Paid Post-graduate Interns at CCI — 2009
Marie-Catherine Cyr
After graduating from the Master of Art Conservation program at Queen’s University in the fall of 2007, I was thrilled to join CCI’s Fine Arts Laboratory. Although I had experience working on paintings from different time periods and with assorted supports and materials, I was seeking an opportunity to carry out in-depth research to complement a conservation treatment. This is exactly the type of work done at CCI, where conservators and scientists are keen to collaborate. I am now completing my second year at the Institute and during my time here I have been involved in workshops and many initiatives bringing different laboratories together. However, one project in particular has been the highlight — the treatment of a painting by Québécois artist Marcelle Ferron.
I have a special interest in modern and contemporary art, and two paintings by Ferron that were awaiting treatment at CCI immediately caught my attention. Both had been executed in the 1950s during her prolific “Paris Period” when she was defining her style and gaining international recognition. They showed different aspects of her methods and style, and exhibited unique conservation challenges. After some initial reading about Ferron and her materials, I realized that very little conservation-driven research was available about her works. One of the paintings — Untitled (1955) — was a prime candidate for such a project.
Untitled (1955) is an oil painting on canvas. Ferron adhered the canvas to a plywood board with an epoxy adhesive after she had begun painting it, and then resumed her work. She applied the paint with both palette knife and brush in an abstract motif of blue, purple, green, and white strokes. The painting shows the first signs of her later vivid and energetic compositions where the design is blurred around the perimeter and white occupies the negative space. It is also one of the very few remaining examples of her use of plywood as an auxiliary support.
The painting had come to CCI for treatment of the many “bumps” (deformations) of the paint and canvas, the latter having largely come away from the plywood board. In addition, the originally vibrant colours were obscured by a discontinuous yellowed varnish and assorted stains. The painting’s owner had kept it in storage for more than 10 years due to its unstable condition, but now wanted to display it.
During the course of my internship, I have received the support of CCI conservators, scientists, and documentation staff to assemble information pertaining to Ferron’s choice of materials, her techniques, and her working methods, especially those used during the first half of her Paris Period. This was instrumental in designing and carrying out the conservation treatment for Untitled (1955). An account of this project will be presented at the 35th annual conference of the Canadian Association for Conservation (CAC) in Vancouver in May 2009, and a paper will be submitted to the Journal of the CAC. The most important and exciting outcome, however, is that the painting will once again be accessible to the public.
