September 29th Lecture

Kate Cuffari, art conservation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, came to speak to the Tyler Foundation BFAs about the repair, restoration, and analysis of art. She posed some very interesting questions such as: How do you sell a piece of art if you know it won't survive? Does it matter to you if your work survives? Cuffari used very interesting examples from both present day art and art from the past; Jackson Pollack for example willfully destructed all of his early works, and every so often Damien Hirst has to replace the Formaldehyde Shark. Her lecture reminded me of an article I had previously read about how art collectors are becoming more hesitant to spend large sums of money on the works of Andy Warhol because he used cheap paints to make his portraits. In turn, they are becoming harder to preserve and therefore recognize as well. People now are wondering if it is worth their money to spend a fortune on a painting that will not make it another twenty years. Overall, I found Cuffari's lecture very helpful and interesting. One of the best yet!