Object Department:

Lacquer Treatment

Emily Rezes, Assistant Object Conservator during treatment. Richard Hunt, *Natural Form with Mountainous Section*, 1967, welded chrome steel

For many years our client’s predominant focus for his collection has been the works by Richard Hunt. His passion for collecting the work is fueled by his interest to learn about the artist’s concepts, materials and life history of the artist. His targeted interest has made him an expert on the artist’s oeuvre and has expanded into a full catalog that is slated to be published. During his time collecting, he has brought several interesting of the artist’s sculptures and works on paper into the studio for treatment. One in particular, Richard Hunt, Natural Form with Mountainous Section, 1967, was created from found materials and welded together.

Richard Hunt was born in 1935, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago where he experimented with Surrealism and assemblage of found parts procured from junkyards to reuse into organic forms. Hunt works with an array of metals like copper, iron, steel and aluminum which led to him to create a series of "hybrid" figures which references human, animal and plant forms combining organic and industrial subject matters. He is also an expert at the process of printmaking from lithography to cast printed paper. Hunt has continued to experiment throughout his successful career, employing a wide range of sculptural techniques. His work often makes comments on contemporary social and political issues.

The surface of Natural Form with Mountainous Section, 1967 had several condition issues such as a thick discolored yellowed varnish, red iron corrosion at the welds, brown iron corrosion in the grinding marks and minor copper corrosion visible when arriving to the studio. These conditions were present due to the copper intermediary layer under the chrome. The treatment included removal of the discolored varnish layer with acetone. Next, the corrosion was reduced using ethanol and an abrasive pad. Finally, three coats of varnish which included a corrosion inhibitor were applied to the surface with a brush.