Join us for a free lecture and book signing by Rustin Levenson, President and Founder of Art Care Conservation, New York and Miami. Levenson will discuss her prize-winning book,  “Seeing through Paintings,” offers insights into the materials and techniques of paintings and how the examination of paintings can help determine the date and authenticity of a work.  Levenson, co-author of the book, will share insights from the book and will discuss her work as a painting conservator with recent examples of work in the studio. 

“Seeing through Paintings,” by Rustin Levenson and Andrea Kirsh, was awarded the American Library Association Excellence Prize.  The authors were also awarded the Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation Prize by the College Art Association and Heritage Preservation. The Boston Bookbuilders awarded “Seeing through Paintings” its prize for design. 

Levenson: B.A. from Wellesley College; Diploma in Paintings Conservation, Fogg Art Museum, and Harvard University. Conservation staff of the Fogg Museum (1969-1973), the Canadian Conservation Institute (1973-1974); The National Gallery of Canada (1974-1977); and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1977-1980). She has co-authored with art historian, Andrea Kirsh, Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies (Yale University Press, 2000) and written chapters for The Expert vs. the Object (Oxford University Press, 2004) and the upcoming Painting Conservation Book to be published by Buttersworth Press. Her published articles include “Emergency Conservation,” “Adhesives for Strip-Lining Twentieth Century Paintings,” “A New Method for Strip-Lining Easel Paintings,” “Useful Modifications for Current Lining Techniques,” and “Up in Smoke, the treatment of fire damaged paintings.” She is a Fellow both in the American Institute for Conservation and The International Institute for Conservation, and has served on numerous professional committees as well as chairing the Paintings Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation.

Please RSVP at Reservations@PolkMuseumofArt.org.
“Seeing through Paintings" will be available at the book signing, but you may pre-order by emailing Terry Aulisio at TAulisio@PolkMuseumofArt.org. Books are $42.50.