.png)
New! A Trio of Treatments: Conserving Manet’s The Ragpicker
This week we debut the final episode in our video series on the conservation treatment of the Simon’s three paintings by Édouard Manet. For this installment, much of which was filmed in the Paintings Conservation Studio at the J. Paul Getty Museum prior to the current closure, Chief Curator Emily Talbot interviews Devi Ormond, Associate Conservator at the Getty.
As Devi explains, technical analysis of The Ragpicker’s overly thick varnish revealed unlikely components that prevented her from fully removing this stubborn layer. Learn more about the challenges thrown up by this discovery, as well as the compositional changes that Manet made during the course of painting the picture, in this short video.
WATCH: Conserving “The Ragpicker”
More from the series:
Conserving Madame Manet Conserving Still Life with Fish and Shrimp
Meditative Moments: Compassion Meditation
In this week’s compassion meditation, take a moment to contemplate this beautiful sculpture of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, who, in his eleven-headed form, is the patron deity of Tibet and of the Dalai Lama. It is said that Avalokiteshvara’s head split into ten fragments when he learned of the suffering of the world. Here, we see a pyramidal arrangement of nine heads that are tranquil, and one that is wrathful to fight negative forces. The eleventh head, on the top of the pyramid, is that of his spiritual father, the Buddha Amithaba. Taking inspiration from Avalokiteshvara, pause to reflect on loved ones who might need some extra comfort right now. | MEDITATE
DIY Stories: You Matter by Christian Robinson and The Ragpicker by Édouard Manet
While the Museum is closed we are pairing some of our favorite children’s books with works from our collection for you to enjoy with your child at home. (Videos of most of the selected books can be found online, or feel free to select something similar from your child’s book shelf or your local library.)
What We’re Listening To: Audio Guide to David Park: A Retrospective (SFMOMA)
Curator Gloria Williams Sander writes, “There is a tremendous amount of energy packed into the paintings of David Park, a member of the Bay Area Figurative School. Tired of the egocentric excesses of Abstract Expressionism, Park set out to reinvent the vital tradition of figurative painting and created a distinct style that was, importantly, generated in the West Coast. SFMOMA’s retrospective is the first in a major museum in thirty years. And while I couldn’t visit the exhibition in person, I enjoyed listening to a special audio guide made available on the museum’s website.” | LISTEN
