Papers by Morwenna Blewett
The Burlington Magazine, 2016
In 1910, Edward Waldo Forbes, Director of the Fogg Art Museum, purchased from a New York dealer, ... more In 1910, Edward Waldo Forbes, Director of the Fogg Art Museum, purchased from a New York dealer, Louis Ehrich, a panel painting depicting the Annunciation of the Virgin’s Death. In the same year he also acquired two badly damaged painted fragments that once formed part of the painted verso of the Annunciation panel. After a brief period as part of his private collection, Forbes then gave the panel to the Fogg Art Museum. In a letter to a former student, in 1913, Forbes talks about the condition of the verso painting:
The Picture Restorer, 2024
Histories of Conservation and Art History in Modern Europe, 2022
Conservation of Easel Paintings, Second Edition provides a much-anticipated update to the previou... more Conservation of Easel Paintings, Second Edition provides a much-anticipated update to the previous edition, which has come to be known internationally as an invaluable and comprehensive text on the history, philosophy and methods of the treatment of easel paintings. Comprising 49 chapters written by more than 90 respected authors from around the world, this volume offers the necessary background knowledge in technical art history, artists' materials, and scientific methods of examination and documentation. Later sections of the book provide information about the varying approaches and methods for treatment and issues of preventive conservation, as well as valuable reflections on storage, shipping, and exhibition. Including exciting developments that have taken place since the last edition was published, the book also covers new techniques of examination, especially MacroXRF scanning and Reflectance Transmission Imagery. Drawing on research presented at recent professional conferences, information about innovative methods for cleaning modern and contemporary paintings and insights into modern oil paints is also included. Incorporating the latest regulations and understanding of health and safety practices and integrating theory with practice throughout, Conservation of Easel Paintings, Second Edition will continue to be an indispensable reference for practising conservators. It will also be an essential resource for students taking conservation courses around the world.
New York dealer, Louis Ehrich, a panel painting depicting the Annunciation of the Virgin’s Death1... more New York dealer, Louis Ehrich, a panel painting depicting the Annunciation of the Virgin’s Death1. In the same year he also acquired two badly damaged painted fragments that once formed part of the painted verso of the Annunciation panel. After a brief period as part of his private collection, Forbes then gave the panel to the Fogg Art Museum. In a letter to a former student, in 1913, Forbes talks about the condition of the verso painting: ‘The dealer sawed the picture in two and as the left half was practically destroyed, he threw it away, all but a little scrap which I have, and made a framed picture of. As you will it is much repainted, and in very bad condition.’2
Studies in Conservation, 2014
Abstract Being prepared to address an attack on a painting requires considerable input from both ... more Abstract Being prepared to address an attack on a painting requires considerable input from both scientific and conservation personnel. When tailoring an appropriate and effective incident response, a well-developed knowledge of the collection, the museum layout, and staffing is also essential. This article discusses the nature of attacks on paintings and the materials and techniques used to mitigate the effects of malicious damage. Previous research into response procedures and the testing of attack substances is also summarized. The primary focus of the article traces the redevelopment of the National Gallery incident response grab bag that caters to various types of attack. Discussions center on developing the customized content of the new bag, material testing, and a practice run-through to establish a response procedure. Ultimately, the practicality and efficacy of the grab bag are demonstrated.
Kunstgeschichte im "Dritten Reich", 2008
With some 280,000 objects, the Harvard Art Museum is the largest university art museum in the Uni... more With some 280,000 objects, the Harvard Art Museum is the largest university art museum in the United States. Its Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler museums feature world-renowned collections of archaic Chinese jades and bronzes, Italian Renaissance paintings, and nineteenth-century art, along with remarkable holdings of prints, drawings, photographs, and Bauhaus and German expressionist works, making it one of the most distinguished museums in the world.This first handbook of the collections surveys their full scope, from early-Egyptian bronzes and Chinese ceramics to contemporary paintings and prints. Familiar works by Pollock, Picasso, Durer, Van Gogh, and other well-known artists are presented along with extraordinary Persian miniatures, rare photographic prints, important Greek coins, and African sculpture. Each work is fully illustrated in color and introduced with a brief, engaging text. This elegantly designed book not only offers an appealing and accessible presentation of some of the Harvard Art Museum's most significant works, but also introduces readers to other resources at the Museums, such as the Straus Center for Conservation, as well as to the artist archives that are housed there.
