At the Allen Magazine, Fall 2025

AT THE ALLEN / FALL 2025 / 17 around her shoulders was much lower. A previous owner was a bit prudish, thought it was inappropriate, and had another artist paint a higher neckline. A later owner knew this wasn’t accurate, so they created a lower neckline, but not as low as the original.” The Pompadour portrait has been with the ICA for more than a year and has undergone incremental changes. Brown described their work of removing overpaintedmaterials as “opening windows,” where it can be unpredictable what lies underneath. Brown is excited for future opportunities to showcase the painting when the conservation is finished. Thanks to a grant from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, curator Kevin Greenwood undertook a large-scale conservation project of the Incense Burner with Dragon Base with a conservator in Boston last year. “It’s a spectacular centerpiece for the Asian gallery. That’s why I pursued it,” Greenwood said. He has also worked with the ICA’s objects conservator for repairs to a bronze Buddha statue (left). Several elements potentially identifying the Buddha as Medicine Master had been lost or broken off over the years, including a medicine jar in one hand and the healingmyrobalan plant in the other. Greenwood opted not to create new components for the restoration, fearing they would be too speculative. However, the ICA repaired one stretched earlobe of the statue and built a custommount for the security of the work during exhibition and storage. A video with more information about this conservation project can be found at amam.oberlin.edu/buddha. Conservators are among the most important, often unsung, behind-the-scenes workers in the museum industry. Their subtle yet calculated improvements to works of art typically go unnoticed because they match so well. The Allen’s curators enjoy collaborating with conservators, learning from each other, and restoring the stability of important artworks so they can be displayed once again. “In my time at the museum, the ICA never changed,” Lucille Stiger said. “They’re all great people and top-notch conservators. It’s a labor of love, and the work is always fabulous.” “ When done right, a conservator’s work is invisible.” —KevinGreenwood Top left: Independent conservator Heather Galloway examines the condition of Henri-Edmond Cross’s The Return of the Fisherman (1896). Bottom left: Unrecorded Chinese Artist, Seated Buddha, probably Yaoshifo (Bhaiṣajyaguru, Medicine Master Buddha), 11th–12th century. Bronze with traces of gilding. R. T. Miller Jr. Fund in memory of Hazel Barker King, 1961.51. Near left: Lucille Stiger and Kevin Greenwood inspect the bronze dragon upon its return from a conservation lab in Boston. Above: Jean Marc Nattier (French, 1685–1766), Portrait of Madame de Pompadour, ca. 1750. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Helen B. Tolles, 1963.35.

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