Author Archives: Lisa Bruno

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About Lisa Bruno

Lisa Bruno is the head conservator of objects at the Brooklyn Museum, where she has been working since 1993. She has previously worked at the Art Institute of Chicago, and has had internships at The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and in private practice. She has a Masters Degree in Art Conservation from the University of Delaware, Winterthur Museum Art Conservation Department. She is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation.

Primer is Complete

The primer is complete. See the video! It is too humid today to apply the topcoat, and thundershowers are expected later this evening. Tomorrow is First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum. My colleague, objects conservator Tina March and I will … Continue reading

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Painting Continues

The painting continues. The sculpture has approximately 250 square feet of surface to paint. The progress is good. The winds are less strong today and the team from UHP Projects, Inc is able to apply the primer with a spray … Continue reading

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Painting has Begun

Now that the repairs to the metal skin are complete, the team from UHP Projects. Inc. (Ultra High Pressure Projects) is back and have started to paint the statue. Discussions between the team at UHP Projects, Inc. and the conservator … Continue reading

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Support for Conservation Projects

Many of the multiple layers of failing paint found on the statue contained heavy metals, such as lead, which was a common ingredient in paint products in the United States up until 1978. Due to the hazards of lead associated … Continue reading

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Conservator’s comments

Lisa has been giving you a wonderful overview of the on going process. I will confine myself to details specific to the work. Works of art are technical productions. Sculptures are usually made using industrial or building craft techniques which … Continue reading

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A Closer Look at Materials

The repairs to the skin are working. The newly galvanized steel patches are riveted, and then welded in place. It’s not raining today, enabling the repairs to proceed without interruption. When the statue was made in the late 19th c., … Continue reading

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Working in the Rain

It is not fun working in the rain. The team from Conservation Solutions continue the work on the statue, despite the numerous, and often heavy showers we are having in Brooklyn. Most people think conservation is glamorous, and it is … Continue reading

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What is an Art Conservator?

Now that the exterior paint removal is complete, the more tedious, but very important work of prepping the interior surface of the statue has begun. The interior and exterior will be painted, which should provide a level of protection against … Continue reading

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The Metal Repair

The staff at Conservation Solutions, Inc. are beginning to make the structural repairs to the metal skin. Most of the holes in the object are located in the sections of galvanized sheet iron. In the photo above, the foot is … Continue reading

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The Metal Construction

As of this past weekend, the layers of flaking paint were removed, making it possible to finally see the underlying structure and methods of manufacture. As the Conservator from Conservation Solutions, Mark Rabinowitz has pointed out, the head and hands … Continue reading

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Conservator’s comments

The paint removal is complete on the exterior. This has revealed how the fabricators overcame the difficulties of working with sheet steel in forming intricate and highly 3 dimensional shapes…they abandoned it! It turns out that the head, hands and … Continue reading

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Conservator’s comments

As the paint is removed, the artistry that went into the fabrication of the sculpture becomes more apparent. One can not discern the effort that went into the careful folding of the drapery. The material, galvanized sheet steel, is a … Continue reading

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The Paint Removal

The paint layers on the statue are unstable, making it necessary to remove them entirely, for the preservation of the object. The surface has always been painted. In August of 2005, cross sections of the paint layers were made and … Continue reading

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Conserving the Statue – Setting Up

The Museum’s replica of the Statue of Liberty had been on top of the Liberty Warehouse on 64th, and Broadway since it was made around 1900. The statue was removed from the building in 2002 and transported to the Museum … Continue reading

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