jen_munch_art_conservation

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jen_munch_art_conservation

Specializing in the care of modern and contemporary paintings

01/21/2026

Bravo to my many colleagues who joined forces to help the artists and artisans affected by this devastating fire here in Brooklyn! The scale of the fire and water damage was staggering to witness.

12/08/2025

Recently I took an incredible workshop on advanced technologies for treating artworks using nanostructured fluids and gel systems. This workshop happened at and was taught by Professors Baglioni and Poggi of the University of Florence chemistry department.

In this photo I’m using one of their systems to remove an upper layer of acrylic paint from a lower one- a very tricky task that cannot be safely accomplished with normal solvents. The physico-chemical mechanism here is “de-wetting”- a controlled detachment of a layer. If you’d like to read more, see the publications on greenart-project.eu.

The painting shown here is actually one I made in 2019 during a prior conservation project at the same museum- in collaboration with other conservators ( et al) who were also testing methods for stabilizing cracked paint in a Franz Kline painting.

Thanks to the organizers, professors and the other participants for a wonderful workshop!

09/06/2025

Of the fairs I went to yesterday, the fair on W 22nd St was the smallest and most fun.

The pics here are from the truck with art from LA gallery .autobody -
🚮 Can art by

👠Shoe by and

Table and an amazing “wilting flower” lamp by

Also, check out the fair’s delightful merch table in the last photo.

The huge is also great this year, with very positive and relaxed vibes and tons of good art. Both fairs are open for the rest of the weekend.

09/03/2025

Lots of us are gearing up for NYC art fair week. Spotted outside of my studio building was which has its own art fair outside of the Armory/Javits show.

08/22/2025

N.C. Wyeth’s colossal 1932 mural, “Apotheosis of the Family,” re-emerges in a gleaming new round barn after years in storage.

08/20/2025

🌟This flake of real gold fluttered out from behind a painting I’m conserving. The painting itself has no gold anywhere on it so this was a delightful surprise.

To date, this is my favorite item I’ve found between a painting’s canvas and stretcher.

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08/13/2025

Some favorite varnishing brushes are drying in front of my exhaust fan. These are the ones I use most:
🖌️3” Rosemary & Co. Series 222. This is a nylon brush and is my #1 favorite, even for very small paintings. It’s got a perfect stiffness and is so easy to control.
🖌️1.5” Dr. Georg Kremer white goat hair brush 🐐 This one is super soft and best for blending or spot-applying varnish.
🖌️1.5” Princeton Neptune synthetic squirrel hair 🐿️ This soft brush holds a ton of varnish and is great for applying thick coats.

These brushes are all around $30-$50. Synthetic brushes are less expensive than natural hair brushes. If you’re varnishing a lot, you’ll notice a difference with nicer brushes. If you don’t varnish much, you may be happy enough with basic ones.

Before varnishing I also carefully dust paintings with dedicated soft brushes. I don’t dust with varnish brushes since dry varnish residues can scratch art.
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06/23/2025

👋🏻 Hi, I’m Jen, the person behind this account! I’m a paintings conservator in Brooklyn, NYC. I’m also an artist myself. Before conservation I worked as an artist’s assistant and a fabricator, and I installed museum shows. All of that was good work but I like cleaning and repairing paintings even more.

My favorite things about owning my own conservation business are the freedom to take on interesting projects and getting meet lots of people. I’m lucky to say I love my clients and my job!

I’m here to connect with you and to share snippets of my work with anyone who’s interested. Thanks for reading- let’s stay in touch!

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06/02/2025

Another terrific art conservation conference in the books! “Like water for a wilting plant,”was how Ulysses Jackson from Golden Paints described these events 🥀 🌱 🪴

I met and reconnected with so many talented colleagues and thought deeply about the nature of what we do. My favorite presentations were some of the heaviest, about working in war zones- Ukraine and Sudan.

05/23/2025

Next week I’ll visit the TruVue Plexiglas (TM) factory in Minnesota. In anticipation, I rewatched the funny Plexiglas factory scenes from Star Trek 4 (the one with the whales). 🐳

and make high-end products used to protect artworks. I’ve signed an NDA so this is probably all I’ll share about my visit.

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Star Trek’s copyright is owned by Paramount.

05/21/2025

My colleague Luisa Casella sent me a wonderful gift! 🎁 These are magnetic labels for a photo reference plate we both use.

Photo-documentation is a big part of our work so we can show what has changed during an artwork’s treatment. And now it will be even easier for me to put labels in my photos!

They’re currently displayed on a wall painted with the magnetic paint I made a while back.

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05/19/2025

Congratulations to on your spellbinding exhibition at the !

The show sprawls through 2 galleries and the museum’s facade. It is open through May 25, 2025 so if you are in Boston, I highly recommend it. The works have beauty, agony, personal elements and a re-envisioning of Haiti’s history. In addition to visual art, the experience is supplemented by a soundtrack of ocean sounds plus the dancing light of flickering candles.

These works were commissioned by the museum, so they are all new and being shown for the first time. More info is at gardnermuseum.org

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