Queensland Art Gallery Annual report 1999-2000

Qui'cnslcind Art Gallery organised by the Gallery and other institutions. The talked to senior members of other programs about the section documented, maintained insurance, transported wider implications of this imaging. There is no doubt and handled thousands of works of art through all these that our public will greet the results of this research with core activities. The main goal of the section is to provide enthusiasm. and maintain a level of physical safety of the Collection The Acting Senior Conservator was pleased to come consistent with current international museum standards. to the end of a longer project with the celebratory With respect to Collection management, meetings opening of the See Poy portraits display. Interest and with consultants from MoveCorp were a significant step feedback from the Chinese community in particular has towards tackling the critical issue of overcrowding in art continued through the entire process, and demonstrates storage. The discussions with MoveCorp on this matter the leading role which State institutions might undertake will be closely linked to the development of plans for the on a more regular basis. Her particular reward was being proposed new Gallery building. Curatorial and told by a member of the See Poy family that the occasion Collection Development Program staff were briefed on was better than a wedding or a funeral'. the outcome of MoveCorp Australia's assessment of The Conservation section welcomed back Paintings Collection Storage. The refurbishment is expected to Conservator Anne Carter from a two-year Getty take a year. The suggested new configuration is to Fellowship at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. include sliding painting screens, industrial shelving for Her experience among the masterpieces of twentieth- sculptural works, a mezzanine floor for prints, drawings century art at MOMA will certainly assist her duties in and photographs, and a study room with access via an the care and treatment of modern and contemporary existing lift and stairs at the rear of Storage. paintings in the Gallery's Collection. CONSERVING THE COLLECTION Conservation work in a State Gallery covers a gamut of activitcs bctsvccn the opposing polarities of 'condition- reporting items in and out of the building, to in-depth trcatmcnt and related research. Condition-reporting is part of indemnification and duty of care, and requires careful attention, often to very small details, for every art work reported on. In this period, conservators carried out condition-reports on several thousand works of art, and provided the specialist treatment and assessment needed to restore important works. This latter work and its interpretation and presentation through Gallery publications is proving to be particularly interesting to our audiences. The Assistant Director, Curatorial and Collection Development and the Director have consistently endorsed the importance of such treatments and projects as an essential part of the Gallery's mission. In August, the Foundation Conservator of Paintings at the National Gallery of Victoria, Michael Varcoe- Cocks, joined Gallery Conservation staff to trial the ACER computer equipment and ascertain its suitability for various tasks. Michael has particular expertise in the use of infra-red Vidicon and the images that this technology can produce. After the initial setting up, he gave a short introduction to the Conservation staff and