Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco
Lacquer Objects Conservation
$67,500 awarded March 2000

A Getty matching grant to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco supported conservation research and treatment of 22 objects from its lacquer collection. The works treated include some of the museum's most significant lacquer objects, such as a rare Chinese zun vessel with a ring handle dating from 278 B.C.E., as well as large screens, sculptures, masks, and other decorative objects. The objects were identified as being in critical need of conservation through a 1994 Getty-funded survey of the Museum's collections. Many of the pieces had undergone multiple previous restorations and raised important questions about treatment methodologies. These questions were the focus of an international seminar designed to advance understanding of different conservation philosophies and to explore their impact on lacquer conservation, particularly with regard to the use of reversible and irreversible materials. The results of the seminar informed the actual conservation treatments over a two-year period, and will be the subject of a forthcoming publication on lacquer conservation techniques. Getty funds supported the work of an outside conservator and direct conservation expenses, as well as publication costs to disseminate the seminar results to the field.

The Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, England
Conservation of Old Master Paintings
£157,328 awarded January 2001

Dulwich Picture Gallery received a matching grant for the conservation of more than 40 seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European Old Master paintings. Located just south of London, Dulwich is housed in the first purpose-built gallery in England, designed by Sir John Soane in 1811. One of the oldest in Great Britain, its collection includes important works by Canaletto, Cuyp, Gainsborough, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Watteau, and others. The paintings that are the focus of the current treatment project were identified through a previous Getty-funded survey of 650 of the Gallery's Old Master paintings. The survey documented the condition and needs of individual paintings, set treatment priorities, and addressed broad issues regarding the care and stewardship of the collection. The current conservation project, which includes a scholarly research component designed to augment interpretive and scholarly information about the paintings, is being completed over a three-year period. Grant funds are supporting the work of a conservator in implementing a series of carefully crafted treatment plans.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Conservation of John Singer Sargent Murals
$88,500 awarded January 1998

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston received a matching conservation treatment grant for murals and bas-reliefs by American artist John Singer Sargent. Invited in 1916 to embellish the neoclassical domed rotunda that crowned what was then the Museum's new building, Sargent spent the next ten years creating hundreds of preliminary drawings and oils, and completing the monumental paintings and reliefs that now surround the Museum's grand staircase and rotunda. Since their completion in the 1920s, the murals had been relegated to the background as the effects of dirt, surface damage, and harsh weather dulled the original colors and design. Technical examinations combined with scholarly research formed the basis for the recent conservation project, which was jointly headed by Museum conservators and curators. During the grant period, the project team undertook a careful cleaning of the mural surfaces, consolidated damaged areas of the murals and reliefs, and repainted the surrounding walls to recreate Sargent's original color scheme. The project's findings are now being incorporated into print and online publications. Getty funding for the project supported consulting conservator fees, scaffolding, and conservation and research materials.

See a complete listing of grants awarded.