Conserving ‘The Hero’
Our friends at the De Young Museum on conserving The Hero on loan from MCAM for the Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power: 1963–1983
The Hero cuts a striking figure in it’s own right. It just needed a little freshening up. The painting, by enigmatic artist Phillip Lindsay Mason (see Post: Search Terms: Looking for Phillip Lindsay Mason), initially arrived at MCAM in rough condition. Housed in our storage facilities for the past several decades, it’s been a long time since it’s seen the light of day. MCAM loaned the painting to the De Young Museum, for the last stop for the globally acclaimed exhibition, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983. To get The Hero show-ready, De Young’s conservationists revived the painting to it’s original power. You can read all about the process on the De Young’s conservation blog below. If you’re around the Bay Area, you can visit the painting in person! Soul of a Nation is on view at the De Young through March 15.
