restored sculpture viewed in the round with explanations of an unprecedented twelve-year research and conservation project
Dates: November 11, 2014- July 2015
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/tullio-lombardo-adam
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Title: Transformations-Classical Sculpture in Colour
Topic/Brief Description: Reconstruction of the original colors of classical Greek sculptures using the results of scientific examination of traces of pigments
Dates:September 13- December 7, 2014
City/State: Copenhagen, Denmark
Online Resources: www.glyptoteket.com/whats-on/calendar/transformations-classical-sculpture-in-colour
Submitted by:Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Provinciaal Cultuurcentrum Caetmersklooster (Ghent, Belgium)
Title: From Tree Trunk to Altarpiece/ Van boomstam tot altaarstuk
Topic/Brief Description: The dendrochronological analysis of the panels of the Ghent altarpiece
Dates: September 5, 2014- August 30, 2015
City/State: Ghent, Belgium
Online Resources: www.caermersklooster.be/en/From_tree_trunk_to_altarpiece
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
Title: Examining Opulence: A Set of Renaissance Tapestry Cushions
Topic/Brief Description: Provides a brief glimpse of the work necessary to prepare objects for display by exploring the different questions curators and conservators pose when presented with six late Renaissance tapestry-woven cushion covers
Dates: August 4, 2014- January 18, 2015
City/State: New York, NY
Online Resources: http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/examining-opulence
Point of Contact: Sarah Mallory, Research Assistant, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts; Cristina Carr, Conservator, Department of Textile Conservation; and Elizabeth Cleland, Associate Curator, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Kevin Driedger
Title: 5 Days of Preservation
Topic/Brief Description: #5DaysOfPreservation is a project of Kevin Driedger and his Library Preservation 2 blog. During the 5 days of July 14-18 any individual or institution with any type of preservation responsibilities is invited to post pictures either on this tumblr, or on any social media platform (using the hashtag #5DaysofPreservation) of what preservation looks like for them that day. By the end of the week we all should have a broader and deeper understand of what preservation in 2014 looks like.
Dates: July 14- July 18, 2014
City/State: Global
Online Resources: 5 Days of Preservation Tumblr; #5daysofpreservation Twitter hashtag
Point of Contact: Kevin Driedger
Submitted by: Suzy Morgan

Institution: National Gallery (London, England)
Title: Making Colour
Topic/Brief Description: The materials used to create pigments from 1300 to 1900 and the journeys made by artists in their pursuit of new hues. Accompanied by an interactive display designed to demonstrate how we perceive and register color.
Dates: June 18- September 7, 2014
City/State: London, England
Online Resources: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/making-colour
Point of Contact: Co-curators Caroline Campbell and Ashok Roy
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: The Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, Ohio)
Title: Conservation in Focus: Caravaggio's Crucifixion of Saint Andrew
Topic/Brief Description: The cleaning of Caravaggio's Crucifixion of Saint Andrew in front of museum visitors. The exhibition draws audiences into the process with high-resolution technical photography including infrared imaging, digitized X-rays, and photomicroscopy. The audience was taught how these tools are used to help conservators to document and study the materials and techniques used by Caravaggio in this painting. Technical images further provide insight into the painting’s construction, showing how the painting’s appearance has been compromised in the 400 years since it was created.
Dates: June 3- September 14, 2014
City/State: Cleveland, Ohio
Online Resources: http://www.clevelandart.org/events/exhibitions/conservation-in-focus-caravaggios-crucifixion-of-saint-andrew and http://www.clevelandart.org/blog/2014/06/03/conservation-focus-get2knowcaravaggio
Submitted by: Samantha Springer

