Paul Messier (art conservator)

Paul Arthur Messier (born 1962) is an art conservator and head of the Lens Media Lab at the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

For the hockey player, see Paul Messier (ice hockey).
Paul Arthur Messier
Born1962 (age 58–59)
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materVassar College
The State University of New York College at Buffalo
OccupationArt Conservator

Education

Messier received an A.B. cum laude in Art History from Vassar College in 1984 and a M.A. and C.A.S. in paper conservation from the Art Conservation Department[1] of the State University of New York College at Buffalo in 1990.

Career

Consulting with private and institutional collections worldwide,[2] Messier served as a senior advisor for the Museum of Modern Art's Object|Photo initiative to characterize modernist photographs in its collection and is directing a program to establish a photograph conservation department at the State Hermitage Museum.[3][4][5] In February 2015, he was named the inaugural head of the Lens Media Lab [6] at Yale University's "Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage."

The largest authenticity scandal in the fine art photography market, fraudulent prints attributed to Lewis Hine were exposed through his research in 1999.[7][8][9][10]  Other authentication research has focused on the work of Man Ray,[11] Dorothea Lange and Charles-Edouard de Crespy le Prince among others.[12][13][14][15]

Messier has assembled a reference collection of photographic papers that is considered unique in the world.[16] Ongoing research on this collection has involved numerous partners including the Getty Conservation Institute[17][18] the Museum of Modern Art,[19] the Art Conservation Research Center at Carnegie Mellon University,[20] the Department of Surface Metrology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University and the George Eastman House.[21] His work to characterize photographic paper was described by ARTnews as advances that “will reduce fraud, influence the marketplace, and even revise art history.”[22] The collection was purchased [23] by Yale University as part of the formation of the Lens Media Lab.

In 1998 Messier founded the Electronic Media Group[24] of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). He was elected to the AIC board for two terms, serving from 2004-2010. While on the board his major initiatives included the publication of the AIC Guide to Digital Photography and Conservation Documentation (2008)[25] the transfer of ConservationOnline[26] and the ConservationDislist[27] from Stanford University (2009), and the establishment of the Conservation Catalog Wiki (2009).[28]

The New York Times called Paul Messier "the man when it comes to photography and paper restoration."[29]

References
  1. "Art Conservation Department website," State University College at Buffalo, Retrieved on 24 May 2012.
  2. "Paul Messier LLC Partial List of Institutional Clients," Retrieved on 20 September 2015.
  3. "Meeting of International Advisory Board of the program of photography research and restoration at the Hermitage," Retrieved on 24 May 2012.
  4. Ireland, Corydon. "Saving Snapshots of History," Harvard Gazette, 7 February 2011. Retrieved on 25 May 2012.
  5. Norris, Debra, Martin Jürgens, Nora Kennedy, Bertrand Lavédrine, and Paul Messier. "From Russia to Laos: Building Global Partnerships To Preserve Photographic Heritage," Getty Conservation Institute, Newsletter 27.1 Spring 2012. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  6. McDonald, Amy Athey. "Yale to launch Lens Media Lab for photograph research and conservation" Yale Daily News, 19 February 2015. Retrieved on 20 September 2015
  7. Glueck, Grace. "Authenticity of Famed Photographer's Prints Scrutinized," The New York Times, 12 November 1999. Retrieved on 25 May 2012.
  8. Anonymous. "Fake vintage photographs: Prontoprints," The Economist, 5 July 2001. Retrieved on 25 May 2012.
  9. Blumenthal, Ralph. "Shadows Cast by Forgery; The F.B.I. Investigates Complaints About Lewis Hine Prints," The New York Times, 16 August 2001. Retrieved on 24 May 2012.
  10. Woodward, Richard. "Too Much of a Good Thing: Photography, Forgery, and the Lewis Hine Scandal," The Atlantic, June 2003. Retrieved on 24 May 2012.
  11. Messier, Paul. "Technical Analysis of le Violon d'Ingres," The Long Arm of Coincidence: Selections from the Rosalind and Melvin Jacobs Collection Pace/MacGill Gallery, 2009.
  12. Adam, Georgiana. "French police investigate allegedly fake early photographs," The Art NewsPaper, Issue 232, February 2012. Retrieved on 26 May 2012.
  13. Gratiet-Taicher, Eleonore. "L'un des pionniers de la photo a-t-il été inventé de toutes pièces?," Rue89, 23 January 2012. Retrieved on 25 May 2012.
  14. Grimm-Weissert, Olga. "Fiel der Handel auf gefälschte Fotos herein?," Handelsblatt, 21 February 2012. Retrieved on 6 June 2012.
  15. Noce, Vincent. "Le vieux cliché était presque parfait," Libération, 10 April 2012. Retrieved on 24 May 2012.
  16. Doenitz, Amanda "The Demise of an Art Medium," Art On Paper, March / April 2007. Retrieved on 10 September 2015.
  17. Getty Conservation Institute and Paul Messier. " Understanding 20th Century Photographs: The Baryta Layer Symposium," Getty Conservation Institute, 24 January 2006. Retrieved on 26 May 2012.
  18. Getty Conservation Institute. "The Baryta Layer Symposium," Getty Conservation Institute, Newsletter 21.1, Spring 2006. Retrieved on 26 May 2012.
  19. Martins, Ana. "Characterization of Silver Gelatin Fiber-Based Photographic Papers using X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy," Museum of Modern Art, 2–6 August 2010. Retrieved on 27 May 2012.
  20. Connors-Rowe, Sandra, Paul Whitmore and Hannah Morris. "Optical Brighteners in Black-and-White Photographic Paper: Appearance and Degradadtion," Archived 2013-01-20 at the Wayback Machine Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 7 January 2008. Retrieved on 26 May 2012.
  21. Notes on Photographs. "Lewis Hine: Materials and Research Analysis with Paul Messier," George Eastman House, September 2008. Retrieved on 26 May 2012.
  22. Peterson, Thane. "Setting a Date," ARTnews, March 2008. Retrieved on 24 May 2012.
  23. Buckingham, Amanda. "New photo lab to open on West Campus," Yale Daily News, 27 February 2015. Retrieved on 20 September 2015.
  24. "AIC's Electronic Media Group," Retrieved on 24 May 2012.
  25. Warda, Jeffery ed. "The AIC Guide to Digital Photography and Conservation Documentation," American Institute For Conservation, 2008
  26. "Conservation Online," Foundation of the American Institute For Conservation
  27. "ConservationDislist," Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation
  28. "Conservation Catalog Wiki," American Institute for Conservation
  29. Anonymous. "The Connoisseur: Is There a Bespoke Framer?," The New York Times, 2 December 2007. Retrieved on 25 May 2012.
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