AIC's 44th Annual Meeting

Paper Conservators have long relied on a variety of bathing and bleaching methods to reduce discoloration and stains in works of art on paper.  Innovative approaches to aqueous cleaning, in which pH and conductivity are manipulated to target specific problems, or which incorporate gels or alternative reducing agents, have generated a resurgence of interest in the topic. 

While these options may offer new tools for the paper conservator, do we all agree on what the desirable outcome should be? Justifications for cleaning treatments, such as improved contrast between media and substrate, or return to “artistic intent,” are steeped in subjective interpretation, shaped by historic, cultural, and institutional contexts.  Cleaning treatments may significantly alter chromatic and tonal values or remove indicators of artistic practice or historical use, potentially changing the authentic presentation of the work to meet the expectations of the viewing audience. Yet, a non-interventive approach, in which disfiguring stains and discoloration are allowed to remain, may also interfere with the interpretation of a work, and devalue its aesthetic purpose or conceptual meaning. 

As we increasingly strive to integrate our field with those of curators and other scholars, how do we, as conservators, define authenticity in art? What is our ethical obligation to preserve aesthetic/conceptual values in a work when they may be in conflict with the values of historicity? Can we justify an aesthetic gain when long-term preservation is not enhanced, knowing that our perspective may be temporally and culturally biased? Furthermore, in our interactions with curators and other stakeholders, how do we verbalize expectations for paper tone after treatment given the limitations of a common descriptive language, and for which historical descriptors remain the preferred terminology?

This interactive session seeks to explore the complex decision-making process behind treatments employed to reduce or remove discoloration and staining, and hopes to examine the consequences, intended and unintended.