As the annual meeting of the American Institute of Conservation comes to a close, we have one final conservation-related post. The Millers purchased Henry Moore’s Draped Reclining Woman in 1971, and by 1998 the bronze sculpture required treatment. As with any project they undertook, the Millers consulted experts before proceeding with any work. Among those they contacted were the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Conservation Department, the Henry Moore Foundation, and Venus Bronze Works. (The Miller Estate sold “Henrietta” as she was affectionately called at Christie’s (London) in 2008.)

Photograph of Jim Schmalenberg (Venus Bronze Works) cleaning Henry Moore’s Draped Reclining Woman, 25 August 1998, 11/103; John Farnham to Beverly McDermott, 25 August 1998, 11/104, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Millers hired paintings conservator F. DuPont Cornelius in 1957 to treat an oil painting. Little information about the painting is in the Miller House and Garden Collection. Besides this pair of letters is an invoice from Alexander Girard that gives the source (Roslyn Rosier), a description (Fruit Picture for Dining Room, Oil Painting, Still-Life), and cost ($950, less 20%, plus 40% commission). Cornelius was “Restorer To The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center” and “Conservator, The Art Gallery, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.”

F. duPont Cornelius to Alexander Girard, 4 November 1957; Alexander Girard to Wanda Henderson, 8 November 1957, 1/7, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f007_091-092)

This week the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) is holding its annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. To welcome the conservators we’re featuring conservation-related documents from the Miller House and Garden Collection. Today’s post is a 1957 letter from Kevin Roche of Eero Saarinen and Associates. With skylights in nearly every room, the Miller House is filled with diffused sunlight, and the Millers were concerned about what effect sunlight would have on paintings, drawings, textiles, and books. Roche consulted with the Detroit Institute of Art and was told that varnished oil paintings would not be harmed by diffused sunlight. (They learn differently in 1967.)

Kevin Roche to J. Irwin Miller, 3 December 1957, 1/7, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f007_043)

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SUBMISSION: One to Forty-Nine (c. 1968) by Alexander Girard. Gift of the Estate of Xenia S. Miller to the Indianapolis Museum of Art

Missed this. Saw in person at the Miller House, just inside the front door. Totally charming, especially in a house made of squares.

In 1972, Alexander Girard’s One to Forty-Nine (MH2010.3) was being damaged by moths. Once the moths were killed, the box with feathers was treated with hair spray. Check out the note found in the Miller House and Garden Collection.

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Girard’s One to Forty-Nine (MH2010.3) was being damaged by moths. Once the moths were killed, the box with feathers was treated with hair spray.

Note by Barbara Voelz,10 August 1972, 5/60 Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ib_B005_f036_060)

Claude Monet’s Waterlillies (1919) fell from its place above the piano in the living room. Fortunately, only the frame was damaged.

Owen D. Hungerford to Xenia S. and J. Irwin Miller, 22 November 1974, 3/21, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_IaB003_f021_084)