Breathing life back into forgotten art

Abstract

In February 2008 the New South Wales government confirmed funding for the construction of an offsite storage facility for the Art Gallery of New South Wales, freeing up 1,000 square metres of exhibition space. As a result of this funding, an opportunity was created for a team of conservators to assess the condition of the entire collection in order to prepare it for relocation to the new store. In mid–2008 a thorough survey was carried out, and items in need of immediate attention were identified. The survey was subsequently followed up with a large-scale stabilisation and treatment project carried out over the following 12 months. Focusing on just some of the works identified during the survey and stabilisation project, this paper investigates the reasons why these interesting and technically accomplished works have rarely if ever been selected for display or loan. Identifying contributing factors such as condition, theme, subject matter, artist gender, media category, institutional trends and public taste, the paper also examines the role conservators can play in bringing artworks of particular merit to curatorial attention and, in turn, back into the public domain by making them suitable for display. The paper also looks at the importance of surveying and identifying the value of core collections, particularly in a time of global economic instability where funding for ‘buy in’ shows is not so readily available.