The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Feller, Robert L.
Title: Research papers
Dates: 1951-2014
Call No.: Col. 1005
Acc. No.: 2019x27
Quantity: 20 boxes, 16 volumes
Location: 505 G 2-4
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Robert L. Feller was a scientist who contributed to
the field of art conservation. He was in
charge of the National Gallery of Art Research Project on artists’ materials,
and director of the Center for Materials of the Artist and Conservator at the
Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The purpose of this research was to develop new ways to conserve works
of art. He carried out pioneering work
on resins, solvents, and the development of synthetic picture varnishes, and he
tested the deteriorating effects of light, which led to developing better
museum lighting. He lectured on the role
of color and pigments in works of art.
He wrote numerous articles and several books on all these topics. His research was used to help detect forgeries
of paintings.
He was active in the International Institute for
Conservation (IIC) and the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), as well
as other societies relating to chemistry and conservation. The AIC’s Lifetime Achievement Award is named
in honor of Robert L. Feller, and he was a recipient of the award.
Born in 1919, Robert Livingston Feller was the son
of Edna Buchelew and William H. Feller.
Robert took art classes as a boy, but majored in chemistry in college (Dartmouth,
class of 1941) because it was easier to make a living as a chemist than as an
artist. After service in the U.S. Navy
during World War II, he earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Rutgers
University. He, along with many other
conservators, worked in Florence, Italy, after the devastating flood of
1966. Feller died on August 2,
2018. He was married to Ruth M. Johnston,
a noted researcher in the field of color science. She wrote papers and won awards for her work. Mrs. Johnston-Feller died in 2000.
The Fellers amassed a large collection of books
about the science and technology of color and the history of paint. This library was donated to the National
Gallery of Art. The Fellers were known
for other philanthropic donations as well.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Notes, graphs, correspondence, reports, and slides
pertaining to the research interests of Robert L. Feller. Many of the files pertain to chalk, white
lead, and other paint pigments. The text
of his 1990 Forbes lecture, correspondence about the Shroud of Turin,
correspondence about Vermeer paintings, and bibliographic references (in a card
file) are also found. In addition, the
collection includes his bound copies of quarterly reports he made on his
research between 1951 and 1976. These
are not merely summaries, but include full reports of research done, charts,
and copies of correspondence. Also found
are slides pertaining to Feller’s work, white lead samples, and samples of
pigments from various paintings.
In the early 1960s, Feller did some research work
for the artist Sue Fuller (1914-2006).
In appreciation, she gave him one of her “String Compositions.” That work is in this collection.
ORGANIZATION
Papers are in this order: general files, slides,
bibliographic card file, “String Composition,” and the bound volumes of
quarterly reports.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are mostly in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Gift of Barbara A. Kammer, niece of Robert L.
Feller.
ACCESS POINTS
Topics:
Art – Conservation and
restoration – Research.
Art, Abstract.
Artists’ materials.
Pigments.
Additional author:
Fuller, Sue, 1914-
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 505 G 2-4
Box 1:
Folder 1: Antimony
oxide white
Folder 2: Asbestos
Folder 3: Asphaltum
Folder 4: Berrie,
Barbara: correspondence and paper, 2009
Folder 5: Blanc
fixe lithopone
Folder 6: Blue
and green copper pigments
Folder 7: Blues
Folder 8: Blues:
Prussian blue
Folder 9: CaSO4
[calcium sulfate]: gypsum
Folders 10-11: Chalk
Folder 12: Chalk:
calcite
Folder 13: Chalk:
E. De Witte
Folder 14: Chalk:
literature on (also includes coccoliths)
[continues
in next box]
Box 2:
Folder 1: Chalk:
