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| Professional
experience / Clients in Germany and abroad
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Professional experience After training as a paintings conservator at the Österreichische Galerie in Vienna and the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Braunschweig (1979 - 1980) I concentrated on glass conservation, working for three years at the Restaurierungszentrum, Düsseldorf (1981 - 1983), followed by voluntary work conserving glass vessels at the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne and the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg (1983/ 1984). My knowledge and experience of conservation and restoration of paint on canvas and on glass constituted a solid basis for treating reverse paintings on glass (Hinterglasmalerei). I acquired technical skills in this field in 1984 at the workshop of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich, and in 1985 became a self employed conservator specializing in the conservation/ restoration of reverse paintings on glass. I have restored more than 500 reverse paintings on glass for major museums and private collections in Germany and other countries including the U.S.A., Great Britain and Switzerland. After years of conservation in the field of folk art - reverse painted glass of the 18th and 19th centuries, I was experienced enough for highly demanding restoration work. These included first quality objects from the 14th through the 17th century, which were presented in the following exhibitions on reverse paintings on glass:
My work also includes the treatment of reverse-glass paintings integrated in medieval altars, in cabinets and mirrors. The conservation/ restoration of seven reverse painted glass inlays of a house altar, South Germany, probably Nuremberg, about 1560 - 1580 of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning (USA) was recently accomplished. The project was financed by the Getty Foundation, Los Angeles (USA) and technically supported by the Doerner Institut. My activities also include delivering lectures in Germany and abroad, for example for the “Conference on reverse paintings on glass” in Murnau (2006), Oberammergau (2007) and Augsburg (2008) and the training of colleagues and students in the conservation of reverse paintings on glass. I have taught courses comprised of lectures and practical demonstrations at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, West Dean College in Chichester (GB) and the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage in Amsterdam (NL). I have contributed my technical and practical knowledge in the field of paint and glass techniques to a research project of the Swiss Center for Research on Stained Glass and Reverse-painted Glass in Romont (CH) financed by the Swiss Nationalfond, entitled “Examination of 17th century Swiss reverse paintings on glass. Fundamentals of Swiss Art History” (1998 - 2002). From 2006 - 2008 I have been involved in a research project being undertaken by the Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing in Berlin and the Museum Schnütgen in Cologne (financed by the German Research Foundation). The project is entitled: “Reverse painted glass in Flanders, Burgundy and at the Lower Rhine of 1330 to 1550. Origins of the 'cold painting' on glass and the influence of stained glass and panel painting”. I have contributed my knowledge concerning the technical aspects of paint and glass of late medieval glass paintings. For detailed information check www.dfg.de. I am a member of the following professional organizations: IIC (International institute for Conservation), ICOM (International Council of Museums), AIHV (Association International pour l' Histoire du Verre), DGG (German Glass Technological Society). Further information about Simone Bretz at www.revertro.eu. |
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