The Department of Paper Conservation was formed in 1997, coinciding with the opening of the Getty Center. The department brings together the conservation staffs responsible for the preservation of the Getty Museum’s collections of drawings, manuscripts, and photographs. With expertise in the conservation of paper and historic drawing media, parchment and painted illuminations, binding structures, and the wide-ranging media represented by the history of photography, the mission of the department is the preservation, conservation treatment, mounting and housing, technical study, and rotating display of these collection materials.
The department has a rich history of collaboration with scientists at the Getty Conservation Institute in the study of all three collections, with an emphasis in artists' methods and materials, treatment techniques, and preventive conservation practices. Strong ties and partnerships with the collections' curators have yielded significant advances in technical art history, disseminated worldwide in exhibitions, catalogs, books, technical journal publications, and presentations. Paper Conservation also serves the art conservation field by hosting specialized advanced courses for practicing conservators, and by serving in leadership roles within professional organizations.
