The Maison Kiewert Restoration Studio in Paris and the Practice of Active Conservation

Abstract

The Émile Rostain papers at the Getty Research Institute contain a rare collection of agendas and account books dating between 1900 and 1910. These reflect the activities and business of restoration studio Maison Kiewert, managed during this period by conservators Antoine-Édouard Chauffrey and Léon Govaert. Originally founded in Paris by Paul Kiewert in 1855, the studio became an emblematic place of painting conservation practice in the twentieth century, perpetuating techniques and recipes inherited from eighteenth century conservators François-Toussaint Hacquin and Émile Mortemard. The archive also documents crossings with dealers and collectors, and, significantly, the practice of active conservation, in which studio restorers collaborated with artists, treating works in the process of their making or soon after completion. Acting as adviser, technical assistant, and aid to creation, the restorer, whose interventions influenced the materiality of paintings, played an integral role in transforming the artistic production of the era.