Institution: Getty Center (Los Angeles)
Title: Jackson Pollock's 'Mural'
Topic/Brief Description: Materials and techniques used to create the painting, how the painting has changed since 1943, and its recent conservation
Dates: March 11- June 1, 2014
City/State: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Online Resources: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/pollock
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Art Institute (Chicago, IL)
Title: Communicating Conservation: Renoir's True Colors: Science Solves a Mystery
Topic/Brief Description: Recent technical research on Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting Madame Leon Clapisson, 1883
Dates: February 12- April 27, 2014
City/State: Chicago, IL, USA
Point of Contact: Francesca Casadio, PhD,Andrew W. Mellon Senior Conservation Scientist, The Art Institute of Chicago, fcasadio@artic.edu
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts (Springfield, Massachusetts)
Title: Intent to Deceive: Fakes and Forgeries in the Art World
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibition tells of some of the most famous scammers in the world , examining how they managed to counterfeit the most important works of art for much of the twentieth century, up to the present day. On display are over 60 works of art produced by counterfeiters such as Han van Meegeren, Elmyr de Hory and Eric Hebborn, but also John Myatt and Mark Landis. The profile of each counterfeiter included a sample of their counterfeit works , together with personal effects, photographs, videos and representations of the materials and techniques used to create the fakes. Of particular interest are the reports of how art experts were able to use new technologies to reveal their fraud. A travelling exhibit, its other stops were: May 21, 2014 to August 2, 2014, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (Sarasota, Florida); August 28, 2014 to October 26, 2014, Canton Museum of Art (Canton, Ohio); February 14, 2015 to May 10, 2015, Oklahoma City Museum of Art (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma); and June 6, 2015 to September 7, 2015, Reading Public Museum (Reading, Pennsylvania)
Dates: January 21- April 27, 2014
City/State: Springfield, MA, USA Online Resources: http://www.intenttodeceive.org
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2013

Institution: Wallraf das Museum (Koln, GER)
Title: Secrets of the Painters – Cologne in the Middle Ages (English translation of "Geheimnisse der Maler-Koln im Mittelalter)
Topic/Brief Description: Paintings displayed along with infrared and x-ray images, photographic blow-ups of details, a reconstruction of an artist's workshop, digital animations, and film clips.
Dates: September 19, 2013- February 9, 2014
City/State: Cologne, Germany
Online Resources: http://www.wallraf.museum/index.php?id=405&L=1
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: International Conservation Center "Citta di Roma" (Old Acre, Israel)
Title: Restoring in Italy: Art and Technology in the Activities of Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro
Topic/Brief Description: Twenty four large panels which recount the achievement of the Institute from its establishment in 1939 until its most recent projects
Dates: October 27, 2013 and ongoing
City/State: Old Acre, Israel
Point of Contact: Alison Goren, Marketing and International Program Development, International Conservation Center - Citta di Roma, alison@conservationcenter.org.il
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA)
Title: Rediscover-- The Collection Revealed
Topic/Brief Description: Damaged art works from the Gallery's collection and their conservation needs
Dates: September 13- October 19, 2013
City/State: Pittsburgh, PA
Point of Contact: Isabelle Chartier, Curator
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Chashama 303 10th Avenue exhibition space (New York, NY)
Title: After Affects. An Exhibition of Work by Artists Supported Through NYFA's Emergency Relief Fund
Topic/Brief Description: Works in all media that were damaged during Hurricane Sandy (late October 2012) and subsequently restored, repurposed or redesigned as well as works that were borne out of the aftermath of the hurricane
Dates: February 8- 24, 2013
City/State: New York, NY
Point of Contact: New York Foundation for the Arts; www.nyfa.org
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

2012

Storage at the Cincinnati Art Museum

Institution: Cincinnati Art Museum (Cincinnati, OH)
Title: Behind the Seams: Exhibiting and Conserving Fashion and Textiles
Topic/Brief Description: Understand the complexity of storing, conserving, mounting, and exhibiting fashion arts and textiles from the Museum’s permanent collection in this behind-the-scenes style exhibition. Visitors will gain information about storing their own textile treasures as they explore the gallery and through related programming.
Dates: December 22, 2012 - March 31, 2013

Institution: Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)
Title: Restoration and Revelation: Conserving the Suida-Manning Collection
Topic/Brief Description: Antonio Carneo’s seventeenth-century painting The Death of Rachel, restored by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, serves as the focal point of an exhibition that thoughtfully considers the ethical and aesthetic choices involved in art restoration and conservation.
Dates: November 17, 2012 -September 1, 2013
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Westmorland Museum of American Art (Greensburg, PA)
Title: Your Art Needs You!
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibition highlights a selection of paintings, works on paper, sculpture and frames from the Museum's permanent collection that are in need of conservation. With estimates and treatment descriptions provided by professional conservators, visitors will have the opportunity to adopt an object by donating the funds needed to carry out the proposed treatment. Once conserved, these works will ready for installation in The Westmoreland's newly renovated galleries following the expansion.
Dates: November 17, 2012 - February 17, 2013

