Art Conservation always has the eyes to the future. There are numerous different variations of art conservation. Though there are quite a number of numerous distinct varieties of artwork maintenance, the most common theme of them all is preservation. They are all concerned with the stabilization and preservation of artworks.
The great distinction between art restoration and conservation is the concept that one is more concerned with the present and one is headed toward the future. Most of the different variety of maintenance is grouped together under the common name Preventative Conservation. This is the responsibilities and concern of all galleries and museums charged with historic and precious collections of artworks.
So, it is actually balance that governs the work of the preventative art conservationist. It is a balance between protecting the work for future generations, and making the work available to be enjoyed. Cleaning of the artwork is a kind of maintenance that is deemed controversial. There are those who claimed that the collected dirt and dust of the centuries is a part of the piece now and therefore should not be altered.
Another approach is to clean the works extremely carefully, removing as much as foreign substances as possible without altering or modifying the piece itself. This is done to prevent it from further and more rapid decaying and not necessarily to restore the art to its original form. Preventative conservation is very much concerned with the environments which exist around the artworks.
This environment is painstakingly monitored and controlled to build condition that would be least likely to harm the artwork and should also take part to its stabilization. Preventative conservation attempts to limit too much exposure without limiting exposure. What it means is that though a certain piece of artistry might be preserved in a dark, closed and sealed vault, the purpose of the artwork is to be viewed and seen.
Such factors like sunlight and temperature could have a harmful impact or effect on an artwork. There is another kind of art conservation and it is concerned with the protection of the artwork when being moved or transferred from one place to another or while being on display. Mostly often, works of art travel or move between galleries, museums or owners as an outcome of a sale or merely to be loaned for display purposes.
Professionals in art conservation will monitor and arrange the transport and also to insure the proper environment for displaying at the designated destination. Art conservation is a very exciting, fun yet quite demanding field. Though there are still too many variations of art conservation out there, it is truly all about the careful and painstaking preservation of the artwork so that it could be passed on to other people or for the next generations to come.
The accountability and responsibility of preserving and taking care of the priceless artworks and masterpieces of the great masters of our times in the past as well as what is being done today, for our promising and emerging artists, rests entirely in their hands.