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Paper

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The Gallery's Paper Conservation team incorporates Mountcutting and Framing and is responsible for the conservation and preparation of works of art on paper in the national collection for internal exhibitions, travelling exhibitions and loans to Australian and international institutions. The collection comprises a diverse range of works of art on paper including prints, drawings, paintings, photographs, books, manuscripts, folding screens, scrolls, and a variety of other mixed media works.

Works of art on paper can be either incredibly fragile or tremendously robust depending on the source and quality of the paper fibres and the method of manufacture. External environmental factors also play a huge role in the longevity of a paper artefact. As well as treating and repairing damaged works on paper, the Paper Conservation team strive to preserve the collection by maintaining close-to-ideal storage, handling and display conditions and using only archival quality mounting materials. Our Paper Conservators can just as often be seen installing a delicate piece in the galleries or condition-reporting works for loan as undertaking treatments on damaged art, or using scientific analysis to identify media, materials and artist’s technique.

A conservator stands at table working on two brightly-coloured works of art

Margaret Worth, Samsara 13, 1968, Purchased 1994 and Normana Wight, Untitled - yellow to blue, 1967, Gift of the artist 2013. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Close up photograph of illustrated paper fan

Amie Kingston, Fan: design for untitled ballet with music by Esther Rofe, c.1943, Gift of the artist 1988.

a number of small works of art on paper are laid out on a table for conservation treatment

Thea Proctor The Game 1926 and The Swing 1925 ©️ Art Gallery of New South Wales]

A woman sits at a desk cross-checking a work of art on paper with an image on a computer screen

Paper Conservation with Thea Proctor’s ‘The swing.’, 1925, purchased 1973, © Art Gallery of New South Wales

Photograph of conservator looking at paper work under microscope

Related


Exhibition

Gold and the Incas
Lost Worlds of Peru

Gold metalwork plaque with traditional patterning. Off the central form dangles circle and dagger shapes

6 Dec 2013—21 Apr 2014

International Art /  Video

Jackson Pollock's 'Blue poles': Under the microscope

Video still of man looking at painting closely through a microscope.

Published 18 September 2020

#AskaConservator: 2020

A team of conservators in the conservation lab

Our conservators have answered some of the questions you posed on 2020 Ask a Conservator Day.

Conservation

a man using cleaning tools to perform conservation on a painting in a laboratory

The Gallery's Conservation Department ensures the legacy of the national collection via the long-term preservation of works of art.

Preventative

Two women enclose a paper-wrapped object in a plastic bag to undergo preventative conservation

The Preventative Conservation team’s aim is to preserve all works of art by controlling the environment in which they are displayed and stored.

International Art /  Video

Jackson Pollock's 'Blue poles': What we see under UV light

screen capture of a video where a conservator is looking at a large painting of a man using a UV light to examine the canvas

Published 18 September 2020

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Yuuma, Gurruburri

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The National Gallery acknowledges the First Peoples of this land and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country

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