Ulrich Birkmaier specializes in the treatment, long-term study and care of Old Master and 19th-century European paintings, including technical and materials analyses. He studied paintings conservation at the Doerner Institut, Munich, Germany, and the Istituto Per l’Arte e Il Restauro in Florence. After beginning his career in Munich, Birkmaier served as a graduate intern in the Getty’s paintings conservation department for a year before being appointed assistant paintings conservator. Subsequently he held positions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Getty Conservation Institute (as conservation guest scholar), and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, where he served as the chief conservator. In July 2018, Birkmaier was appointed senior conservator of paintings at the Getty.
ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
The Painting Conservation Department was founded in 1972, two years before the J. Paul Getty Museum opened to the public in Malibu. A quickly growing collection required consistent care and active conservation treatment performed on the highest level, and over the decades the department has continued, deepened, and expanded its core mission. New imaging technologies, instruments for the analysis of materials, and a strong ethical framework have all become crucial tools in the technical study, preventive conservation, and treatment of paintings. Today, the painting conservation department consists of a team of professionals that collaborate with art historians, scientists and educators, all engaged in the study and protection of our global heritage.
Through strong support from the Paintings Council, the department also engages in a program of collaborative projects with other institutions in order to restore major works of art from their collections. The work is provided in exchange for the opportunity to exhibit the treated artworks in the galleries at the Getty Center. Jackson Pollock’s Mural from the University of Iowa, and Guercino’s Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph from the National Gallery of Ireland (pictured above) are just two of the many works that have been treated and displayed at the Getty over the years. In addition to books and scholarly publications, lectures and other activities that further the field of preservation in general, the department is committed to building the next generation of museum professionals, through the Getty Foundation’s renowned graduate intern and guest scholar programs.
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CONTACT INFO
PROJECTS & INITIATIVES
Ercole de' Roberti's The Garden of Gethsemane
Renaissance painter Ercole de' Roberti's work was nearly forgotten in the centuries after his death except for a remarkable pair of panels titled The Garden of Gethsemane depicting scenes of Christ's Passion. Originally painted for the church of San Giovanni al Monte in Bologna, these panels recently underwent a major conservation treatment at the Getty Museum in partnership with the Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister in Dresden.
Learn more about this restoration
Framing Masterpieces
Paintings conservation work includes the cleaning, maintenance, and conservation of gilded and ornate frames. When Guercino's painting Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph came to the Museum from the National Gallery of Ireland for restoration, associate conservator Gene Karraker transformed its frame's darkened patina to a shining gold.
Read more about this project and frame restoration
Willem de Kooning's Woman-Ochre
More than 30 years after it was cut from its frame, ripped from its backing, rolled up and stolen from the University of Arizona Museum of Art, Willem de Kooning’s painting Woman-Ochre (1954–1955) has traveled to the Getty for conservation and study.
Learn more about this partnership
NEWS & STORIES
This Painting Survived an Explosion
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Hercules and Omphale comes to Getty for conservation
VIDEOS
Getty conservators Laura Rivers and Yvonne Szafran worked to bring Jackson Pollock's Mural back to the appearance it had when first painted seventy years ago.
Watch more Paintings Conservation videos