February 26, 2025
The Future Role of Conservation at the Princeton University Art Museum
Bart Devolder
Chief Conservator of the Princeton University Art Museum
The Future Role of Conservation at the Princeton University Art Museum
Bart Devolder
Chief Conservator of the Princeton University Art Museum
Christine Danser, introducer, and Bart Devolder
Minutes of the 20th Meeting of the 83rd Year
President George Bustin presided over the meeting of February 26, 2025. Frances Slade led the invocation. Larry Hans read the minutes of February 19th. A group of non-Old Guard (OG) members of Princeton University Art Museum’s (PUAM) docents attended as guests. In addition, Julia Coale introduced Bill Rue and Christine Danser introduced Adria Sherman as potential new OG members. One hundred-thirty members and guests attended.
Christine Danser introduced Bart Devolder, Chief Conservator of the Princeton University Art Museum. Bart joined PUAM in 2018 after six years as the on-site coordinator and conservator on the Ghent Altarpiece, a 15th century polyptych located in Ghent, Belgium. In 2002, Bart studied at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, followed by internships and a fellowship.
His talk with slides was divided into three sections: the PUAM, conservation of art, and the Ghent Altarpiece.
For years, the Art Museum only had one painting conservator, Norman Muller, who was there for 30 years. Bart was hired in 2018; paintings are his expertise. The new museum’s space has room and equipment for an object’s conservator (Eleana Torok is already on board) and a paper conservator, hopefully to be hired soon. Harvard and Yale have 15 and 19 conservators respectfully. Bart showed slides of the new space, which he designed with Samuel Anderson Architects, a leading firm in conservation space design. Of the nine pavilions, conservation is the one facing north with a slanted roof to allow light into the second floor of the lab. In addition, there is a teaching room and a vestibule for exhibits—the opening will show the backs of 12 paintings. An old slide showed the university’s collection to be 9% paintings, 60% objects, 12% photographs, leaving the balance of 19% to be paper. Bart said these numbers were similar today with the photography collection slightly larger. His new space has 6,800 square feet compared to 1,000 square feet in the former space.
Bart spoke of the equipment already purchased and yet to be bought that help conservators do their jobs today. For example, a laser machine that cleans objects is the same as one that removes tattoos. Another showed a painting that, when X-rayed showed a face beneath the painted surface. Bart said each work has a story, as did the canvas where the artist was giving away the painting for free, so he used an old canvas. Among the tools and supplies he uses is the glue made from the bladder of a Russian sturgeon, a fish hard to obtain, but when he does, he boils the bladder and creates slices of gelatin-like glue from it. Any repair today is reversable; that was not true years ago.
Because of his six years with the Ghent project, now in its 15th year, Bart showed before and after slides of parts that showed the difference conservation made on a medieval work. A brownish robe cover in varnish became white after cleaning, but was a brilliant pink upon completion. A nondescript space without depth turned out to be a room with painted shadows on the floor. It was important not to change the iconography, but to bring back the original.
During the Q&A, Bart said Firestone Library had its own conservators and equipment. They share information, but do not work on each other’s projects.
When it comes to authenticating a painting, that’s the curator’s call. Bart may add expertise on the era or the type of paint. Eighty percent of his time is doing what colleagues have always done, and he emphasized again that reversibility is their goal today; anything done to change an artwork should be removable in future years as new science dictates. Bart quipped that he prefers to work on paintings done by dead artists, because live artists always have an opinion and want to be involved (not always to the benefit of their work).
He closed the talk by saying that Princeton University will not develop a school teaching conservation, however the art museum does teach interns. A question in teaching is: Do you focus on skills or science? His focus as a student had been on skill. The new field is conservation science, and it would be nice to get other departments interested in it.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Greenspan
Christine Danser introduced Bart Devolder, Chief Conservator of the Princeton University Art Museum. Bart joined PUAM in 2018 after six years as the on-site coordinator and conservator on the Ghent Altarpiece, a 15th century polyptych located in Ghent, Belgium. In 2002, Bart studied at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, followed by internships and a fellowship.
His talk with slides was divided into three sections: the PUAM, conservation of art, and the Ghent Altarpiece.
For years, the Art Museum only had one painting conservator, Norman Muller, who was there for 30 years. Bart was hired in 2018; paintings are his expertise. The new museum’s space has room and equipment for an object’s conservator (Eleana Torok is already on board) and a paper conservator, hopefully to be hired soon. Harvard and Yale have 15 and 19 conservators respectfully. Bart showed slides of the new space, which he designed with Samuel Anderson Architects, a leading firm in conservation space design. Of the nine pavilions, conservation is the one facing north with a slanted roof to allow light into the second floor of the lab. In addition, there is a teaching room and a vestibule for exhibits—the opening will show the backs of 12 paintings. An old slide showed the university’s collection to be 9% paintings, 60% objects, 12% photographs, leaving the balance of 19% to be paper. Bart said these numbers were similar today with the photography collection slightly larger. His new space has 6,800 square feet compared to 1,000 square feet in the former space.
Bart spoke of the equipment already purchased and yet to be bought that help conservators do their jobs today. For example, a laser machine that cleans objects is the same as one that removes tattoos. Another showed a painting that, when X-rayed showed a face beneath the painted surface. Bart said each work has a story, as did the canvas where the artist was giving away the painting for free, so he used an old canvas. Among the tools and supplies he uses is the glue made from the bladder of a Russian sturgeon, a fish hard to obtain, but when he does, he boils the bladder and creates slices of gelatin-like glue from it. Any repair today is reversable; that was not true years ago.
Because of his six years with the Ghent project, now in its 15th year, Bart showed before and after slides of parts that showed the difference conservation made on a medieval work. A brownish robe cover in varnish became white after cleaning, but was a brilliant pink upon completion. A nondescript space without depth turned out to be a room with painted shadows on the floor. It was important not to change the iconography, but to bring back the original.
During the Q&A, Bart said Firestone Library had its own conservators and equipment. They share information, but do not work on each other’s projects.
When it comes to authenticating a painting, that’s the curator’s call. Bart may add expertise on the era or the type of paint. Eighty percent of his time is doing what colleagues have always done, and he emphasized again that reversibility is their goal today; anything done to change an artwork should be removable in future years as new science dictates. Bart quipped that he prefers to work on paintings done by dead artists, because live artists always have an opinion and want to be involved (not always to the benefit of their work).
He closed the talk by saying that Princeton University will not develop a school teaching conservation, however the art museum does teach interns. A question in teaching is: Do you focus on skills or science? His focus as a student had been on skill. The new field is conservation science, and it would be nice to get other departments interested in it.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Greenspan