By Mark Leonard

Bringing innovative scientific techniques to an aesthetic endeavor, paintings conservators face countless decisions as they implement a course of treatment for each picture in their care.

The papers in this book—originally presented at a seminar organized by the Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute—explore the values, assumptions, and goals that shape the work of paintings conservators. Six conservators, three curators, and a conservation scientist candidly reflect on the challenges in approaching specific works of art. Each conservator describes a successful conservation effort, as well as a project that, in retrospect, might have been approached differently. Their insights, the responses of the curators and conservation scientist, and the panel discussions contribute to a thoughtful analysis of the ever-evolving art and science of paintings conservation.

Mark Leonard is conservator of paintings at the Getty Museum. Contributors include David Bomford, senior restorer of paintings at the National Gallery, London; Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, director of conservation at the Whitney Museum of American Art and founding director of the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art at Harvard University Art Museums; Andrea Rothe, formerly senior conservator for special projects at the Getty Museum; Ashok Roy, head of the scientific department of the National Gallery, London; Scott Schaefer, curator of paintings at the Getty Museum; Zahira Véliz, freelance conservator and independent art historian; Jørgen Wadum, chief conservator at the Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauritshuis, The Hague; and John Walsh, director emeritus of the Getty Museum.

128 pages, 7 1/2 x 10 inches
53 color and 20 b/w illustrations
ISBN 0-89236-698-2, paper, $29.95

This GCI book can be ordered online by visiting www.getty.edu/bookstore.