James Reed Print Collection, Fairfield University Art Museum Preservation Assessment Project
FAIN: PG-263555-19
Fairfield University (Fairfield, CT 06824-5195)
Linda Wolk-Simon (Project Director: May 2018 to March 2019)
Carey Weber (Project Director: March 2019 to March 2021)
A conservation assessment of 700 19th-century
French lithographs, including works by artists such as Honoré Daumier, Édouard
Manet, Odilon Redon, and Eugène Delacroix.
The consulting conservator would work with a graduate student or recent
graduate in art history or conservation in handling and assessing the
preservation needs of works on paper.
The Fairfield University Art Museum recently received a major gift of over 700 19th-century French lithographs and etchings from artist, collector and master printer James Reed. Prints have always been appreciated as primary source material in the humanities, their imagery and subject matter are intimately tied to specific historical currents and events, literary themes and genres, and religious and political ideas; indeed, they record learning and innovation in all branches of human inquiry and endeavor, including artistic experimentation and ambition, and in a medium that was the most affordable, accessible, and widely disseminated to the greatest population demographic. The James Reed Collection of European Prints are not at present properly housed, nor has their condition been evaluated. A Preservation Assistance grant will allow us to assess each print and determine its storage and conservation requirements, thereby providing an implementation road map.