Museum removes 14 Wyeth paintings to avoid damage

CHADDS FORD, Pa. – After five years of planning, the Brandywine River Museum of Art's major retrospective of work by Jamie Wyeth was dealt a serious blow this month by a ruthless opponent – the weather.

Bitter temperatures, with the National Weather Service saying the month may end as the region's coldest February in nearly 40 years, prompted museum officials to remove 14 Wyeth paintings. They were removed for nine days from the museum's third floor, where condensation on the cold wall raised concerns about potential dampness damage.

Priceless works in the first major Jamie Wyeth retrospective since 1980 were taken down on Feb. 17. They were being rehung Wednesday and will be on view starting Thursday.

"We truly were being overly cautious," said Museum Director Thomas Padon. "No works were damaged. Absolutely no works were in danger."

The Jamie Wyeth exhibition, examining six decades of the artist's career and featuring more than 100 of his works, has been showcased on the second and third floors of the museum since mid-January. The 68-year-old Wyeth is the scion of the famous family of American artists, including the late illustrator N.C. Wyeth and painter Andrew Wyeth.

The Brandywine River Museum is renowned for its holdings of the Wyeths' artwork.

But, recently, instead of seeing Jamie Wyeth's paintings in some parts of the third-floor gallery, museum visitors saw blank walls.

A sign on the third floor read: "Two of the exterior walls in this gallery of our historic mill building have been affected by the extraordinary weather conditions. As a precaution the works by Jamie Wyeth which were hung here have temporarily been removed and will be reinstalled next week. Thank you for your understanding of this highly unusual circumstance."

Paintings conservator Joyce Hill Stoner, professor of material culture at the University of Delaware and conservator at Winterthur Museum, said some museums in this area are not built to handle the extremely cold temperatures, with seven days in February reaching lows in the single digits. The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said this February is shaping up to be the fourth coldest since 1894.

Frigid outside walls in contact with the heated interior can result in condensation on inside walls similar to the sides of a shower stall, Stoner said. Dampness is the enemy of artwork. High humidity can cause the canvases to shrink and the paint to "tent" like a campground shelter, she said.

Stoner said the works were placed in a vault while the museum waited for temperatures to moderate.

Museum director Padon said there was "a tiny bit" of condensation, but it was not near any paintings. He said the paintings were being reinstalled in "a slightly different way" with a slight barrier between the wall and the painting. He said adding the barrier is the museum, again, "being overly cautious."

Visitors have come from around the world to see the Jamie Wyeth exhibition, which Padon called "extremely popular." The museum parking lot was full Wednesday afternoon, and nearly two dozen visitors lined up for a curator-led tour.

On Wednesday, Carol Forrest of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, said she had been looking forward to seeing the exhibition, which includes "Kleberg," Wyeth's 1984 painting of his late yellow Labrador with a black circle around his eye. The dog, resembling Petey, the pup from "The Little Rascals" comedy shorts, is the prominent image on exhibition posters and was one of the paintings removed.

Forrest said she didn't know before visiting the Chadds Ford museum that some paintings would be missing.

"I was disappointed," said Forrest, who added she still enjoyed the exhibition. "It was very good. I really love this museum."

Visitors who didn't get to see the full collection were offered free passes to return, worth $6-$15.

Forrest was glad to receive a voucher to return soon.

"It will be lovely to come back here in the springtime," she said.

"It's not the best thing for the museum," said Danielle Rice, director of Drexel University's museum leadership graduate degree program and former executive director of the Delaware Art Museum.

"But they had no choice," she said. "They have to preserve the works of art."

Preventive conservation

Leaders of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which organized the exhibition and received many Wyeth works on loan, and the Brandywine River Museum have been vigilant about keeping humidity at 50 percent and temperature at 70 degrees Fahrenheit, as required by standard lending contracts, Stoner said.

Elliot Bostwick Davis, curator of the Jamie Wyeth exhibition and chair of American art at the Boston museum, said museums are no different than other buildings.

"But we have to take extra precautions," Davis said.

The Boston museum brought in Stoner to examine the paintings that were hanging in the 1864 former mill that formed the heart of the Brandywine River Museum when it opened in 1971.

"The paintings couldn't stay there because dampness behind them is like having a painting in a damp basement," Stoner said.

Stoner found the paintings to be undamaged. A paper conservator will examine the works on paper, she said.

"It's really just a precaution or preventive conservation," she said. "They're taking extreme precautions because it's a national exhibit and works are from private owners and lenders."

Padon said all the lenders, owners and Jamie Wyeth were informed of the situation. Padon said he also is in constant contact with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Other works taken off exhibition included paintings inspired by the area near Point Lookout Farm, Wyeth's home in the Brandywine River Valley between Chadds Ford and Wilmington. Others include "And Then Into the Deep Gorge," a 1975 oil on canvas of his wife, Phyllis, and "Patriot's Barn," a 2001 work of a barn with a huge American flag.

Canary in the coal mine

Museums in the Mid-Atlantic have been facing similar problems with the unusually frigid temperatures, Stoner said.

"This is not a highly unusual situation with museums," Padon said. "It does happen."

While some visitors may have been disappointed at not seeing some works, the Brandywine River Museum did the right thing, said Majorie Schwarzer, professor of museum studies at the University of San Francisco. From an insurance and lending perspective, it would have been far worse if any works had been damaged, she said.

"If they had an artwork damaged, how would they ever be able to borrow again?" Schwarzer said. "We have to show that we will do the right thing for the object. These paintings are too precious."

Schwarzer called the occurrence the "canary in the coal mine" for climate change because museum environments are extremely sensitive.

"Museums are talking about how to deal with climate change," as they've had to deal with extreme weather events, including hurricanes and droughts, in recent years, she said.

To Rice, the museum's "larger issue" is whether work needs to be done on its building. The museum was expanded in 1984 and 2004.

Padon, museum director since 2012, said this is first time anyone who works for the museum recalls works of art being removed because of weather conditions.

"It has not happened before. And, clearly, we hope it doesn't happen again," he said.

The Jamie Wyeth exhibition runs through April 5. It travels next to the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas.

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico. Contact Maureen Milford at (302) 324-2881 or mmilford@delawareonline.com.