Objects Department: Conservation of plated sculpture
Associate Objects Conservator Derrin polishing the surface of Modern Head I, 1970 by Roy Lichtenstein.
The Art Program at Montage Health in Monterey displays art throughout their facilities to create spaces that encourage patient healing. The program is considered essential to clinical care and contributes to creating an environment and atmosphere where patients feel safe, socialize, and maintain a connection to the world outside the hospital. The program’s permanent collection features a variety of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, with a focus on Californian artists, and continues to acquire and exhibit contemporary artist’s works throughout Montage Health’s facilities.
Between 1969 and 1989, painter Roy Lichtenstein designed and fabricated several iterations of Modern Head themed sculptures, most were cast in steel, sometimes painted or metal plated, and could range from tabletop to monumental in scale. Several large scale outdoor Modern Heads are located in collections including Yale University, The Israel Museum and The Smithsonian. Lichtenstein was a leading figure in the 1960s Pop Art movement and is recognized as one of most influential and innovative artists of all time. His best known paintings were inspired by comic strips and advertisements rendered in a style influenced by reproduction printing processes.
This Lichtenstein piece from the Montage Health permanent collection, Modern Head 1, is a small polished brass work in an edition of 75, produced in 1970 by Gemini in Los Angeles. The sculpture arrived at the studio with handling marks that had etched into the coating and scratched the plated surface. Treatment included several stages to polish to remove oxidation and reduce scratches and handling marks. The sculpture was then coated with two layers of microcrystalline wax and buffed to a golden high luster mirrored surface.
Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Heads I, 1970 before and after treatment.
Detail, before and after treatment.
