David Bomford Receives Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation
The 2010 recipient of the Heritage Preservation/College Art Association Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation is David Bomford, Associate Director for Collections, The J. Paul Getty Museum, for his more than 30 years of scholarship, practical application, and leadership in the field of paintings conservation.
The College Art Association/Heritage Preservation Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation recognizes outstanding contributions to the understanding of art through the application of knowledge and experience in conservation, art history, and art.
 |
Photo: Conservation of Paintings (1997) |
Mr. Bomford is the author of the Art in the Making series, which documents comprehensive and groundbreaking research into the technical and historic significance of artists from the early Italian period to the modern era. Other publications include the exhibition catalog Venice through Canaletto’s Eyes (1998) and Conservation of Paintings (1997), which has been called the single-most useful book for introducing both students and the public to the profession of paintings conservation. Since its publication this book has been a standard reference guide for the discipline, providing aspiring paintings conservators with introductory case studies, professional terminology, and comparative technical analyses.
Mr. Bomford started his career in 1968 as an assistant restorer at the National Gallery in London, and by 1974 he assumed the role of senior restorer, a position he held until 2005. In the course of his work as a practicing conservator, Mr. Bomford has advanced the study of art conservation to new levels by combining science, art history, and practical conservation knowledge in his extraordinary list of publications, and by spearheading the influential interdisciplinary study of technical art history.
As the jury committee stated in its report: "Mr. Bomford is an outstanding and accessible public scholar. His recent appointment to the position of Associate Director for Collections at the Getty, a position traditionally reserved for art historians, is yet another indication of Mr. Bomford’s success in elevating the role and profile of paintings conservation in the broader museum culture."
To read more about awards and past recipients click here.