They go almost unnoticed. They are actors cultural essentials. The duty offers a series of portraits of shadow trades, through the confidences of professionals who practice them or have already practiced them. Today: art restorers.
The exhibition At full volume: Basquiat and the music finished, the little hands of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) are busy dismantling it. We are at the end of February at the time of the report, and the exhibition must now take the road to the Philharmonie de Paris, where it will be presented from April. Until then, the New York artist’s works must be painstakingly unhooked, packaged and then sent one by one under rigorous conditions.
During this wintry afternoon, it’s the turn of the painting King Zulu, which belongs to the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA), to enter into the chain of this painstaking work. “The delivery of this painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat is interesting, because it has no frame. We then have to place it in a travel “cabaret” after having put it in a kind of false frame which will protect its edges. Then, we will surround it with adequate cushioning to absorb the shocks and vibrations of transport,” explains the MMFA’s head of restoration, Richard Gagnier.
Preventive conservation
For the occasion, a MACBA conveyor is present on site. “There is trucking and flying to Barcelona, so someone is there to witness the handling between the different types of transport and ensure that the crate is handled well, etc. », specifies Richard Gagnier. But before sending, the two men first scrutinize the Basquiat in order to provide visual documentation of the canvas and establish a condition report. “Our mission, as restorers, is to carry out the examination of a loaned work upon its arrival and to cross-check its condition upon departure to certify that there have been no changes during the period of ‘exhibition’, continues the MMFA’s head of restoration. His profession thus plays an essential role within a museum institution: possessing and classifying all the appropriate information relating to the work of art with the aim of taking the necessary preventive conservation measures.
The restaurant community is very active in research and knowledge sharing. Understanding the chemical phenomenon of material degradation is essential. We must also be familiar with the interactions between all the products we use.
While the curative approach — which consists of restoring the integrity of a work in terms of the stability of materials, such as retouching and surface cleaning — is often the most well-known facet of the profession, the tasks of preventive conservation nevertheless occupy more than half the time of restaurateurs. “Of the 44,000 works of art in the MMFA, only 8% to 10% are presented. All the others are in reserve, and we must maintain the safest possible environment so that the works do not continue to deteriorate, even during possible transport periods,” emphasizes Richard Gagnier.
To do this, he relies in particular on scientific and technological developments, which have exploded since the 1980s. , who have developed this knowledge with engineers,” he says.
For her part, Mélanie Cloutier, restorer and head of preventive conservation at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, talks about a bubbling little community. “The restaurant community is very active in research and knowledge sharing,” she notes. With her colleagues, she works, among other things, on the degradation of materials. “Understanding the chemical phenomenon of material degradation is essential. We must also be familiar with the interactions between all the products we use. »
Knowledge sharing
According to Caterina Florio, Head of Restoration at the McCord Stewart Museum, the recent development of materials and scientific techniques in the preventive conservation of art objects is of great help. “We can now carry out very precise investigations thanks to new analysis techniques, which are not invasive. For example, it is no longer necessary to take samples,” she says. For the recent retrospective devoted to the photographer Alexander Henderson, the research campaign carried out upstream using the colorimeter made it possible to establish the best conditions for presenting this long-term exhibition.
“We work closely with the Museum’s curators, as their historical and theoretical knowledge informs our research into curatorial practice. The reverse is also true,” notes the McCord Stewart Museum conservator. And his colleague, Zoë Tousignant, Curator of Photography, adds: “Photographs are multidimensional objects, whose components do not deteriorate at the same speed. Their level of fragility is high, even if they are contemporary works, because they are very sensitive to light. » Should certain works be kept in reserve or, on the contrary, be shown to the public knowing that there will inevitably be damage? Caterina Florio answers this thorny question by evoking a constant exchange of knowledge with the restaurant industry. “It is a space of diplomacy, where there are many discussions. We always want to limit the risks. »
Mélanie Cloutier finally believes in “less is more”. “That’s why, in preventive conservation, we act more on the creation of an ideal environment than on the art object itself”, concludes the restorer of the MNBAQ, who salutes the effectiveness of the techniques. current.