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GUILD IN THE PRESS
The New Orleans Conservation Guild has been featured in a number of magazine and newspaper articles as well as local newscasts. Some print excerpts and video clips appear below. |
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Today, she is the president and founder of one of the only multi-disciplinary art restoration houses in the South, but 18 years ago, Blake Vonder Haar was between careers, waiting in a Paris subway station and reading a magazine.
Expert finds that restoring art helps restore owners, too
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A news report on the
New Orleans Conservation Guild and the restoration of damage from
hurricane Katrina. Fox 8 News |
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From being fermented
in eight feet of brackish floodwater for three months to minor touch-ups,
the New Orleans Conservation Guild has tackled it all in its efforts
to restore antique and vintage frames to their original radiance—or
as close as possible. A Frame Job |
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For many people whose
homes flooded, the only salvageable objects from their pre-Katrina
lives are the paintings and photographs that hung on their walls.
Blake VonderHaar, 44, is president of the New Orleans Conservation
Guild, where 25 professional conservators have painstakingly restored
more than 5,000 of such works of art since Hurricane Katrina struck. Why Stay? |
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Jan De Groot's dark
eyes and raven hair gleam in contrast to the snowy wingspan of an
owl stretched just beyond his right shoulder. Wearing a deep blue
jacket, he clutches a rifle with one hand while checking his pocket
with the other. His is an image painted in 1937 by American artist
Jerry Farnsworth, one that Jean and Ed Davidson assumed was lost
forever to the clutches of Hurricane Katrina. Saving Graces |
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"As paintings go,
it was not that good, really," Madeleine McMullan recalls in
a voice still gilded by pre-war Austria after 60 years in the United
States. "I don't even know who painted it. It wasn't considered
valuable — in fact, my father hated it." McMullan is talking
about a portrait of her mother that was painted in Vienna in 1920,
smuggled out of the country when the family fled the Nazis on the
eve of World War II, and lost on the surge of Hurricane Katrina
last year. Katrina's Art |
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Last year’s storm
seriously hurt many New Orleans framing businesses—although
some escaped with minor damage. Here’s a look at the hurricane’s
impact on a number of Crescent City framers.
Katrina
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Between the floodwater
and the termites, you might say Lee and Sarah Campbell Phillips'
100-plus-year-old house on Bienville Street had gone to the devil.
But now, a set of angels is watching over its redemption. HIGH ART |
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"What do the photograph
of your firstborn child, Aunt Fanny's silver bowl, and a 200-year-old
Italian painting have In common? All of them are treasures and need
proper care if future generations are to enjoy them. But what happens
if something breaks or suffers another type of damage? That's when
a conservator comes to the rescue." The Art and Science of Conservation |
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A news report on the
New Orleans Conservation Guild and the restoration of damage from
hurricane Katrina. WWL News |
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I am writing this story
from a Katrina-forced exile in Punta Gorda, Florida. Yes, Punta
Gorda, the small Gulf city midway between Sarasota and Fort Myers,
that Hurricane Charley blasted last August 13. Blown Away |
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With expertise and
passion for her profession - art conservation - Blake Vonder Haar
has become an integral part of the movement breathing colorful new
life into the tiny neighborhood known to New Orleanians as the Bywater.
Visual Arts |
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"Is that finish
on your antique table looking worn? Your mirror cloudy? Before you
"fix" these problems, you may want to check with an expert
because you may actually devalue your piece" Living with Antiques |
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"From the French
Quarter to the Arts District, the museums, galleries, and artists
of New Orleans are thriving on an increasingly sophisticated blend
of Southern tradition and global culture" City Focus: New Orleans |
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" I am in the presence
of 'The Pig Woman,' and for the moment at least, the monotone drone
of the auctioneer, the shuffling of folding chairs and the easy
amble of traffic passing by Magazine Street all succumb to my fascination
with the Knute Heldner painting."