Institution: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
Title/Exhibit name: El museu explora. Obras de arte a examen (The museum explores. Works of art under examination)
Topic/Brief Description: Works of art are presented alongside images obtained using different types of radiation
Dates: November 23, 2012 - February 24, 2013
City, Country: Barcelona, Spain
Point of contact: Mireia Mestre (curator)
Online Resources: Videos http://www.mnac.cat/exposicions/exp_passades.jsp?lan=002&actualPage=2
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery, Columbia University
Title/Exhibit name: No Longer Salvage Art Institute
Topic/Brief Description: Works deemed without value by insurance companies after suffering accidental damage
Dates: November 8 - December 20, 2012
City, State, Country (if not U.S.): New York, New York
Point of contact: Elka Krajewska
Online Resources: Video of a panel discussion held in conjunction with the exhibition opening. link to video
Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Stadtlische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau Munchen (Munich, Germany)
Title: Kunst is schon, macht aber viel Arbeit
Topic/Brief Description:
Dates: November 9, 2012 - February 10, 2013

Institution: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
Title: Conserving Antiquity
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibition focuses on the field of conservation, the deterioration of objects and archaeological sites, the work of conservators, and the importance of preserving material culture. The exhibition includes a variety of activities for visitors. The associated website has some of the didactic panel text, as well as the same videos and audio recordings available in the gallery.
Dates: November 2, 2012 - February 10, 2013
Points of contact: Suzanne Davis and Claudia Chemello
Topics covered: Conservation as a profession, preventive conservation, examination and documentation, conservation treatment, technical study, archaeological research
Online Resources: Conserving Antiquity website
Submitted by: Suzanne Davis

Project conservator Molly Gleeson working in the Artifact Lab. Photo by Jim Graham.

Institution: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Title: In the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies
Topic/Brief Description: In the Artifact Lab features a working conservation space in one of the museum galleries. In this exhibit, visitors have the opportunity to watch a conservator at work conserving Egyptian mummies and related funerary items. The exhibit also includes displays of Egyptian artifacts with information about their condition and state of conservation, a Proscope station where visitors can view samples of new and deteriorated materials under magnification, and a Smartboard with information about the conservation process and ongoing activities. Twice daily, the conservator is available to speak with the public and answer questions.
Dates: September 30, 2012 and ongoing
City, State: Philadelphia, PA
Conservators/Points of contact: Lynn Grant, Head Conservator and Molly Gleeson, Project Conservator
Topics covered: Examination, conservation treatment, analysis, research
Analytical equipment or techniques used: PLM, pXRF
Publications:
Online Resources: The exhibit has a companion blog, managed by the conservators, and a presence on Twitter.
Submitted by: Molly Gleeson

Institution: Haus der Kulturinstitute (Munich, Germany)
Title: Firmitas et Splendor. Material, Technik und Rekonstruction romischer Wandputze
Topic/Brief Description: Part of the BMBF research program on Vitruv und die Techniken des Raumdekors
Dates: June 20 - August 17, 2012

The Flood of ’72: Community, Collections, and Conservation

Institution: Corning Museum of Glass, Rakow Research Library (Corning, NY)
Title: The Flood of '72: Community, Collectors and Conservation
Topic/Brief Description: On June 23, 1972, Corning and the surrounding communities were devastated by a major flood, as a result of the tropical storm Agnes. At the Museum, hundreds of objects were broken, more than half of the Library’s materials were saturated with flood water, and the facility was covered with a thick layer of slime and mud. This exhibit chronicles the determination of Museum staff and the community to rebuild, and sheds light on the unique conservation techniques that were used to restore Library materials.
Dates: May 24, 2012 - January 3, 2013
*http://www.cmog.org/set/images-flood-72-community-collections-and-conservation#.UNSk1nfoIbo

Institution: Yale University Library
Title: The Traveling Scriptorium
Topic/Brief Description: The Traveling Scriptorium is a teaching kit, created by Yale University conservators and curators, to support the study of the medieval and early modern book as material artifact. In addition to offering samples of the materials and components of early and early modern books, to be used in hands-on exercises by Yale students, faculty, and staff, the kit serves as an outreach tool to highlight conservators as resources for study of physical composition of raw materials and historical production methods.
Dates: April 1, 2012 - present (ongoing)
City, State: New Haven, CT
Point of contact: Christine McCarthy, Chief Conservator, Yale University Library
Online resources: Information can be found here.
Submitted by: Christine McCarthy

