Brice Marden, D'après la Marquise de la Solana, 1969. Oil and wax on canvas, three panels, overall: 77 5/8 x 117 3/8 inches; Each: 77 5/8 x 39 1/8 inches. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Panza Collection 91.3784. © 2007 Brice Marden/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
The Panza Collection: Research and Treatment of Monochromatic and Minimalist Works
Since the acquisition of the Panza Collection in the early 1990s, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Conservation Department has conducted research and performed a considerable amount of treatment on monochromatic and Minimalist artworks, including sculptures by Donald Judd and paintings by Brice Marden, Robert Ryman, Robert Mangold, and Richard Serra. The conservation staff has engaged living artists in comprehensive filmed interviews that both address issues related to specific artworks and that broach more philosophical concerns regarding the exhibition and long-term preservation of these works of art. Scientific research regarding surface phenomena and artists’ materials has been undertaken, conservators have designed custom solutions for the installation and housing of extremely vulnerable works, and difficult conservation treatments have been performed on these unusually unforgiving surfaces.
Some of this work has been funded by IMLS, The Getty Grants Program, AXA Fine Arts Insurance, The Bay and Paul Foundations, and the National Endowment for the Arts.