Events in collection areas

Ele von Monschaw <evonmonschaw [at] ngi__ie> writes

>The National Gallery of Ireland hosts quite frequently functions,
>for its own fundraising and promotional reasons. The conservation
>department's main concern is the risk involved with crowds'
>dining/dancing and prevention for the safety of paintings,
>sculptures and other artifacts. We outlined a guideline together
>with our development department. Are other galleries in a similar
>position and do they have guidelines we could exchange, compare and
>improve? How does the implementation work in other institutions?

I remember being at a reception at a certain important museum of art
some years ago where I slipped on a wine-wet floor, and almost threw
red wine all over a recently acquired oil painting, one that had
been left unfinished at the painter's death. To this day I go into a
cold sweat imagining what would have happened if I had been 30cm
closer, in which case my red wine would have gone all over the large
areas of still-unprimed canvas.  My own suggestion would therefore
be: think about how to remove wine stains from various objects on
display, train attendants to do it, and keep an emergency pack of
suitable materials standing by during such events.

Dr. Mark Clarke
+32 3 257 2717
35 Vlaamsekunstlaan
B-2020 Antwerpen
Belgium


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:23
                 Distributed: Monday, November 22, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-18-23-016
                                  ***