William Suhr Conservation Ledgers

Collection

Identifier: MS.018

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

These two ledgers succinctly record the conservation work William Suhr completed from 1938 to 1957. Each entry consists of the date the artwork was received, owner of artwork, the artist and title, conservation treatment performed, the amount charged, and the date completed. In addition to his work for the Frick, Suhr's clientele includes prominent collectors, dealers, and museums. Volume one dates from 1938 to 1945 and volume two dates from 1945-1957. The first entry for a Frick work is on December 19, 1938 for Frans Hals' Portrait of a Woman and the latest entry for a Frick work is October 1957 for a Pieta attributed to the School of Avignon.

Dates

Creation: 1938-1957

Creator

Suhr, William, 1896-1984 (Person)

Access Restrictions

These records are open for research under the conditions of The Frick Collection / Frick Art Reference Library Archives access policy. Contact the Archives Department for further information.

Access Restrictions

These records are open for research under the conditions of The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives access policy. Contact the Archives Department for further information.

Biographical Note

William Suhr, born in Germany in 1896, worked as a restorer in Berlin, Detroit, and San Francisco before establishing his studio in New York in 1933. In 1935, Frederick Mortimer Clapp, director of the Frick Collection, asked Suhr to become the permanent paintings conservator. Suhr continued to restore paintings for art institutions across the United States, private collectors, and the art trade.