literature on (also includes coccoliths)
[continued
from previous box]
Folder 2: Chalk:
Shaffer and Feller article
Folder 3: Chalk:
university contacts
Folder 4: Clays,
silica, silicates
Folder 5: Coccolithaceae
Folder 6: Coccoliths,
July 1973 [chiefly photos]
Folder 7: Correspondence,
1957-2014
Folder 8: “Evaluation
of Cellulose Ethers for Conservation”: notes for this book
Folder 9: Fayum
portrait of a lady (Toledo Museum of Art)
Folder 10: Feller,
Robert L.: articles and papers by him
Folder 11: Feller:
Robert L.: oral history interview, 1977, with 2010 annotations [transcript]
Box 3:
Folder 1: Feller:
Robert L.: resumes and lists of publications
Folder 2: Forbes
lecture, 1990 [no title]
Folder 3: Graphs
and charts
Folder 4: Green
earth
Folder 5: Iron
oxides
Folder 6: Lead
carbonate
Folder 7: Lead
stannate: Naples yellow
Folder 8: Lead-tin
yellow
Folder 9: Murano
mgns/pearlescent
Folder 10: Nacromer
ZNC-B
Folder 11: National
Gallery of Art (D.C.): cleaning discussion, 1978
Folder 12: National
Gallery of Art (D.C.): conservation library: early history
Folder 13: Notebook:
Oct. 28, 2010
Folder 14: Notebook:
Artists materials, Sept. 1988, with RLF notes, 2004
Box 4:
Folder 1: Notebook:
Artists materials, Mary Curran
Folder 2: Notebook:
Project 2G
Folder 3: Notebook:
Robert G. Florida, June 1969
Folder 4: Peruvian
pigments
Folder 5: Photographs
[mostly, these are not identified]
Folder 6: Shroud
of Turin: correspondence with Walter McCrone
Folder 7: Sienas,
ochres
Folder 8: Vermeer
paintings: correspondence and notes, 1960s-1970s
Folder 9: Vermilion
Box 5:
Folders 1-2: White
lead
Folder 3: White
lead: nacreous
Folders 4-5: White
lead: x-ray deffraction
Folders 6-7: Zinc
oxide
Box 6: Slides
General color science;
Basic
polymer aging;
Polymer
behavior
Box 7: Slides
Polymer degradation;
Basic
varnishes and solvochromic dyes;
Pichetto
whitening panels;
Depth
of fade [continues in next box];
Box 8: Slides
Depth of fade [continued from previous box];
Some
faded pictures;
Fading;
Blue
wools;
Grains
of sand I and II;
Box 9: Slides
Gerbier 1 and 2;
Noel
Kunz [charts mention ultramarine];
Blue
glass and refractive index panels;
Charts
about exposure to heat and light;
Box 10: Slides
Pigments;
Color
and pigments;
Pigments
and colors; [continues in next box]
Box 11: Slides
Pigments and colors; [continued from previous
box];
“statement”
slides and stages of aging;
Light
and color;
NYU
talk [apparently about scientists and conservation];
EVA
resins;
Miss
Frick’s gallery at Pitt
Box 12: Slides
Alizarin glazes;
Alizarin:
fading of the yellow A [to] Y & C;
Alizarin
study;
Alizarin:
blouse;
Alizarin
and Mattelle [continues in next box];
Box 13: Slides
Alizarin and Mattelle [continued from
previous box];
Paper;
Paper:
yellowness I and II [continues in next box];
Box 14: Slides
Paper: yellowness II [continued from previous
box];
Paper:
yellowing;
Reno
slides [apparently a talk about fading];
Iridescence;
“Genevra
box”: suitcase adapted to transporting paintings;
Box 15: Slides
Brussels talk;
Joyce
Hill Stoner series [chiefly slides showing Robert L. Feller];
Japanese
prints: Oberlin;
Box 16: Slides
Japanese prints;
Sue
Fuller: string composition installation, Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York,
1967;
Solvent
series, and others;
Odds
and ends;
Florence,
Italy;
Box 17: notecards
Three sets of bibliographical references; one
set was labeled Key References, but the other two sets were not labeled;
Box 18:
samples
Samples of white lead pigment from paintings,
1967
Box 19:
samples [in metal file box]
Samples on slides
Box 20: award
and art work
Plaque
(with clock): University Products/AIC Award for Distinguguished Achievement in
Conservation of Cultural Property, 2000; CAUTION: CLOCK IS LOOSE
“String
Composition,” by artist Sue Fuller (1914-2006), given to Feller “in grateful
appreciation of thread tests, 1961-1966”; in custom-made box
Sixteen bound
volumes: National Gallery of Art: quarterly reports:
covering January/March 1951
through May/October 1976;
The quarterly reports are
not merely summaries of the work being done, but include results of research,
charts, and correspondence. These are a
very good record of the work that Feller and his co-workers were doing.