From Sharks to Sugar: Addressing Conservation Issues of ... - incca

first place. Beyond strategically planned acquisitions, the less obvious
reasons are that art has been given as gifts and that museums may have
rare or unexpected chances to purchase unique works of art (Herman
Aben, 1995, p.104).
Bruce Altshuler, Director of the Program in Museum Studies,
Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University, addresses
the challenges museums face in acquiring contemporary art in regards to
its preservation.
…collecting contemporary art has marked two points of conceptual
tension. First, collecting contemporary art conflicts with the notion
of the art museum as an institution that preserves the works that
have withstood the test of time, placing them within an art
historical narrative in which new works can have no definitive
space. Second, with the creation of museums devoted to “modern”
and “contemporary” art, the focus on the new was found to conflict
with the traditional museum goal of preserving its holdings in
perpetuity. (Altshuler, 2005, p.8)
Although it may seem strange to some that museums collect this work at
all, as managing and caring for it is fraught with difficulties, institutions
and individuals collect this work to preserve a moment in art history.
Regardless of the reasons for collecting the artwork, it is the responsibility
of collections managers and conservators to care for it.
Museum professionals in Contemporary and Modern art museums
may be aware of the challenges in conservation, but these issues are also
entering the public consciousness, as well as affecting private collectors.
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