Anny Aviram, Senior Paintings Conservator: So I know the areas in this painting that get very dusty are the darks,
so I don’t need to dust the whole painting,
and in this case I know that this always gets very dusty.
The other thing why the light is a good tool to use,
because I know that it’s very, very cracked,
but all of the cracks are stable, so I just look if I see anything that
potentially is lifting or has changed.
Anny: The eye is amazing, right?
Almost looks a human eye
…the tigers, less.
Michael Duffy, Paintings Conservator: I’m in the process of removing some restoration layers that were applied
in the 40’s and in the mid 50’s,
so now, 65 years later, these materials have really discolored and degraded,
and they’re altering the original colors of the painting, so I’m removing them to
reveal the real Rousseau palette.
So I’m doing that with this tissue and solvents.
Of course, the solvents I’m using have been tested to make sure they don’t affect the original,
they only affect the restoration layers.
When I peel it away, it brings the varnish with it,
and then I use this white absorbent tissue to absorb any residue of the varnish,
and peel it off the surface.
I mean, this has always been a favorite painting of mine in the collection,
and after doing research on it and finding out that, for Alfred Barr, who was the former director
it was one of his proudest acquisitions,
I feel like it’s a privilege to be involved in doing anything associated with this painting,
but it’s a rewarding painting to treat,
because you get to see
after you’re removing all of this restoration,
much more of the original paint, and how, even Rousseau, who was a self-taught artist,
was painting in innovative and interesting ways.
Betye Saar, Artist: Is it really this big?
Lana Hum, Director of Exhibition Design and Production: Yeah
Christophe Cherix, The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings and Prints: Yes
Esther Adler, Associate Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints: And so this is one inch scale.
Betye: These look like postage stamps!
Betye: They probably are, huh?
Esther Adler: And also Betye you know, we -
Betye: Early prints, and that’s early too, so they’re all mixed up, so they’re not…
Christophe: No, so what we did was to organize them around some themes,
Beyte: The themes.
Christophe: so here’s a bit more like family, the early years,
you moving to your house,
Christophe: Here you have a number of those kind of strange creatures, lions, turtles…
Esther: And then we also picked out what we thought were key works to go on -
Esther: So each of the freestanding walls has one work on each side,
what we thought were some of the most important works.
Christophe: I mean, what I like in that floor plan, like there is not one way to see the show
you know you have to kind of find your -
Betye: Yes, you can kind of stop and go over there
Christophe: You come here, maybe you'll skip that at first,
then you’ll see that and you’ll come back.
Betye: Yeah.
Christophe: I think that idea to create some universe where people find their own way.
Betye: I just want to know what the limitations are.
Lana: Yeah
Christophe: No limitations.
Betye: Ok, the sky’s the limit, huh?
Christophe: The sky’s the limit.
Fred, Volunteer: Got your free ticket?
Visitor: What?
Fred: Got your free ticket?
Visitor: Yes, thank you.
Fred: Museum is free tonight.
Fred: Got your free ticket?
Visitor: Yes, please, thank you very much.
Fred: You’re welcome, my pleasure.
Fred: You came at the right time, because next week is our last week.
Visitor: Oh, yeah?
Fred: Yes, we’re closing for four months.
Visitor: Oh, wow, how come? Renovations?
Fred: Oh yeah, extension!
Fred: Whole new building added on the other side of this wall.
Visitor: Oh, wow!
When you come back it’ll be an entirely new museum with lots more galleries.
Visitor: Oh my goodness. Wow.
Fred: It’ll be wonderful, a brand new, exciting place, yes.
Visitor: That's exciting.
Fred: Nice talking to you.
Visitor: I think this is, maybe we’re missing the other half…
Christophe: We start with the one on the left, just to give you a sense of how it would look like.
Christophe: Pretty beautiful.
Christophe: Would you try now with the purple on the right?
Betye: It looks great on both of them!
[laughter]
Esther: And I know she likes the lightest...
Christophe: You have to choose one!
Christophe: I think both can really work, but this one is kind of pretty mysterious…
Betye: That’s the one you prefer, you think, yeah?
Christophe: I mean that’s - what do you prefer?
Lana: I prefer it.
Lana: I prefer this one.
Betye: The dark one. Okay.
Betye: You like that?
It looks very elegant.
Betye: Yeah, it has a different feeling to it.
Christophe: It does, yeah, it’s just like a…
and it’s really your call, you know?
Betye: Yes.
So that would be the entire gallery?
Christophe: I think so.
Betye: You think?
Ellen Moody, The David Booth Associate Sculpture Conservator: And Jennifer said you offered to hose these down once you’re at-
Joe: Yeah, we’ll have to unwrap it. We’ll wash it. On a sunny day, let it dry.
Ellen: Let it dry completely, and then re-wrap it.
Alright, thank you so much.
Yeah, it’s just pollen.
We washed it, like, four days ago, but it’s just so much-
Joe: Yeah, a lot of pollen.
Ellen: He already got the top part off, right?
Ellen: He’s standing inside of it now.
Jennifer, Registrar: Yeah.
Bring it around that way!
Ellen: They did use stainless steel bolts.
Jennifer: Yeah, they’re not going to rust.
Ellen: They’re not going to rust. It’s more a mechanical issue.
Jennifer: Yeah, exactly, but so far…
Ellen: So far, so good! Great!
Jennifer: Yeah, there’s just a lot of bolts, so it takes a long time.
Chet Gold, Security Supervisor: The last day! It’s a lot of energy today.
Hunter Webb, Projectionist: The last film of season.
I was thinking about it today, it was getting a little misty.
Loudspeaker: May I have your attention please? The museum is now closed.