In Memoriam: Dr. Nathan Stolow, art conservator and AIC Fellow, passed away on Oct. 28, 2014. He was a man who touched history. He was an art and document conservator whose knowledge and experience permitted him to help conserve the major documents of Western history, including the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, the Gettysburg Address and the Irish Book of Kells among other objects of history and art. On graduating in 1949 with a bachelor’s in chemistry from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Stolow went on to study at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1952 with a master’s degree, his thesis, Theoretical Chemistry: Rare Earth Oxides Magneto Chemistry. Stolow explored several career options where he could combine chemistry and art. He received advice from a colleague from Harvard University, then at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, who suggested Stolow contact museum colleagues in Europe where conservation activity was more established. Stolow studied with Professor Stephen Rees-Jones at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London from which Stolow graduated in 1956 with a Ph.D with a thesis on painting conservation. He subsequently did independent study of Museums in Europe and America to study conservation methods for art. He published this information on a report for the National Gallery of Canada. He had a long and varied career developing conservation methods for art and document conservation, holding several significant positions and publishing many articles and books. He published several articles and books and treatments on art and document conservation. In 1957 he established the Conservation and Scientific Research Division of the National Gallery of Canada and planned and moved their entire collection from one facility to another. In 1964 he worked on the establishment of a separate National Conservation Research Laboratory at the National Gallery of Canada. In 1967 he worked on the presentation of art from all over the world in a specially constructed environmentally-protected gallery at the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67 (The World’s Fair) in Montreal, Quebec. From 1958 to 1982, he served as rapporteur coordinator of the Committee for Conservation: International Council of Museums. From 1971 to 1972, he served as coordinator of the Committees for Conservation and International Exhibitions: International Council of Museums and was chairman of the Canadian National Committee for International Council of Museums. From 1972 to 2007, He worked on the encasement and preservation project of the Magna Carta, later displayed at the U.S. National Archives in 2007. In 1972, he established Canadian Conservation Institute, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa. In 1975, he was appointed special conservation adviser of the National Museums of Canada Corporation, Ottawa. In 2008, he served on the editorial board of Journal of Museum Management. From 1982 to 1984, he was the senior curator of the Conservation Department, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia. From 1984 to 1987, he was the foundation conservator for the Department of Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg where from 1985 to the present, he was the international conservation consultant. In 1991, he designed and built a bullet-resistant, climate-controlled exhibit capsule for the U.S. Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. In 1994, he designed specialized cases for the Library of Congress for the Gettysburg Address, the Virginia Declaration of Human Rights and The Irish Book of Kells.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:04:03 +0000
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