Getty Fellowship Conservation Project

Conserving Canvas is an international grant initiative focused on the conservation of paintings on canvas. 

Since 2018, the Getty Foundation has awarded 31 grants to 26 recipients in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. The initiative ensures that conservators are able to care for paintings on canvas supports through training, scientific research, and the sharing of knowledge. 

The National Gallery of Ireland is delighted to be one of the recipients of this grant. The project we’re working on focuses on three paintings in our collection: two collages on canvas by the cubist artist Juan Gris and one oval painting by the Italian old master Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino.

Although the artworks were created in different historical periods, they share intriguing previous treatments. While the collages by Juan Gris are now catalogued as two separate artworks, they were once joined together. Gris painted Carafe, Cups and Glasses (above left) first, but for some reason we don’t yet know, he decided to discard it. Then he flipped the canvas over the stretcher and used its back as the support for a second collage, A Guitar, Glasses and a Bottle (at the top of the page). The two paintings were separated in the 1960s during one of the summer campaigns lead by the Italian Istituto del Restauro (nowadays ISCR). 

Guercino’s Saint Joseph with the Christ Child (above right) was also treated in the 1960s: a wax-resin lining was performed over an older glue-paste lining. However, it needs to be treated once again because of the detachment of the wax-resin lining and the buckling of the canvas: the structural treatment and a custom-designed stretcher will be at the core of the treatment that is currently in progress.

As well as supporting the structural treatment of these artworks, this grant also supports the specialised training of three painting conservators to carry out this treatment. The project started in October 2022 with the arrival of three painting conservators, Chiara Chillé, Maddalena Magnani and Paula Serra Sánchez (pictured above in our conservation studio), and will continue until next October. These intensive year-long fellowships will allow the conservators to enrich their knowledge in all aspects of the conservation treatment, ranging from testing potential structural solutions to the conservation of the paintings.

More to come: 

Additionally, the dissemination of the project will be circulated through different events for reaching a wider audience including workshops, conference papers, lectures, talks, and other activities in the Gallery.

This online hub will be updated periodically with the progress of the conservation treatment; there'll be lots more to uncover and learn about the fascinating history and future of these paintings.

This May, we are excited to host a series of free, week-long conservation workshops. Aimed especially at conservators starting out in the careers, these workshops will be led by a wonderful selection of senior conservators from well-know conservation institutes in Italy who will share their knowledge of traditional and modern methods for conserving textile supports with the next generation.

These workshops are very limited in capacity, and you can book your free place by emailing our Head of Conservation Simone Mancini at [email protected] 

Details

Date: Monday 8 - Friday 12 May 9.15am – 5.30pm
Title of workshop: Florentine glue paste lining between tradition and innovation. A lining system with a thermoplastic modular adhesive in aqueous dispersion.
Guests: Senior Painting conservators: Francesca Bettini, Caterina Toso, Luigi Orata (Opificio Pietre Dure, Scuola di alta formazione, Florence)
Admission: Free, but places are limited. Email [email protected] to book your place

Date: Monday 15 – Friday 19 May, 9.15am – 5.30pm
Title of workshop: Roman lining methods and reforming paste glue lining
Guests: Senior Painting Conservator Barbara Lavorini and Senior Paper Conservator Miriam Pitocco (Istituto Centrale per il  Restauro, Rome)
Admission: Free, but places are limited. Email [email protected] to book your place

Date: Monday 22 – Friday 26 May, 9.15am – 5.30pm
Title of workshop: Solvent reactivated and modified paste glue lining techniques. A focus on mechanical testing with a dedicated machine and hands on experience of reversibility.
Guests: Painting Conservator Antonio Iaccarino Idelson, Equilibrarte Conservazione e Restauro.
Admission: Free, but places are limited. Email [email protected] to book your place.

Booking

Email [email protected] to book your free place. Please indicate which workshop/s you'd like to attend.