Care of Prints and Drawings

Margaret Holben Ellis is the Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where she teaches the conservation treatment of prints and drawings, as well as technical connoisseurship for art historians. She also serves as Director, Thaw Conservation Center, The Morgan Library & Museum. She is currently Vice-President and Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works of Art (AIC), Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC), Accredited Conservator/Restorer of the International Institute of Conservation (ICON). Professional and academic awards have included the Caroline and Sheldon Keck Award (2003) for a sustained record of excellence in education, the Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award (1997) in recognition of outstanding service to the profession both conferred by the AIC, the Rome Prize, the first to be awarded to a conservator, from the American Academy in Rome (1994) and most recently (2015) a scholar’s residency at the Getty Conservation Institute. She has published and lectured on artists ranging from Raphael and Titian to Pollock, Samaras, and Lichtenstein, and her research on artists materials is similarly far-ranging. Her most recent publication is Historical Perspectives in the Conservation of Works of Art on Paper, (2015) published by the Getty Conservation Institute. She is a graduate of Barnard College (1975 B.A. art history, magna cum laude, phi beta kappa) and the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (1979 M.A. art history; Advanced Certificate in Conservation).

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Supports for Prints and Drawings2.Conservation Problems Related to the Paper Support of Prints and Drawings3.Conservation Problems Related to the Materials and Techniques of Prints4.Conservation Problems Related to the Materials and Techniques of Drawings5.Item-Level Collection Protection: Envelopes, Sleeves, Folders, Enclosures, Mats, Boxes, Frames, and Furniture6.Preventive Conservation for Prints and Drawings7.Basic Paper Conservation Procedures GlossaryAppendix 1: How to Make Starch Paste and Methyl Cellulose Adhesive By Katherine SandersonAppendix 2: Suppliers of Paper Conservation Materials and EquipmentCompiled by Catherine LukaszewskiAbout the AuthorIndex

This successful revision of The Care of Prints and Drawings will be a welcome addition to any conservator’s or collector’s library; it retains the fundamentally useful material from the 1987 edition but has been updated to include current research and references. Throughout the book, the author offers clear, insightful information that may be used by all levels of caretakers and conservators of works on paper. The text and associated illustrations are as useful to an emerging conservator as they are familiar to an established member of the field. And what’s more, this work also offers guidance to caretakers of works on paper who are not conservators. In her accessible and engaging writing style, Margaret Holben Ellis, the Eugene Thaw Professor of Paper Conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, shares the broad experience she has acquired throughout her distinguished career as she capably informs readers of best practices in caring for works on paper.