Pedestal case at the Petrie Museum

Institution: Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London (London, England)
Title: Mending Glass!
Topic/Brief Description: Work done on Petrie objects by conservation students at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL.
Dates: April 2012 - ongoing
*http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2012/04/17/mending-glass-a-new-conservation-display-at-the-petrie-museum/

Conserving the Southwest Museum Collection

Institution: The Autry National Center, Mt. Washington Campus
Title: Highlights of the Southwest Museum Collection
Topic/Brief Description: Cameo exhibition showcasing conservation and archaeology at the Autry National Center's Mt. Washington campus. The exhibition highlights one ceramic vessel to show the past conservation techniques versus the present methods along with conservation efforts of the museum using artifacts including ceramics, basketry, skin, ivory, and gourd masks. It also shows collections care efforts through packing and labeling techniques used at the museum. Also among the highlights are Mark Raymond Harrington's several field expeditions and the museum's pottery collection.
Dates: March 31, 2012 - ongoing
City, State: Los Angeles, CA
Point of contact: Ozge Gencay-Ustun, Assistant Conservator
Online Resources: The exhibit info can be found here
Submitted by: Ozge Gencay-Ustun

Institution: Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo, Japan)
Title: Conservation and Restoration of the Tokyo National Museum Collection
Topic/Brief Description: 12th annual exhibition showcasing conservation and restoration work conducted on objects in the Tokyo National Museum collection
Dates: February 21 - April 1, 2012

2011

Institution: Kadriorg Art Museum (Tallinn, Estonia)
Title: Bosch and Bruegel. Four Paintings Magnified
Topic/Brief Description:
Date: October 21, 2011 - March 4, 2012
http://www.bosch-bruegel.com/www.bosch-bruegel.com (website nonfunctional?)

Institution: Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, MD)
Title: Lost and Found: The Secrets of Archimedes
Topic/Brief Description:
Date: October 16, 2011 - January 1, 2012

Institution: The Getty Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: From Start to Finish: DeWain Valentine's 'Gray Column'
Topic/Brief Description: Examines the materials and manufacturing processes used in the creation of this work
Date: September 13, 2011 - March 11, 2012

Institution: Royal Palace (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Title: The Batavian Commissions: Flinck, Lievens, Ovens, Jordaens, Bol and Rembrandt
Topic/Brief Description: Focuses on the construction of the paintings and accompanied by an exhibition at the University of Amsterdam Erfgoed Lab on the restoration of the paintings
Date: July 1 - September 18, 2011

Institution: Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, TX)
Title: Picasso-Braque: the Cubist Experiment 1910- 1912
Topic/Brief Description: The exhibit contains one gallery focusing on materials and techniques and includes material on the technical examination of Picasso's "Man with a Pipe"
Date: May 29- August 21, 2011

Institution: Musee de Design et d'Arts Applique Contemporaine (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Title: A Flood of Art
Topic/Brief Description: Works of glass and ceramics art damaged in the November 4, 2008flood and then restored
Date: May 9 - June 13, 2011

Institution: The Getty Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: Drama and Devotion: Heemskerck's Ecce Homo Altarpiece from Warsaw
Topic/Brief Description: Provides insight into Heemskerck's materials and technique
Date: June 5, 2012 - January 13, 2013

Institution: Norton Simon Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
Title: Where Art Meets Science: Ancient Sculpture from the Hindu-Buddhist World
Topic/Brief Description:
Date: April 22 - August 1, 2011

Institution: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO)
Title: Monet's Water Lilies
Topic/Brief Description:Provides Monet's technique and thought process used for the creation of the Water Lilies triptych created between 1915 and 1926. The audience is invited to experience the intersection of art and science through didactic panels and interactive features showing x-ray images, micrograph, and cross sections.
Date: April 9, 2011 - August 7, 2011
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/Exhibitions/monet/index.cfm

Institution: Bayerisches National Museum (Munich, Germany)
Title: Prunkmobel am Munchner Hof-Barocker Dekor unter der Lupe
Topic/Brief Description: Boulle furniture and its manufacture and conservation
Date: April 8 - July 31, 2011

