Category: Undergraduate Students
Student Blog: Brooklyn Museum
June 30, 2024 Written by CAS Staff
For the last ten months, I have been working as a graduate intern in the Paintings lab at the Brooklyn Museum. During this time, I have been focused on preparing many American paintings for a major reinstallation of the American Galleries, which is currently underway. The reinstall provided an opportunity for some of the Galleries' most popular paintings to receive attention after being on view for years. Other paintings were pulled from storage and had not been treated or even assessed since entering the collection. The reinstall is a massive undertaking, and I was excited to gain further treatment experience through a large variety of projects. So far, I have completed 11 treatments, have a year-long ongoing project, and have two or three more projects to work through in the last two months at my internship. These treatments cover mechanical and aqueous cleaning, varnish removal and application, inpainting, frame modifications, complex backing board attachment, and structural work.
partial to this artist as I had done a lot of research on the treatment of Eakins' paintings previously. My supervisors Lauren Bradley and Ellen Nigro were happy to support my enthusiasm, and had me treat Letitia Wilson Jordan. The painting was in the gallery for a long time and the surface had grown dull from dust accumulation and varnish degradation. After removing superficial dirt with cosmetic sponges, I tested various aqueous solutions, ultimately using a pH 6.5 citrate solution buffered with Bis-tris, followed by a pH 6.5 adjusted water to clear any residues from the surface. While this solution picked up significant grime from the surface, the painting still appeared dull. The varnish, while slightly gray and muted, was still stable and not discolored enough to justify a removal within the given timeframe. In discussion with my supervisors and the American curator, it was agreed that the application of a new layer of varnish would be necessary to saturate the surface without removing the previous varnish. With the assistance of my supervisors, I brushed the painting with 10% Regalrez in Shellsol 71 which satisfactorily saturated the paint and brought the original colors back to life. Once the varnish settled on the surface, I used Gamblin Conservation Colors and isopropanol to reintegrate tiny losses into Eakins' brush strokes and bring back more definition to the painting's planes and visual space. With all the aesthetic work done, Letitia Wilson Jordan regained the depth, nuanced use of color, and luminosity that Eakins prized in his paintings.
While I have learned and refined many treatment/technical skills during my time at the Brooklyn Museum, I have also worked on my project and time management skills in the face of such a large project as the American reinstall. This major reinstall has been a massive team effort with many projects underway along with extensive collaboration between the conservators, curators, and art handlers. Being part of the reinstall has required big-picture thinking that can have an impact on even small treatment steps. This all has prepared me well for my new position as Assistant Paintings conservator at Yale University Art Galleries where I will be overseeing the paintings section of a large storage move.
— Adriana Benavides, WUDPAC Class of 2024
