Anna Perkins

There are many dumbed-down sources about oil painting conservation, and on the other hand, there are many highly technical articles and books on the subject. As a layperson with scientific and artistic experience, I synthesized the information I gathered over the course of the Masters in Liberal Studies, SUNY Empire program into a “liaison” type of website with straightforward but detailed explanations, complete with links to plenty of resources for interested visitors to explore the topic further.

If you are interested in art conservation but do not have conservation training, I hope you will find that the information on this website strikes the right balance between technical information and principles of conservation - a detailed overview.

If painting conservation is totally new to you, I recommend browsing in the order below. This reading order begins with a discussion of the ethics and reasons for conservation, and then it continues with some historical background. Finally, it takes you through some of the materials that conservators use to do their work.