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"Coming soon: a
93,000-square-foot center designed to provide an up-close-and-personal
look at local art, in progress. "Art As Business" |
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"Remember that Roben Doisneau poster of the French couple kissing—or did you lean towards reproductions of Van Goghs and Klimts? No matter, you probably mounted the $15 poster on cardboard with glue and framed it in cheap, thin metal. In college, that was art, and that was its framing. But now that we're grown-up about art—buying original oils on canvas, antique prints, historic photograph- (maybe an original Doisneau?)—we need to frame responsibly. That means that framing should not only accentuate the artwork, but conserve it."
"Border Patrol |
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"When deciding whether to paint on canvas or linen, artists can solicit advice from two authorities: conservators and other artists. Here, Blake Vonder Haar, the director of the New Orleans Conservation Guild, and portraitist Duffy Sheridan, of Eloy, Arizona, offer their opinions..."
"Understanding
Canvas and Linen"
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"Founded in 1997, Blake Vonder Haar's New Orleans Conservation Guild, Inc. is the parent company for a vast emerging art empire. Their Center for Art & Antique Restoration has become an indispensible part of the regional art community catering to private and public clients alike. Their Antique Frame Gallery is one of the few galleries in the US specializing in Antique picture frames. In 2002 the Guild started the Bywater Art Market, a monthly outdoor art festival featuring 60+artists selling their own original works." "Restoring New
Orleans One Piece at a Time" |
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"Most of us believe
that our treasured antiques and personal possessions are
"When Catastrophe
Calls - There's no cure like prevention, but when prevention fails..." |
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"New Orleans is an
old city. Indeed, the Old World flavor of the place is one of the
strongest attractions drawing thousands of visitors annually and creating
new residents daily.
"Art Restoration
Finds Place in Big Easy" |
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"In and era of shrinking
global national, state and local support for museums and their programs,
it is frequently all but impossible to put some objects into "exhibition
condition" without assistance from skilled and qualified colleagues.
Such was the case with the splendid First Empire (1804-14) carved
giltwood frame surrounding Baron Antoine-Jean Gro's full-length 1808
portrait of Empress Josephine at her beloved chateau of Malmaison.
The portrait belongs to the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Palais
Masséna, Nice, France, and was presented by the empress to
her friend Monsieur Pierlot in 1810... "With a Little
Help from Our Friends: The New Orleans Conservation Guild Restores
a First Empire Frame" |
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This excerpt from an
episode of Our Place on the HGTV Network highlights frames and frame
restoration. HGTV |
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"...Collectors
may want to access the Guild's resources before they are duped. Vonder
Haar says one art collector consulted her too late. He thought he bought
a Picasso. Instead, Guild researchers discovered it was a bad forgery."
- New Orleans Magazine,
October 2000 |
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"The
New Orleans Conservation Guild has brought Old World discipline and
craft to a thoroughly modern problem: decaying works of art, which are
abundant in our wet, sunny, moldy, insect-infested home."
"...before 1998, when guild proprietor Blake Vonder Haar moved into the current space, there had never been such a large, one-stop, multi-service conservation center here. Only four or five others like it exist in the country, but perhaps none as indigenous to its surroundings as this one." - Times Picayune, Saturday,
July 8th, 2000 |
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"Amazing
things are happening at The New Orleans Conservation Guild on Burgundy
Street. Vast numbers of works of art are in various stages of restoration
and conservation there. Sound techniques and scientific analysis are used
to revive pieces of art weathered by time or poor care."
"In yet another challenge, the NOCG was awarded the opportunity to restore a collection of rare property plans by Marie Adrien Persac (1822-1873). Unbeknownst to the Guild, it participated in a competition for the project when given a practice run on another work on paper. NOCG was chosen for its excellence in handling difficult conservation problems." - Southeastern Antiquing
and Collecting Magazine, July 2000 |
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"The
frame and gilding department is housed on the first floor. Like other
departments, it's a great studio space where highly trained conservators
work to hand carve lost ornamental features of antique frames, as well
as gild frames and objects according to specific tones that vary from
piece to piece."
