Three important Canadian paintings in McMaster’s collection have just returned to the Museum after receiving state-of-the-art conservation treatment from Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) in Ottawa. The paintings returned to McMaster this week, looking beautiful, accompanied by CCI’s detailed and extensive treatment reports.

Every year the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) invites cultural institutions across the country to submit proposals for Conservation and Restoration Treatment services, free of charge. CCI has various assessment criteria, among which are that the work be of importance to your collection, your community, and Canadian history. As the only conservation institute in the country, CCI’s invitation is highly regarded and competitive. Therefore, the Museum was thrilled that three of the Museum’s permanent collection works were selected for treatment in 2013.

A CCI team of conservators led by Debra Daly Hartin attended to Lawren Harris’ Near Mongoose Lake, Algoma, Tom Thomson’s Algonquin Park and Franklin H. Carmichael’s Spring Snow. The three works have both historical significance and popular appeal – Thomson directly influenced a group of Canadian painters, including Carmichael and Harris, who would come to be known as the Group of Seven. Moreover, the Harris and Thomson are important as the only works by these artists in the Museum’s collection, and the Carmichael is noteworthy as it is a double sided panel, with a painting on the front and a partially painted sketch of the same scene on the back.