Institution: Yale University Library
Title: Conserving the Maps of the George Washington Atlas
Topic/Brief Description: In 2007, the Yale University Library received a generous donation to support conservation treatment for the George Washington Atlas. Treatment of the maps occurred over the course of a two year period. The dedicated funding allowed the Library to hire a paper conservator, Sarah Dove, to carry out hte treatment on-site in the Library's conservation laboratory. The exhibition examines the treatment process for the maps and also highlights various aspects of the work of conservators. The exhibition was a companion to a larger exhibition, "George Washington's America: A Biography Through His Maps," which highlighted scholarly research and a publication for which the maps were the primary source materials.
Dates: March 4, 2011 - May 31, 2011
City, State: New Haven, CT
Point of contact: Christine McCarthy, Chief Conservator, Yale University Library
Submitted by: Christine McCarthy

Institution: Getty Villa (Malibu, CA)
Title: Apollo from Pompeii: Investigating an Ancient Bronze
Topic/Brief Description:
Date: March 2 - September 12, 2011

2010

Exhibit image from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's website

Institution: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Title/Exhibit name: Conservation: Where Art and Science Meet
Topic/Brief Description: This exhibit focused on the process of conservation. The main sections included "The Material World"--a look at manufacturing decisions and practices; "Foiling the Agents of Decay" which focused on some of the factors that cause deterioration to cultural heritage materials and the ways to mitigate the damage they cause; "The Detective Story" dealt with how conservators learn about objects and introduced analytical techniques; "Case Studies" introduced philosophical and ethical issues in conservation including how far to clean an object, the idea of minimum intervention and the historical integrity of an object. Several interactives were employed throughout the exhibit including a station where visitors could learn about what information might be lost if a piano were to be restored to playability versus stabilized as is and then vote on the approach they favored.
Dates: June 18, 2010 to September 3, 2012
City, State: Williamsburg, VA
Point of contact: Emily Williams (Colonial Williamsburg Exhibit Curator)
Topics covered: Technical study and analysis, conservation treatment
Analytical equipment or techniques used: X-radiography, Portable XRF, FTIR, paint-cross sections, microscopy, UV and IR light.
Publications:
Online Resources:

• Visit the Colonial Williamsburg's April 5, 2010 blog post to listen to Exhibit Curator Emily William's podcast on Conservation: Where Art and Science Meet

Submitted by: Emily Williams

Institution: Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI)
Title: Fakes, Forgeries and Mysteries
Topic/Brief Description:
Date: November 21, 2010 - April 10, 2011

Institution: Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA)
Title: An Eakins Masterpiece Restored: Seeing ‘The Gross Clinic’ Anew
Topic/Brief Description:
Date: July 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011

Institution: National Gallery of Art (London, England)
Title: Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries
Topic/Brief Description: Focuses on 40 counterfeit paintings , bought by the museum institution by mistake. The protagonist of the exhibition is a painting called ” the most sensational error that the National Gallery has ever made, even become famous ” : a fake Botticelli bought for a higher amount than that for which, in the same days, another authentic one was bought. Among the other works on display there were fakes by Rembrandt, Andrea del Verrocchio, Piero della Francesca, Giorgione and also a Hans Holbein.
Online resources:https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/press-and-media/press-releases/close-examination-fakes-mistakes-and-discoveries Point of contact: Marjorie E. Wieseman (Exhibit Curator) Date: June 30 - September 12, 2010 Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield

Institution: Sarah E. Gillespie Museum of Art, William Carey University (Hattiesburg,MS)
Title: Miracles of Restoration
Topic/Brief Description:
Date: April - June 15, 2010
Institution: Museé d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Paris, France)
Title: Seconde Main (Second Hand)
Topic/Brief Description: Featuring a selection of “ look - alike ” works from the sixties to the present, the exhibition explores the diversity and originality of responses to the notions of copy, appropriation and imitation. Seconde main displays side by side these “reproductions” with the museum’s originals. Thus, a Picasso from the museum’s collection is juxtaposed with appropriationnist Mike Bidlo’s Not Picasso.
Online resources:https://www.mam.paris.fr/en/expositions/exhibitions-seconde-main Point of contact: Anne Dressen (Exhibit Curator) in collaboration with Sébastien Gokalp, assisted by Olivia Gaultier Date: March 25- October 24, 2010 Submitted by: Rebecca Rushfield