Conservation Department
Photo MMFA
The Conservation Department’s primary mission is to ensure the integrity of the objects in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ collections through preventive conservation and remedial treatments.
The conservation of the Museum’s collections is rendered more complex given the diverse nature of the works, both in terms of the types of objects and the vast array of materials they are made from. As a result, the Museum’s Conservation Department is composed of conservators and technicians with expertise in various areas of specialization, such as works on paper, paintings, sculpture and the decorative arts, as well as installations and digital works.
Thanks to the expertise of these highly trained professionals, the Museum can fulfill its responsibilities with regard to the works in its own collections, both for exhibition in the Museum’s galleries and as loans to other institutions. The Museum is also in a position to care for the many works of art it receives on loan for its temporary exhibitions.
Paintings Conservation
Frame and Framing Conservation
The frame protects the art it houses and, in this role, inevitably suffers damage caused by unsafe handling or shipping methods. Nevertheless, its raison d’être is to shine the spotlight on the artwork.
At the Museum, we seek to situate works in their era. The frame highlighting the object serves as a reference.
The wood assemblages were becoming detached in places, weakened by years of handling and shipment.
The Conservation Department section on this site is funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec as part of the implementation of Measure 41 of Quebec’s Digital Culture Plan and by the Ville de Montréal under the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal.
