Launch of Pathbreaking Website for Kress Paintings Conservation
New York, New York, December 2, 2024 - Since 1989 the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation, based at the Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, has undertaken the conservation, restoration and study of more than 250 paintings from the dispersed Kress Collections, including Regional Museums, Study Collections, and Individual Gift locations. Over the past five years this research has been compiled, digitized, and is now freely available to all as an online resource
The Kress Paintings Conservation website was created to house and make accessible the reports, images, technical studies, and scholarship gathered over more than 30 years of research and conservation treatment. In support of the Kress Foundation’s commitment to open access, examination reports, technical images (e.g. infrared reflectograms, x-radiographs), and pigment analyses are just a few of the resources that have been made available on the site. The digital catalog entries uniquely position conservation data as primary content rather than supporting material. Complete information about the treatment, art historical context, scientific analyses, and their interpretation are available together with downloadable images in IIIF-enabled viewers. Also available on the site are lectures and publications in the field of Italian paintings history, technology, and conservation treatment that have been supported by the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation at the Institute for Fine Arts Conservation Center at NYU. Other resources include a glossary and a bibliography organized by period and subject matter. The website is accessible to scholars and the interested public.
One of the distinctive features of the Kress Collection is the abundance of Italian works, including artists and schools that are not well represented in American museums. The default “Curated View” allows general browsing of paintings, while the “Browse by Regions and Schools” page allows users to explore varying stylistic influences and artists’ techniques across different regions. Each entry also contains links to the related Kress Collection Digital Archive and the Kress Collection of Historical Images at the National Gallery of Art. The Digital Archive contains historic papers and other materials related to the Kress Collection, its formation, and its eventual distribution to regional and academic art museums throughout the United States. The Collection of Historical Images contains the sizable holdings of Kress photographs and negatives held by the National Gallery’s photographic archive.
Explore the resource at https://www.kressconservation.org/.
For additional information and questions, contact Dianne Modestini: dm34@nyu.edu.
About the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation, Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts
With generous support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation offers an unparalleled experience/practice in the conservation of Old Master paintings. The Kress Program (as it is informally known) focuses on the cleaning, retouching, research and technical study of selected works from the distributed Kress Collection and forms the foundation for the painting conservation program at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Depending on the availability of projects and individual interest, students from other specialties may also enroll in the Kress class. For questions: conservation.program@nyu.edu
About the Samuel H. Kress Collection
The Samuel H. Kress Foundation devotes its resources to advancing the study, conservation, and enjoyment of the vast heritage of European art, architecture, and archaeology from antiquity to the early 19th century. Kress supports the work of individuals and institutions engaged with the appreciation, interpretation, preservation, study and teaching of the history of European art and architecture from antiquity to the dawn of the modern era. The Foundation serves the field of art history as practiced in American art museums and institutions of higher education, and in an array of research centers and libraries throughout the world. And further supports training and research in art conservation as well as the professional practice of art conservation. To learn more: https://www.kressfoundation.org For questions: info@kressfoundation.org