In 1957, artist James Gleeson, then art critic at The Sun newspaper, wrote that the paintings of Ian Fairweather (1891-1974) would never last.1 Reputedly using whatever materials came to hand within his itinerant lifestyle, the paintings of Fairweather are renowned as much for their fragility as their beauty, and this is part of their appeal.…
Continue reading » “Go behind-the-scenes as we conserve Ian Fairweather’s paintings”
As conservators caring for a range of paintings in the QAGOMA collection, we began to notice that some contemporary paintings on pre-primed canvases do not always behave predictably during conservation treatments. This, combined with questions from artists, led us to a three year collaborative project with colleagues in Singapore and Melbourne to assess the range…
Continue reading » “Investigating Contemporary Artist Canvases”
Unconventional types of damage require unconventional treatment strategies. This is certainly true for the collaborative major treatment QAGOMA’s paintings conservation team completed on Gordon Bennett’s (1955 – 2014) Number three 2004, a significant diptych painted in acrylic on Belgian linen. Bennett is well-known for his highly figurative narrative-driven commentaries on Australian colonial history and contemporary…
Continue reading » “Conserving Gordon Bennett’s diptych ‘Number three’”
The QAGOMA Foundation assists with Gallery conservation activities such as supporting complex treatments, technical art history studies, innovative research and analysis that frequently leads to publication and contributes to a wider body of industry knowledge, and enabled a research project with the Heritage Conservation Centre, Singapore. We delve into recent investigations into the materials and…
Continue reading » “Inquiring minds: Conserving a Collection”
It’s that time of the year in Brisbane when purple reigns with a lavender canopy covering the city from October to November — and of course, our own version, captured in oil — a signal that spring is here and summer is on its way. The jacaranda painted by R. (Richard) Godfrey Rivers (1858-1925) is…
Continue reading » “What is under the jacaranda: Keeping the painting under glass”
It’s Jacaranda season in Brisbane, the time of year that splashes of fluorescent lavender coloured blooms dot the landscape and end with an eye-catching display of purple rain. Even though the flowering season is only a couple of months, the Gallery’s painting Under the jacaranda 1903 by R. (Richard) Godfrey Rivers (1858-1925) is always in full…
Continue reading » “What’s under the Jacaranda: Hidden in the X–rays”