AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

The founders of the Nasher Sculpture Center, Raymond and Patsy Nasher, began cultivating an exemplary collection of modern sculpture in the mid-1960s. During the proceeding decades of dedication to the arts, they befriended practicing artists; one such artist was American sculptor Beverly Pepper (December 20, 1922 - February 5, 2020). The Nasher archives contain exchanges between the Nashers and Pepper outlining acquisitions or offering personal updates. These letters – and other artwork archives – highlight the intimate nature of the Nashers’ collecting practice. Intermixed with these exchanges are questions regarding restoration and care of two Pepper works in the Nasher collection. Early on, Black Angel (1967) and Venezia Blu (1968), two large-scale outdoor sculptures composed of stainless steel and painted interior mild steel panels, posed challenges to their caretakers. This is evident in the need for repainting at regular intervals over the last forty years.

As one of the first artists to use and experiment with various steel alloys (including stainless and Cor-Ten), Pepper did not shy from complicated techniques. In 1962, she was invited to make work for a festival in Spoleto, Italy, for which she pushed through gender norms of the time and learned to weld. In these early metal sculptures, she sought to utilize these techniques and create a – seemingly more manageable – hollow form. Both Black Angel and Venezia Blu are composed of these repeating square units, as are others in collections around the world.

After reviewing conservation documentation for Black Angel spanning four decades, it became clear that nearly every Dallas-based sculpture practitioner had repainted the interior mild steel panels. Yet the underlying cause of persistent paint failure remained. Unfortunately, the hollow form composed of stainless steel and mild steel had fostered a generative environment for galvanic corrosion. While not unusual that this combination of factors would coalesce into material failure over time, additional mysterious factors within the construction of the pieces meant that the many documented attempts made to passivate and repaint the surface would only be temporary.

Knowing of structural issues concerning these works, Pepper encouraged employing outside specialists to repair her work, including auto-body experts. With approval from the Beverly Pepper studio and foundation, rather than attempting another treatment in-house, Black Angel was sent to a trusted stainless steel fabricator for assessment and repainting earlier this year. What was discovered upon paint removal resulted in the unforeseen decision to replace the corroded mild steel panels with stainless. This intervention was pursued after verification from stakeholders, as the goal was to restore the work to exhibitable form once again. Collaboration between the Nasher, the fabricator, and the artist’s studio and foundation aimed to set a benchmark in the treatment of these complex constructions; it also lead to a better understanding of the desired paint surface sheen and paint system options.

Beyond outlining material replacement and paint requirements, this paper hopes to prepare caretakers for what exists within the framework of these important pieces, and help catalyze action when faced with heavy decisions about their treatment.