Major works, Major work in progress

This year the conservation studios are being renovated and expanded, one of the largest projects in recent years. But with the deadline of the Delta Plan approaching, the restoration and conservation work cannot be postponed. A creative solution is found: the conservators will work in the exhibition spaces.

This extraordinary situation is utilized to offer visitors a glimpse behind the scenes. And it gives the conservators the opportunity to work on pieces that require a lot of space. Under the title Major works, Major work in progress, the most voluminous and complex sculptures and installations are set up and examined in the large sculpture gallery, such as The ambassadors by Marc Ruygrok, Untitled no. 4 by Michael Heizer, Quartet by Barry LeVa, Monument for V. Tatlin by Dan Flavin and Untitled (Brigid) by Tom Claassen. Thus, the public gains insight into the specific problems of conserving and presenting complex, large works of art.

A team of two conservators, an art historian, an artist, an archivist, a depot manager and a member of the technical staff is instructed to prepare a report for each sculpture in which the art-historical, material, construction and installation-technical data is compiled. It is precisely this multidisciplinary approach that makes it clear for each work what is still missing, unknown or what still needs to be done.