Printed on Paper: The Techniques, History and Conservation of Printed Media
5-7 September 2007
Sage Gateshead, United Kingdom
Report by Felicity Turner, Assistant Paper Conservator
The Printed on Paper conference co-sponsored by the American Institute for Conservation and the University of Northumbria, with support from The Print Council of America and the National Trust, was the first international interdisciplinary conference organized focusing on printed media. Around 100 delegates from America, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australasia attended three days of presentations given by curators, historians, librarians, archivists, conservators, and scientists representing six countries, fifteen major U.S. museums and libraries and nine international museums and universities.
Newcastle Gateshead hosted the conference, which was held in the recently constructed Sage Gateshead entertainment centre overlooking the Tyne river. The city, with its grand neoclassical centre, is a mix of historical periods. Remains of the medieval city walls, the Norman-built castle and Black Gate and parts of the Roman Hadrian’s Wall sit alongside the 19thC railway line and grand central station, which, along with several major art galleries, combine to provide interesting entertainment around the conference proceedings.
On the first morning, the delegates were welcomed by Professor Lynn Dobbs, Dean of the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Northumbria University. Her remarks were then followed by a series of interesting talks on the early years of printed material. Of particular interest was a presentation on the history and conservation of the Kunyu Quantu given by Harry Metcalf of the Scottish Conservation Studio. This 1674 map of the world had been woodblock printed with 36 blocks onto 18 pieces of Chinese paper which were joined and then backed with linen. The map was in two parts, each over 1.5 meters square, and had been stored folded for many years. Steps were taken to treat ingrained dirt and water staining and re-adhere areas of lifting paper to the linen backing, followed by local humidification and flattening.
In the afternoon, Roy Perkinson, formerly of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, now retired, entertained the audience with a fascinating presentation of deceptive repairs in Old Master prints. Stemming from his translation of Max Schweidler’s book on restoring old prints and drawings, some examples of deceptive repairs were presented. These included chamfered repairs in which the entire sky had been replaced in a Rembrandt landscape etching; the splitting and re-backing of a first state Durer engraving; faked watermarks created by paring away paper fibres to create a thinner area; and a falsified watermark in a Van Dyck engraving where papers bearing two similar watermarks were chamfered together to create a hybrid.
The second day focused on the middle years of printmaking with papers covering a wide range of topics from Mexican broadside prints and silent film lithograph posters to transfer lithography and the photographic and printmaking processes of Clarence H. White. The proceedings opened with the only paper from Australia, Conservation of Early Australian Colonial Prints, presented by Ranson Davey of National Gallery Ireland as Andrea and David Wise (National Gallery of Australia) were unable to attend the conference. This interesting paper presented research into the Gallery’s extensive colonial print collection in preparation for the exhibition Two Hundred Years of Australian Printmaking. As over 600 prints were examined and conserved during this period, the opportunity was taken to discover more about the artist’s materials used in the early days of the colony. Since traditional printmaking materials were in short supply, unusual local alternatives had to be found. The aim was to confirm anecdotal evidence of the use of whale or shark oils as binders for printing inks instead of linseed oil using GC/MS.
In complete contrast was the paper given by Amy Namowitz Worthen, Curator of Prints at Des Moines Art Centre, Attention Shoppers! The Case of Italian Orange Wrappers. This engaging presentation described the history of printed orange wrappers used in Europe to protect fruit from spoiling during transportation. The wrappers are printed using a variety of different processes including relief, screenprinting, offset lithography and gravure, with folk art images advertising the growing region, the quality of fruit or other factors. The paper focused on the previously little discussed subject of the hazards of diphenyl, the fungicide impregnated within the paper, and its effects on the printers, the workers who wrap the fruit, fruit vendors, consumers and collectors.
The last day of the conference turned to topics of today and tomorrow. Papers ranged from discussions of the conservation treatment of modern artworks, such as Andy Warhol’s Mao Portfolio of 10 screenprints; which had acidic interleaving paper adhered to the surface of the prints after being housed for more than 30 years with these materials; to the development of micro-scale techniques of conservation using polyethylene tapered, flexible polypropylene, stainless steel, and PTFE-lined tipped tools to dispense solutions such as natural water-soluble polymers, cellulose, ethers, solvents and particle-filled solutions in the treatment of small tears,
consolidation of media, loss compensation and other hazardous tasks; to the challenges facing conservators and curators of prints with the development of digital technology. In particular, issues such as changing supports from paper to canvas, plastic or even food; the use of computers to ‘draw’ or ‘print’ artist created work; new matrixes, such as digital files, which can be reprinted at will in smaller or larger size formats and unlimited editions, that raise intriguing questions such as what is the original artwork?, how can one define authenticity?, and how will digital art affect the future of printmaking?
The conference presented many interesting and thought-provoking subjects, as well as an excellent opportunity to engage with a wide range of experience and expertise from a diverse group of professionals.
