Smithsonian Institute

The Foundation sponsored an annual internship to enable professional conservators to join the Smithsonian Institution’s Chinese Painting Conservation Program, which facilitated networking and collaborations among Chinese painting conservators worldwide.

The major objectives of the Smithsonian’s program were to 1) train museum professionals in the conservation of Chinese paintings; 2) build working relationships and foster collaborative research with conservation professionals at museums throughout Mainland China and with other institutions that care for Chinese paintings; and 3) ensure that the Freer and Sackler Galleries exemplified the highest standards of care and conservation for their collections of Chinese paintings.

Attaching silk paper around the edges of the painting.

Conservators at Freer were examining the condition of paintings for exhibition preparation.