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January 27, 2020 was a day to address The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in California at the Pine Inn in Carmel, CA, about caring for paintings and frames in their many collections. The group of 15,000 members is associated with 70 historical structures across the nation and is responsible for the care and preservation of the buildings, grounds, and contents.

Working On Site at the Monterey Museum of Art

Conservators Road Show at Filoli in Woodside

In cooperation with the Bay Area Art Conservation Guild, Filoli  hosted a Conservation Road Show Weekend from January 27-28, 2018.

Dozens of conservation specialists were present to give expert advice and practical tips on preserving, conserving, or restoring visitor's treasured possessions such as paintings, object d'art, photographs, textiles and memorabilia.

Carl Armin Hansen (1886 - 1957) was a prominent American painter best know for his marine canvases who settled into the budding art colony of the era in Monterey, California. We recently concluded preparing six Armin Hansen paintings for this exhibit.

Chris Kenney, Conservator, and Ami Davis, Director of Education discussed the "Science of Salmon Trawlers" and explored what was revealed during the physical examination, solubility testing, and high resolution photography of the painting and how a past restoration effects the painting's condition and visual aesthetics.

We recently treated and assisted our client in placing this treasure in an auction at Christie's in New York. The painting was in a private collection and had not been seen in decades.

The painting can be seen laying on its side behind the desk at the right. A slow water leak from the roof over several years caused a devastating amount of damage when the ceiling of the Library caved in. Furniture, paintings, rugs, curtains  walls and objects were damaged.

Sarah Esther Chase Bourn

Mary Curtis Richardson, 1909

Oil on canvas

Posing with Julian Billote, a restorer of gilded objects, in the collaborative effort.

Teams of conservators  returned the Library to its former glory.

~ Image withheld by request ~

Neue Galerie is one of the finest museums and galleries devoted to 20th century artists in America. Kandinsky is one of the most important of the Munich group of Abstract Expressionists.

Museums and galleries contact us to perform condition surveys of artworks before transporting them.

A master marine painter, Yelland is known for his luminist work and for his San Francisco area coastal scenes at sunset. He also produced many Monterey views.

We were asked to prepare this portrait for accession into the permanent collection of the Crocker Art Museum and in the exhibit titled Tomorrow's Legacies: Celebrating the Next 125 Years Gifts.

Richards was a proponent of the American Pre-Raphaelite movement although he is also associated with the Hudson River School. Few paintings of this size (48 x 72 inches) exist outside of museums. This painting was damaged during transport when it was tied to the top of an automobile and transported across the continent.

Childe Hassam, an important American impressionist, produced over 3,000 paintings, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs in his career, and was a founding member of The Ten, an influential group of American artists.

The 6 by 8 foot painting and frame depicts the Monterey Bay from the rolling hills of Santa Cruz. Frank and his wife Lillian founded the Jolly Daubers and were at the center of the art scene in this quiet little burg on the Monterey Bay known as the Santa Cruz Art League.

A favorite client asked us to look at a few family heirlooms. One was a portrait of a young girl by Robert Henri, a leading figure among the Social Realists known as the Ashcan School in New York from the early 1900's. The owners flew to New York to observe the spirited auction at Sotheby's in 2009. "Mary Agnes" sold at the last minute to an anonymous phone bidder in excess of $1.6 million.

Mary, as a young girl, is kneeling on the steps in front of a rabbi at a temple. Her parents, Joachim and Anne, stand and kneel behind her.

Noah's work "is based in the academic tradition of the figure, and favors themes of the mythic, symbolic and heroic. His art is available in fine art galleries on the East and West coasts.