IIC publishes obituaries on the website, and if appropriate in News in Conservation, for IIC Members and Fellows who have made a significant contribution to the conservation profession. Enquiries can be sent to office@iiconservation.org
Submitted by Sharra Grow on
By Elizabeth R. Brill and Stephen P. Koob
Dr. Robert H. Brill, research scientist emeritus at The Corning Museum of Glass, died peacefully on April 7, 2021 at his home in Corning, New York. A highly respected scientist in glass science and conservation, he researched the history of glass technology worldwide and published extensively in the fields of archaeometry and chemistry.
Submitted by Sharra Grow on
By Sarah Bull
John was born on 17th January 1931 in Bristol, England. After Bristol Grammar School, he studied Fine Art and Cabinet Making at Royal West of England College of Art, where he met his future wife of 64 years, Anne. On 12th November 1956, he began working as a junior restorer at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery starting the Monday after his marriage to Anne.
Submitted by Sharra Grow on
By Jerry Podany and Thomas Roby
Peter Rockwell, a sculptor and the youngest of three sons of artist Norman Rockwell, died at his home in Danvers, Massachusetts on Thursday, February 6, 2020. Although predominantly known as an artist who worked in stone, Peter was also a renowned expert and scholar in the historical techniques of stone sculpting from antiquity to the modern era.
Submitted by Kate Stonor on
Image: Sharon Cather at St Gabriel’s Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral, 1990. Image courtesy of David Park. © Courtauld Institute of Art.
The IIC is saddened by the death, on 6th June, of IIC Fellow and former Vice President Sharon Cather after a brief illness. The Shelby White and Leon Levy Professor of Conservation Studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art (retired 2018), Sharon served on IIC Council for six years, as Vice President from 2010-2014, and as Chair of the Technical Committee for both the 2010 IIC Istanbul Congress and the 2012 Vienna Congress.
Submitted by Kate Stonor on
By Dominique De Reyer & Emmanuel Maurin
It is with the deepest regret that we report the death of Marcel Stefanaggi, the news of his death being received on the day after SFIIC’s Annual General Meeting on 11th April 2019.
Having graduated in chemistry and art history, Marcel Stefanaggi was a trailblazer in heritage conservation, recognising the importance of relationships and dialogues between scientific disciplines and the arts and their benefit for cultural heritage conservation.
Submitted by Kate Stonor on
By Simon Howell
IIC, with sadness, notes the passing of Robert Shepherd, Fellow of IIC, member of IIC Council and inspirational conservator; here Simon Howell recalls Robert Shepherd's unique career and contribution to the conservation profession.
Submitted by Kate Smith on
By Graham Voce
We are sad to record the passing of Malcolm Gillespie, artist and designer, who was for over ten years an important and valued part of the IIC team.
Submitted by Kate Smith on
By Paul Whitmore
The art conservation world lost a towering figure with the passing on August 3, 2018, of Dr. Robert L. Feller in Pittsburgh, PA, at the age of 98. Dr. Feller, Bob to his friends, devoted his life to providing the scientific research essential to the advancement of conservation practice. He was a pioneer and the leading practitioner of the emerging discipline of art conservation science research.
Submitted by Sharra Grow on
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Andrea Rothe who served as Senior Conservator of Paintings at the Getty Museum for over twenty years. Born in Italy of German parents, he studied conservation in Florence and Vienna and was an assistant to the artist Oskar Kokoschka before becoming a private conservator for the Italian state. He worked on a number of important paintings at museums and churches across Italy, and eventually became head of the prominent paintings conservation studio housed at the Pitti Palace. Equally notable was his role in saving many paintings damaged in the Arno flooding (1966) as well as his presence at many professional conferences, which made him an international figure in the conservation field.
Submitted by Graham Voce on
Vale Dr Colin Pearson, “Father of the Conservation Profession in Australia”, friend and mentor to generations of conservators in Australia and internationally. The Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM) is saddened to report the death of Dr Colin Pearson, AO, MBE on Sunday 17th April 2016. Colin was a former Council member and Vice President of IIC.
