In 1998 LACMA acquired an 18th century Korean Buddhist silk painting. Due to its poor state of preservation the work had never been on view to the public and yielded, until relatively recently, little scholarly attention. Given the complexity of the proposed conservation treatment and LACMA’s desire to use traditional methods consistent with the care and preservation of Korean paintings, the Conservation Center secured the assistance of a highly respected Korean conservator, specializing in the conservation of Korean screens and scrolls, to oversee the conservation treatment. Given the large scale format of the painting, all conservation work was executed in the newly-installed Korean Art galleries at LACMA over a period of 14 months. As such, it provided a unique opportunity to highlight one of the museum’s most popular “behind the scenes” activities and to engage museum visitors and the Korean community in Los Angeles – the largest outside The Republic of Korea – in a more productive and meaningful way. Mark Gilberg‘s presentation focuses on the treatment of this unique work of art and the cultural differences which guided the conservation process.
Listen Online