Charles Tumosa and Marion Mecklenburg

Summary

Analytical Services Group Leader Charles S. Tumosa and Conservation Analytical Laboratory Painting Conservator and Structural Engineer Marion F. Mecklenburg discuss the computer-generated image of a painting that has deliberately been dropped to simulate what might happen to such an artwork in transit. Mecklenburg argued that conservators of fine art traditionally focus on the chemical deterioration of paintings, yet protecting paintings in transit is an engineering dilemma. Today, whether they are traveling by plane, train or moving van, artworks on loan from museums risk exposure to vibration, impact and variations in temperatures and humidity--conditions that have the potential to cause damage.

Subject

• Tumosa, Charles
• Mecklenburg, Marion
• Museum Conservation Institute
• Conservation Analytical Laboratory (CAL)

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

Featured in the Smithsonian "Torch," September 1991.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 98-015, Box 2, Folder: September 1991

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1991

Restrictions & Rights

no restrictions

Topic

• Art
• Art-transport
• Preservation of materials
• Art-Packing
• Smithsonian Institution
• Personnel management
• Computer Imaging
• Employees
• National Collections
• Conservators
• Art objects
• Smithsonian Institution--Employees

Form/Genre

• Photographic print
• Group, candid

ID Number

SIA2011-1102

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and White; Size: 10w x 8h; Type of Image: Group, candid; Medium: Photographic print

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