The J. Paul Getty Museum

Decorative Arts and Sculpture Conservation cares for the Getty Museum’s three-dimensional artworks dating from medieval to modern times. The department focuses on the long-term care of the permanent collections and has made advancements in preventive measures for highly vulnerable tapestries and silver collections as well as in the treatment of marble sculpture and Boulle marquetry. When the Museum acquired an outdoor sculpture collection as a gift from Fran and Ray Stark in 2007, the department became responsible for its conservation and maintenance, inspiring new research, including methods for evaluating stainless steel passivation, removal and application techniques of deteriorated coatings, and research into the performance of protective lacquers for outdoor bronzes.

The department specializes in advanced technical studies of the permanent collections, collaborating with the department’s curators to publish the findings in the Getty’s catalogues. Topics of exploration include non-invasive dendrochronology, identifying protein-based binding media, developing a fastener database, new methods for identifying Asian and European lacquer, and developing a protocol for dating copper alloys.

Together with Antiquities Conservation, the department’s mountmakers have long been leaders in the seismic protection of artworks. In conjunction with structural and seismic engineers, the mountmakers apply their skill, insight, and experience to develop, design, and implement seismic mounts and isolation mechanisms, all of which are effective in protecting collections in the event of earthquakes.

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NEWS & STORIES

ONGOING TECHNICAL RESEARCH PROJECTS

• CAST:ING - Copper Alloy Sculpture Techniques and history: International iNterdisciplinary Group (co-founders)
• Method development for reproducible and collaborative quantitative XRF of historic copper alloys
• The use of carbon dioxide blasting for coating and corrosion removal on outdoor sculpture
• The use of 3-D scanning as a tool for seismic mounting for the protection of sculpture on display
• Appropriate use of luminescence dating for European sculpture
• MOXI – MOlecular Xylem Identification; project for wood identification based on chemical analysis (GCI collaboration)
• The use of voltammetry for the study of rust removers for outdoor stainless steel and tarnish removal from gilt silver
• The use of anoxic enclosures for the eradication of museum pests (GCI collaboration)
• Use of digital x-radiography for dendrochronology (wood dating)
• Microfadometry of tapestries (GCI collaboration)
• Evaluation of different fill materials for bulking B-72 for use in white marble loss compensation
• Development of certified reference materials for the standardization of quantitative x-ray fluorescence analysis of heritage copper alloy
• Practical application of dendrochronology to furniture
• RAdICAL - Recent Advances in Characterizing Asian Lacquers (GCI collaboration)
• Seismic mounting techniques for three dimensional objects
• Immunofluorescence Microscopy (IFM) and Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as complementary techniques for protein identification in artists' materials in collaboration with USC (GCI collaboration)

2022 MOUNTMAKING FORUM

SAVE THE DATE!

The next in-person IMF conference will be held in Los Angeles at the Getty Museum: November 8-10, 2022

More details to follow soon

Please check the International Mountmakers Forum website for the latest information!

The forum supports the mountmaking community and is committed to fostering communication, promoting best practices, and disseminating current information regarding materials, tools, techniques, and solutions for object storage and display.

VIDEOS

PUBLICATIONS

The following publications highlight recent and long-term research projects. A full department bibliography can be found at the link below.

• "The Cut-Back Core Technique in Late 17th and 18th Century"
  Bassett, Jane and Francesca Bewer, 2014, French Bronze Sculpture: Materials and Techniques 16th -18th Century.
  
  
• "Making It Stick: Challenges with the Re-Coating of Miró’s Outdoor Bronze Sculpture Entitled Personnage"
  Chasen, Jessica, Julie Wolfe, Arlen Heginbotham, and Herant Khanjian, forthcoming, AIC Objects Specialty Group Postprints.
  
  
• "Short Communication: Improved Mounting System for An Ancient Bronze Torso of a Youth"
  Farrar, B.J., 2012, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation.
  
  
• "The Optimization and Application of Quantitative Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy to the Collaborative Study of Historic Copper Alloys"
  Heginbotham, Arlen, 2018, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
  
  
• "Deconstructing Incralac: A Formulation Study of Acrylic Coatings for the Protection of Outdoor Bronze Sculpture"
  Wolfe, Julie, Rosie Grayburn, Herant Khanjian, and Arlen Heginbotham, 2017, ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints.
  
  

View a full bibliography of publications (PDF, 426 KB)