"The recently conserved 18th century French giltwood frame the guild is storing for the (still unfinished) New Orleans Ritz-Carlton Hotel is an excellent example of the Guild's work in frame restoration. - Southeastern Framer,
July 2000 |
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A CITY SO RICH IN VISUAL ARTS and so well known for its drinking establishments,
it should come as no surprise that occasionally the two overlap. There's
no need to dwell on how often and in what numbers area artists have gotten
lost in the labyrinths of local saloons. Instead, our time would be best
spent on the marvelous works of art that can often be found by raising
our eyes above the rim of a cocktail glass or beer mug—especially
the murals that were created specifically for the barrooms where they
reside." - The Times-Picayune Lagnaippe,
April 21, 2000 |
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"When
asked to give examples of some recent Guild work, Ms. Vonder Haar pauses
momentarily, then casually mentions the call she received in April from
frantic members of' the New Orleans museum exhibition staff concerning
two entries in the upcoming (then only a few days away) Degas presentation.
It seems that both the $40 million masterpiece "the Cotton Market",
and "The Invalid", both centerpieces of the exhibition, needed
attention for damage in transit and other minor touches. The NOCG under
Ms. Vonder Haar directed the necessary restoration and production of "Degas
in New Orleans" which opened on time to national acclaim."
- Bywater News, July 1999 |
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"Years
ago, when the gilding on antique mirror and picture frames became dull
or darkened, the handyman of the family would visit the hardware store
to buy a can of his favorite radiator paint... Well, here we are at the
start of the twenty-first century, and those antique frames with their
radiator paint finishes intact are still coming through the door of the
New Orleans Conservation Guild. Unfortunately their true restoration requires
the time-consuming removal of the handyman finish before getting down
to the serious work."
"If you inherit an antique painting, mirror, statue or table that seems to need some freshening and the urge to do it yourself comes over you, stop yourself. Don't reach for the bondo or radiator paint. Consult with a conservator. You have a responsibility to maintain these objects for posterity. And you might just be tampering with history." - Country Roads Magazine,
October 2000 |
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"The large mural of Peristyle's namesake - an open air structure with Doric columns built in 1907 and located in City Park - seems brighter and even larger than my pre-fire memories of it. All for good reason. Blake Vonder Haar of the New Orleans Conservation Guild supervised the restoration of the bar mural and the mural in the dining room. They are both oil paintings on canvas done by Ferdinand Martin and completed between 1919 and 1920...both murals were just nailed to the walls." "Now both murals have been properly stretched on frames, revealing about 3 feet of the bar mural that hasn't been seen in a while. 'The murals look incredible,' Vonder Haar says. 'They probably have never been restored. Imagine being in a bar with poor ventilation. We got a lot of crud off.'" "Keeping the
Flame, |
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"The New Orleans Conservation Guild Inc. - at nearby 4101 Burgundy Street - is a center for the restoration, conservation, research and appraisal of fine art and antiques. The company specializes in paintings, works on paper, frames, porcelain, stone, glass, furniture and gilded objects." "The Big Easy Does
It Again" |
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"'Fine-art restoration is not a Martha Stewart-type project... it requires many years of special training. It's not that people can't do it, but they need to know what to do when things go wrong.' Among the many things the Guild does right: superior custom framing at its offshoot Antique and Vintage Frame Gallery..."
"Restore America" |
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"A newly opened frame shop, by the same people as The New Orleans Conservation Guild, Inc., will carry a stock of unusual frames, restore your antique frames or duplicate historic frame. Staffed by artists and conservators, the Gallery of Antique Frames is the only one of its kind outside of New York and Washington, D.C...."
"Treasure Hunting" |
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"So how do you frame a document page that is older than the Constitution? We offered this challenge to Blake Vonder Haar, President and Conservator-in-Charge of the New Orleans Conservation Guild, Inc. and Antique and Vintage Frame Gallery. As you can see, Blake returned with a superb work. Here are her comments about this challenge: 'We are a professional art conservation center, and our frame shop and gallery feature a selection of over 500 antiue and vintage frames, so of course we relished in the thought of featuring some wonderful old frames for this project. The challenge of using vintage and antique frames is, of course, size and proportion...'"
"Frame This! Rare
Bible Leaf" |
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