Conservation

Looking at Works of Art on Paper: An Overview of Examination and Imaging Techniques

Submitted by Thaw Conservati... on Fri, 05/01/2020 - 12:00am
Drawing by Montagna details normal illumination and IRR comparison

Conservators in the Thaw Conservation Center (TCC) often spend time just looking at objects in the Morgan’s collection with the goal of understanding the physical structure of the object, the materials that make up the object, the support the object is made on, the techniques used to make the object, the object’s current condition, and even how the object may have looked at the time of its creation.

Materials and Decorative Techniques of the Read Album Leaves

Submitted by Thaw Conservati... on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:00am

The Morgan Library & Museum holds a collection of fifty-seven Persian and Indian album leaves acquired by J. Pierpont Morgan from Charles Hercules Read in 1911. These leaves are collectively known as the Read Albums and are broadly divided into two groups, Persian (MS M.386.1–.21) and Indian (MS M.458.1–.36).

Preserving and Revealing the Museum’s Treasures

Submitted by Thaw Conservati... on Mon, 11/13/2017 - 11:19am

The Thaw Conservation Center at the Morgan is a world-class laboratory for the conservation of works on paper and parchment—drawings, prints, photographs, illuminated manuscripts, rare books, fine bindings, and literary, historical, and music manuscripts—as well as a place for conservation studies.

Taming the Wild Things: Storage Considerations for the Bequest of Maurice Sendak

Submitted by Thaw Conservati... on Thu, 09/24/2020 - 2:30pm

Over 900 objects relating to Maurice Sendak’s (1928–2012) stage designs for The Magic Flute, The Cunning Little Vixen, Love for Three Oranges, The Nutcracker, and an opera based on Where the Wild Things Are arrived at the Morgan in 2013 as part of the artist’s extraordinary bequest. For many of us, the magic of Sendak’s books, in particular Where the Wild Things Are, live vividly in the memories of our childhood. It is thus both a delight and an honor to create a safe home for these wonderful objects.