Conserving our collection
Objects conservator Kerry Head cleaning Michael Parekowhai's sculpture, The English Channel.
At the Gallery, one of our primary objectives is to safeguard artworks for current and future generations to enjoy. Our conservators use their knowledge of how individual artworks are constructed and the potentially harmful effects of light, temperature, relative humidity, dust, insects, and vibration. They develop specific treatments for paintings, watercolours, prints, drawings, photographs, scroll paintings, frames, objects, sculptures, mixed media works, time-based and performance art.
Preventive conservation is carried out to ensure artworks are safely displayed, stored, or transported. Remedial conservation mitigates the effects of deterioration and damage. Conservation treatments are informed by scholarly research and thorough documentation and analysis. A range of examination techniques are used including microscopy, x-ray, or infra-red photography to help understand how the artist created the work. For contemporary works, conservators also engage in conversations with living artists on materials, working process, and how their artwork may change over time.
The changing landscape of artistic practice presents a constant challenge for conservators requiring innovative and creative solutions.
Conservator Melissa Harvey dusts the 1891 Édouard Detaille painting Vive L'Empereur! in the Old Courts.
Objects conservator Kerry Head cleans Michael Parekowhai's 2015 sculpture The English Channel.
Paintings Conservator Simon Ives working on Arthur Streeton's 1894 painting, The Gloucester Buckets.
Asian art conservator Lily Yang working on Taiwei, the high constable 1857.
Djamu is an Art Gallery of NSW education program that integrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts, perspectives and cultural practices, and provides opportunities for Indigenous students to learn about the Gallery’s collection as well as vocational pathways available in the arts.
Moulds used by frames conservators to reproduce decorative ornaments.
Gold leaf is applied to the frame using traditional gilding techniques.
Paper conservator Analiese Treacy works on a c. 1886 watercolour, Bazaar gossip, by Charles Robertson.
Assessing the condition and cataloguing a complex artwork requires teamwork.
Paper conservator Sarah Bunn checks the condition and storage requirements for the 3000 note books that form part of the artwork Chinese Bible, 2009, Yang Zhichao.
Objects conservator Melanie Barrett working on a Margel Hinder maquette for the Conservation Benefactors group.
Brett Whitely and Matthew Dillon’s 1968/1991 sculpture Almost Once requires further conservation treatment.
In 2017, extensive conservation treatment of Almost Once was undertaken involving the expertise of many people. Read more about the project.
Behind-the-scenes: time-based media conservation.
Objects conservator Kerry Head installing Joseph Kosuth’s 2009 neon work The Paradox of Content #4 (Orange) in the exhibition Some Mysterious Process.
Michael Parekowhai’s 2006 inflatable sculpture Cosmo McMurtry sneaks a peek at paintings in the Old Courts.