BACC conservators are well qualified to address all aspects of a painting’s condition, whether the work is an old master painting on canvas or wood panel, an in situ mural, or a contemporary work composed of new or atypical materials. Our experience extends from fifteenth-century Florentine panel paintings, to French impressionists including Monet and Pissarro, to noteworthy modern American artists such as Ellsworth Kelly and Andy Warhol.
Many things can affect the condition of a painting—age, environmental factors such as relative humidity and temperature, inferior materials, vandalism, or simple neglect. Flaking paint, warped and split panels, and torn, deteriorated, or aged canvas are some of the common condition problems that can impact the aesthetic or structural integrity of a painting.
Accurately assessing the underlying cause of structural or aesthetic problems is the key to developing appropriate treatments. An understanding of the work’s historical context, materials specific to the object, and the history of earlier restorations and repairs are equally important. BACC paintings conservators are experienced in technical analysis procedures such as pigment analysis and infrared reflectography, which support art historical research. The wide variety of projects in which the paintings department is regularly engaged affords excellent learning opportunities for internships.
Elizabeth Court, Chief Conservator of Paintings, earned her M.S. in conservation at the University of Delaware/ Winterthur Museum Art Conservation Program. She holds an undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. Ms. Court interned at the Smithsonian Museum (National Collection of Fine Arts) and BACC. She completed a postgraduate year at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge, before joining the staff of BACC in 1981. Ms. Court is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and has served as a grants reviewer for the Institute of Museums and Library Services, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Getty Foundation.
Alexis Miller, Associate Conservator of Paintings, earned her M.S. in art conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She received her B.A. in art history at the University of Virginia. Her training includes an internship at The Nantucket Historical Association and a third-year internship at BACC. She was hired as the Assistant Conservator of Paintings at BACC in 1999. Ms. Miller is a member of the International Institute for Conservation and a Professional Associate of the American Institute of Conservation.
Julie Reid, Assistant Conservator of Paintings, earned her M.A. in art conservation from Buffalo State College in 2002. She has a M.A. in art history from Tulane University (1998) and a B.A. in art history from Emory University (1993). She spent her third-year internship at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and in 2003 she completed a one-year advanced internship at the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge. She became a BACC staff member in 2004.
Erick Gude, Conservation Technician, earned his undergraduate degree at Southern Illinois University and has been on the staff BACC since 2001, where his primary responsibilities include photography, reframing, art handling, and conservation of frames. Past affiliations include the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Terra Museum of Art in Chicago, the Musée d’Art Americain in Giverny, France, and the San Diego Museum of Art.
Painting Conservation | Paper Conservation | Frame Treatment | Western Regional Field Service
