Week #17 Conservation V

Bearer of Tradition or Crucifixion before and after conservation.

Bearer of Tradition or Crucifixion, 1960, oil on canvas, 54" x (35 - 40 ¼”)

This week’s painting by Dusti Bonge in addition to offering another great example of conservation also has some other interesting aspects. For starters, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, this painting is not rectangular. It really is wider at the top and tapers toward the bottom. This is likely a response to a conundrum that Dusti herself faced. Secondly, this work presents an odd dilemma we occasionally face in documenting her work.

Dusti’s conundrum was based on her observation that in traditional museum settings, where each painting had its own small overhead light, it was hard to fully appreciate the work because there was always some glare on its surface. She thus started experimenting with different shapes of paintings to tackle this glare problem, which eventually morphed into her 3-D paintings. But this painting, with its tapered shape, is likely one in the process of solving her conundrum.

The dilemma that we at the DBAF face is that through the years the painting has been referred to by various titles, by Dusti herself. In the 1960s it appeared on her list of works for a Betty Parsons Gallery show as Bearer of Tradition. Years later when she photographed her work for her 1982 book, The Life of an Artist, it was labeled on the slides as Crucifixion. It ultimately did not make it into the book.

This painting also had significant craquelure which even caused fault lines on the back of the canvas. In addition, there were a few small paint losses in the upper right and lower left.

This stunning painting is currently on view in our 30^th Anniversary exhibit. And again, if it weren’t for conservation, we would not be able to share this work with the public.

So, cheers to all the dedicated professionals who work in conservation!