News

Independent Paper Conservators’ Group Lecture

“Conservation Confidential”

Speaker:  Deborah Bates ACR

Tickets from Eventbrite. / Participate via Survey Monkey

In her first IPCG event Deborah plans to lay it all bare. In pursuit of a more candid dialogue in a profession where independent practitioners can still seem to be working behind locked studio doors, she will be sharing some of the mistakes made, insights learnt and trade secrets acquired in a 40-year career.

In a break from format, Deborah is inviting attendees’ participation via a Survey Monkey page where questions or quandaries can be submitted – anonymously, or in plain guise – for debate on the night. Any topic might be broached from writing estimates and reports to what to do with a Warhol or how to handle a Damian Hirst.  It will also be possible to submit a short case study for consideration by Deborah and IPCG members; this might be a conservation procedure that went oddly wrong, for instance, or maybe you have been vexed by a picture with a perplexing ailment or a narrative that just doesn’t add up.

Biog.:  Deborah Bates has worked as an independent paper conservator since 1980. Having trained together at Camberwell School of Arts, she originally set up in business with Camilla Baskcomb and, as ‘Bates and Baskcomb’, from their Battersea studio, a successful partnership endured for 15 years. Operating as ‘Deborah Bates Conservation’ since the amicable dissolution of their partnership, Deborah provides a comprehensive conservation service to a wide range of clients including auction houses, public institutions, museums, galleries and private clients. She is a conservator of all works on paper, but a special interest in 18th and 19th century pastel and chalk drawings has led to a developed expertise in this area, acquired over 35 years’ practice and inquiry. It has been her delight and privilege to work on artists as diverse as Watteau to Degas, Burne-Jones to Schiele.