Gregory J. Landrey

Biography

Gregory Landrey (he/him) joined Winterthur in 1979 as assistant furniture conservator and as affiliated assistant professor in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. He was the head of the furniture conservation laboratory from 1986-1995, and as Director of Conservation from 1995-2006. From 2006 until January 2021, Gregory served as Director of Academic Affairs, a position named for Dwight and Lorri Lanmon in 2013. Gregory retired from Winterthur in January 2021 and was appointed Senior Conservator Emeritus of Furniture.  During his 41-year tenure, Gregory has trained and mentored hundreds of graduate students in both WPEAC/WPAMC and WUDPAC.

Landrey's practical experienc​​e began at age 16, as a cabinet shop assistant for the Corner Cupboard Antiques (Strafford, PA), where he built and restored furniture under the tutelage of David Sloan. He worked at the Corner Cupboard Antiques for seven years, serving as cabinet shop manager for the last two. In addition to his bench training, he attended Gettysburg College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1977 under the guidance of Dr. Charles H. Glatfelter. In 2007, the Getty selected him to participate in the Museum Leadership Institute program.

Landrey's expertise and research includes non-profit leadership, administration, collections care, the history of Winterthur’s museum rooms with an focus on historic furniture and interior architecture, the preservation of historic furniture coatings, the techniques of traditional cabinetmaking, and historic automobiles.. He is an affiliated associate professor for WUDPAC. He has written and lectured extensively on furniture conservation and historic furniture. Recent publications include: “Mrs. Oliver’s Chair” in Boston Furniture 1700-1900  and  “Seeing more clearly through opaque surfaces: a review of furniture finishes.”, co-authored with Dr. Stephanie Auffret, inProceedings, Twelfth International Symposium on Wood and Furniture Conservation. He was a primary contributor to Conservation of Furniture a Butterworth-Heinemann book.

Since 2013, Landrey has worked with the World Monuments Fund, the Palace Museum, and Tsinghua University as an advisor to CRAFT (Conservation Resources for Architectural Interiors/Furniture and Training) to train Chinese students and professors in conservation according to international standards. He served as Conservator in Residence at the Palace Museum in Beijing, China for two semesters in fall 2014 and spring 2019, and has stewarded the Winterthur/University of Delaware partnership with CRAFT, strengthening Winterthur’s international profile and recognition of its world-class collections and graduate programs.