The first four paintings from private collections to undergo conservation treatment in the Dallas Museum of Art’s new Paintings Conservation Studio are currently on view in the institution’s European galleries. The studio, which opened in November, is part of the museum’s initiative to create a more comprehensive in-house conservation program.
One of the works, ‘The Blacksmith Cupids’ by the French painter Charles-Antoine Coypel, has entered the Dallas Museum of Art’s permanent collection. It is the first work by the artist to enter the museum’s collection. The other newly restored works -- Jean-Baptiste Oudry’s ‘Dogs Playing with Birds in a Park,’ a Renaissance painting titled ‘Saint Ursula Protecting the Eleven Thousand Virgins with her Cloak’ and an Italian 14th-century painted wood panel--will remain on loan to the museum.
The institution’s new conservation program involves collaborating with private collectors on the study and care of their illustration collections. The works will then be presented in the Dallas Museum of Art’s galleries for public viewing. The museum’s conservation studio, which features cutting-edge technology including a digital X-ray system, is enclosed by a glass wall so that guests of the museum can observe daily conservation activity.
