Summer 2021 Teaching at Sotheby's Institute of Art's MA in Art Logistics

I am delighted to have once more been invited to talk to students at Sotheby’s Institute of Art on the important legal and ethical issues surrounding conservation.

This is the second year the MA in Art Logistics is taking place, and just like last year it was a pleasure to exchange with a new generation of future art professionals.

The students and I discussed a wide range of issues, from the legal and normative framework to international conservation ethics, to ongoing debates and conservation surprises and scandals (both historical and contemporary).

I look forward to future exchanges with them, and other student groups.

Conservation Treatments and Reports as an Integral Part of Provenance Research

I’m honoured to have been invited to contribute to Flynn & Giovanni's The Provenance Research Blog.

Conservation treatments and their reports, which include condition reports, are an important yet underused asset in provenance research. As written and photographic witnesses to the state of an artwork at a specific point in time, including details on any damages, changes, place(s) of conservation, and history of the piece, these reports are an essential part of research.

You can read the full article here.

What’s cooking?

I am delighted to announce a new partnership with an old friend: Art in Lab!

Following several exchanges and meetings, Renata Kaminker – Fine Art Solutions and Art in Lab have decided to work together on a series of requests from a private client.

We are delighted to be able to offer a complete solution to an increasing problem in private art collections: What do I have? What state is it in? Is it really as old as it purports to be? Is the author truly the one I think it is?

As we plan our approach to the incoming pieces and prepare the work that this new project requires, we look forward to answering this and any other questions that may arise along the way.

Come back to read on more news and details ­­­­­­­­ as we advance on this new and exciting project. We will be sharing insights into the hows and whys of our intervention choices.

Renata Kaminker - Fine Art Solutions was once more invited by Sotheby's Institute of Art to lecture at one of its London courses

It was a pleasure to have been invited back as a lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, this time for the MA on Art Logistics, as well as an honour to have been part of the creation of the MA exam on Art Law. With over 15 years of experience in the field, it is always enjoyable to see the future generation of art professionals’ interest regarding all the legal and ethical issues faced by the market.

The lectures given were: “Legal and Ethical Issues: Conservation and Restoration” and “Art Restitution”. Students were thus introduced to the different codes of ethics that rule a conservator’s work, conservation’s legal and normative framework (at an international level, but also in France and the UK), and the importance of conservation treatments when researching collections.

We also discussed issues regarding the restitution of art and antiquities, and the class was able to use the knowledge it acquired on this issue from other art law lectures when discussing specific case studies.

I look forward to coming back to Sotheby’s Institute of Art for future exchanges and discussions, and to meet further new professionals as they prepare for a changing and ever-developing industry.

Renata Kaminker - Fine Art Solutions works on national military collections

I had the honour several years ago of working for the French national museum, Musée de l’Armée – Hôtel national des Invalides (Paris). I was asked to apply remedial conservation measures, as well as create or update inventory files, for the museum’s 19th and 20th century military uniforms and other paraphernalia (textile, leather and metal).

It was a pleasure to work on a national collection such as this one, and to have been part for nearly a year of the museum’s 7-year building and exhibition spaces renovation project.

Conservation of mural paintings in Bonaparte's childhood home

I enjoy looking back at past projects. The conservation intervention at the Musée de la maison Bonaparte à Ajacciò (Corsica, France) is one that particularly delights me as it consisted in the retouching of close to 250 square metres of rediscovered mural paintings. Created in the 19th-century, they decorate Napoleon Bonaparte’s childhood home and recreate wallpapers that were in vogue at the time.

For several decades, these beautiful faux wallpapers were hidden under layers of modern industrial paint. Bringing them back to light was a true pleasure.

The end result of the work is that museum visitors are now able to fully immerge themselves in the original décor and lifestyle which the Bonaparte family enjoyed.