E-Preservation …
Recent examination and treatment of the Worcester Art Museum's Reclining Nude, c. 1925, oil on ca... more Recent examination and treatment of the Worcester Art Museum's Reclining Nude, c. 1925, oil on canvas, by the Dutch-born Fauve artist Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) indicate that the artist used unorthodox materials and techniques, including selective varnishing to adjust color saturation and surface sheen. Examination also revealed resinlike beads exuded from unvarnished passages of paint considered artist-applied retouches. ATR-FTIR micro-spectroscopy of the exudate suggests the presence of gum arabic and sucrose, two common components in watercolor formulations. In order to verify the presence of gum arabic in the exudate, a newly developed ELISA protocol was used, which confirmed the presence of gum arabic. This may indicate that the artist modified his oil paint with gouache or watercolor, ultimately resulting in phase separation and subsequent beading up of water-soluble components from within the paint's predominantly oil component. The identification of water-soluble materials within an otherwise non-water-soluble paint surface proved critical in formulating an appropriate cleaning approach. Although the exact cause of the exudate is debatable, it serves as a cautionary note for conservators faced with the challenge of treating paintings by Van Dongen.
Notes and Records: the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, 2021
Conservation practice, material exploration and their respective 'scientific' rationales were not... more Conservation practice, material exploration and their respective 'scientific' rationales were not confined to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They also existed in the early modern and modern periods. The papers in this special issue seek to challenge the idea that these types of physical and intellectual interactions with collected objects only emerged in the Industrial Age. Great scientific advances in conservation and related materials analysis were made in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by various museum directors, conservators and chemists, and with them the evolution of prominent conservation theories. But these achievements have become disproportionately represented in the growing literature on the history of conservation and have served to dominate the narrative. 1 The idea for this special issue developed from a one-day online conference held in 2021, organized by Morwenna Blewett at the Ashmolean Museum. Lucy Wrapson chaired a panel session and made closing remarks, drawing together the interrelationships between seven diverse papers, which tackled the preservation of art and material culture at a wide range of places and dates. The papers highlight the themes that were right at the heart of the early development of the Ashmolean Museum in the seventeenth century, and were so very clearly in train the century before. Among them are: material investigation; preservation; debates around damage; deterioration; loss compensation; documentation; and the very function and purpose of conservation and preservation. All these considerations motivated interpositions that were certainly not 'unscientific'. The shadow of achievements in the history of conservation history, stemming from the nineteenth century, serves to cement and provide a compelling origin story, particularly for those who played a traceable and autobiographical part in those events. And, if we look closely, we can see this tendency emerging in the comments of some of the indisputably accomplished figures of the twentieth century. A typical example comes as late as 1978, when Harold Plenderleith, the chemist, archaeologist and conservator who had worked at
Vandalism at National Gallery Like many public museums, the National Gallery, London, has sustain... more Vandalism at National Gallery Like many public museums, the National Gallery, London, has sustained acts of vandalism to its collection. Archival records dating back to 1863 reveal that patterns of damage mostly involve mechanical damage with fewer non-corrosive substance attacks. In 2011, a further two paintings were defaced with canned spray paint. In total 21 works of art have been damaged. Emergency procedures In response to this most recent assault and awareness of the need to update...
The Picture Restorer 58, 2021
The Picture Restorer, 2020
Willard heated spatulas produced from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s. First heated spatula to be... more Willard heated spatulas produced from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s. First heated spatula to be commercially available.
Migrants: Art, Artists, Materials and Ideas Crossing Borders
Allied government intelligence agencies working in Germany during the closing chapters of the Sec... more Allied government intelligence agencies working in Germany during the closing chapters of the Second World War, and immediately after the cessation of hostilities, invited various interested official bodies and businesses to join them in collecting commercial information. Among many industries, artists' colourmen wholeheartedly took up the baton of the state-sponsored sequestration of German intellectual property relating to pigments, binders, canvas, inks and other materials. Representatives of Winsor & Newton Ltd. and George Rowney & Company spent nearly a month in Germany attempting to gain knowledge of German products and processes in order to improve their own. At the same time, efforts to profit from the empirical knowledge of a German academic expert was made by some of the most august art institutions in London, such as the National Gallery and the Courtauld Institute of Art, by exploiting state mechanisms for the forcible removal of some of these individuals from German to British soil. Significant roles were played by this individual in the criminal organisations of the National Socialist genocidal and totalitarian regime, but these British institutions extended every effort to benefit from the accrual of his professional knowledge in respect of materials, conservation and teaching expertise.
Ashmolean Magazine 81, 2021
Ashmolean Magazine 78, 2019
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Papers by Morwenna Blewett