RESTORATION

PRESERVATION - RESTORATION - PRESENTATION

The restorers working in the Albertina’s Restoration Department are entrusted with the preventative, preservative and restorative attendance upon the collection holdings. It is their task to document the state of repair or disrepair of the artworks and to set appropriate measures to stabilise that state and to optimise the exterior visual appearance of the objects.
As an initiator and partner in collaboration with natural science faculties and institutes of education connected to the subject, as well as the industry, the Restoration Department of the Albertina contributes to new insights and to the development of innovative techniques and products.

PRESERVATION

The Albertina collections are stored in an automatic high-rack storage depot and in numerous manually operated depots. The storage building with its state-of-the-art technology and security standards provides a stable climate (constant

Storage boxes for safekeeping of historical print albums

temperature and humidity) and facilitates optimal manipulation of the works of art.

Large parts of the holdings are stored in storage boxes especially developed for this purpose. The high-quality materials used for safekeeping the works of arts (mats, portfolios, envelopes) are acid-free, non-ageing and help optimise the immediate environment of the collection holdings.

RESTORATION

Each work of art is unique and defines sui generis the limits of how it can be processed. The practices used at the Albertina reflect the latest technical and scientific state of knowledge and take into consideration its place in the history of the collection.

Restoration projects from the Albertina’s Graphic Art Collection

The Silverpoint Project I (Language: German) (PDF, 5.265 KB)

The Silverpoint Project II (Language: German) (PDF, 12.173 KB)

Restoration of Dürer's drawing "Dürer's Wife Agnes" (Language: German) (PDF, 8.358 KB)

Restoration of Rudolf von Alt's drawing "View of the Skodagasse in Vienna" (Language: German) (PDF, 5.812 KB)

Restoration projects from the Albertina’s Photographic Collection

The restoration of daguerreotypes from the Albertina’s Photographic Collection (PDF, 874 KB)

For more information regarding the book, Coatings on Photographs, Materials, Techniques, and Conservation, or to order a copy

aic.stanford.edu/sg/pmg/coatings.html

PRESENTATION

In addition to the optimised conditions in the exhibition rooms, framing, matting and mounting should provide protection with respect to climate, UV filtering and theft protection.

Louis XVI frame

Work of art: Rudolf von Alt, The Cloister of St. John Lateran in Rome, 1835

In addition to the standard picture frames, which were developed especially for the Albertina to facilitate changing of picture frames quickly, simply and without causing damage, custom-made frames designed to fit individual works of art are of special importance at the Albertina.
For this purpose original historic frames are used, if possible, or copies of original historic frames are specially altered to fit the work of art. Accordingly, old forms of matting (e.g., French mats) are also revived and harmonised with modern materials that contribute to conservation.