GCI Conservation News, June 2023

New Arches Project Bulletin

Catch up on news related to the Arches Heritage Data Management Platform with the latest edition of the Arches project bulletin, which includes updates on Arches for Science and other software developments, highlighted implementations such as the forthcoming British Columbia Register of Historic Places, and information about community events.

Read the May Arches Project Bulletin

Arches Project Featured on “Becoming Artsy”

Jessie Hendricks, host of Getty’s “Becoming Artsy” video series, hops on a plane to the UK to answer the question: What does beer have to do with historic places?

Jessie visits London and learns all about the connection between pubs and the open source data management platform Arches Project.

Watch the full video on YouTube 

International Course on the Conservation of Modern Heritage Begins

This blended course for mid-career professionals kicked off its online portion in early May, and will transition to in-person programming in Los Angeles in August.

The course aims to advance the conservation of modern heritage and architecture by providing participants with methodological and practical tools. Through lectures, discussions, exercises, demonstrations, and site visits, participants are learning conservation approaches and practical skills related to modern heritage conservation.

Read more about the course

Visit our Facebook page for updates as the course progresses

2023–2024 Conservation Guest Scholars

This fall, we will begin to welcome nine new residents in our Conservation Guest Scholars program.

The program, now in its 24th year, provides opportunities for established scholars or individuals who have attained distinction in their field to pursue research on topics that bring new knowledge and fresh perspectives to the field of conservation.

Read more about the 2023-2024 cohort

The application for 2024–2025 grants will open August 1, 2023.

Read more about the program

Bronze Patination for Conservators Workshop Applications Open

October 24–26, 2023
Getty Center, Los Angeles

The three-day workshop aims to provide conservators with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge needed to better understand chemical patinas and their application.

Apply by June 30

The Mensa Isiaca Under Review: Technical Study and New Interpretations

July 17–18, 2023

Museo Egizio, Turin, and Live-Streamed

We’re pleased to announce a two-day international symposium, “The Mensa Isiaca Under Review: Technical Study and New Interpretations,” organized by the Museo Egizio, Turin, Getty Museum, and the Getty Conservation Institute. 

Visit our Facebook and Twitter pages for full program information and details on how to register

Learn more about this project in the publication, “Mensa Isiaca: New Findings on its Composition, Construction, and History.”

Read more

Public Art Inside Out Symposium

A two-day international symposium co-organized by Getty Conservation Institute and MUDEC
May 7–8, 2024
MUDEC, Milan

Public art can be found worldwide both in urban and natural contexts in all its various forms, from historical monuments to contemporary art installations, street art and large scale murals. It is a reflection of our cultures and questions about the preservation of collective memories, and the balance between history and its shifting meanings continues to spark debate.

The symposium will use a dynamic format based on short presentations and panels to allow exchange of ideas about preservation and ephemerality, ownership, memorialization, and musealization.

A call for papers will be announced over the summer.

Visit our Facebook and Twitter pages to learn more

René Magritte

René Magritte (1898–1967) is the most famous Belgian artist of the twentieth century and a celebrated representative of the Surrealist movement. Much has been written about his practices, artistic community, and significance within the history of modernism, but little has been documented regarding his process.

This volume examines fifty oil paintings made by Magritte between 1921 and 1967, now held at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Purchase your copy from the Getty Store

Roy Lichtenstein: Outdoor Painted Sculpture

Vibrant color was essential to the paintings of the American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), and when he began exploring the creation of outdoor sculpture in the late 1970s, vivid hues remained an important part of his artistic vocabulary.

Today, preserving these remarkable works after they have endured decades in outdoor environments around the world is an issue of pressing concern.

This abundantly illustrated volume is based on extensive archival research of Lichtenstein’s studio materials, interviews with his assistants, and a thorough technical analysis of the sculpture Three Brushstrokes.

Purchase your copy from the Getty store

New Issue of Conservation Perspectives

Conserving Modern Architecture

A decade into our Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative, this issue of Conservation Perspectives revisits the topic of modern architecture conservation in order to reflect not only on our work in recent years, but also on how the field itself has evolved during that time.

Articles in this issue touch on the diverse ways modernism has manifested itself around the world, the activities of the Initiative over the last ten years, the particular challenges in the Arab world to the conservation of modern heritage, and the ongoing threats to modernist sites around the world.

Download your free copy

New in the Conservation Collection

Added to the collection in May are books about the conservation of books, rock art, radiocarbon dating, historic preservation, Viking swords, decorative arts, Gothic architecture, and illuminated manuscripts.

See the full list of new titles (PDF)

Conserving Art While Conserving Energy

We launched the Managing Collection Environments Initiative 10 years ago to develop strategies for the sustainable exhibition, transit, and storage of art objects.

Through research and fieldwork, the Initiative investigates how artworks respond to temperature, relative humidity, vibration, and lighting. The goal: to use evidence—both in terms of data and experience—to reassess a long-established set of narrow climate control parameters that are energy intensive and may not be needed for object preservation.

Scientists and conservators at Getty and beyond are getting creative to find more energy-efficient methods to preserve collections.

Read the full story