Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department

Fiona Beckett is the Assistant Professor of Paintings Conservation and joined the Garman Art Conservation Department in January 2018. Fiona received her Masters of Art Conservation with a Specialization in Paintings Conservation from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, and received an Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Ottawa. From 2014 to 2017, Fiona was the Clowes Conservator of Paintings at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields (IMA) where she focused on the conservation of the Clowes Collection of European old master paintings. She conducted imaging, scientific and technical analyses of the paintings including works by Titian, Tintoretto, El Greco, Corneille de Lyon, Lorrain, Reynolds, Bellini among others. Fiona also conducted treatments of paintings on panel, canvas, and copper, including works by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger, Jan Breughel the Elder, and Jacopo Zucchi. She also developed the Conservation in Clowes exhibition series (2014-2017) which highlighted conservation treatments in the galleries including paintings by Jacopo Zucchi, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger, and Neroccio de Landi. She also helped establish the conservation imaging suite and equipment. Prior to her position at the IMA, Fiona was the Director’s Trust Fellow in Paintings Conservation at the National Gallery of Canada focusing on 19th-century European paintings treatment including that of Thomas Couture, Gustave Dore, and Robert C. Todd. Her largescale Couture treatment of Supper After the Masked Ball became a Masterpiece in Focus exhibition in the gallery highlighting both the artist’s working process and her conservation treatment. Fiona has held contracts and internships at the National Gallery of Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Glenbow Museum as well as in private practice. She speaks French, German and some Italian. While at Buffalo State, Fiona has published several technical studies of old master paintings for the Clowes Catalogue Project. She embarked on a collaborative effort with the Memorial Art Gallery to bring Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair to the Garman Art Conservation Department to conduct a thorough technical analysis and involved other faculty and students in the process. Concurrent to her interest in old master paintings, Fiona is researching contemporary artist paints. In particular, she is looking at problems associated with fluorescent paint used in artworks and has recently published articles involving these materials in the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation and in Colorants.

Fiona actively collaborates with local institutions including the Memorial Art Gallery, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Buffalo History Museum, the Burchfield Penny, among others regarding research and paintings treatments. While she actively oversees the numerous paintings treatments of her students, Fiona also committed to conducting treatments herself. Her most recent treatment is a largescale 19th-century painting by American artist Ridgway Knight entitled Springtime, owned by the AKG. Fiona is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation, serves as an Editor on the Paintings Specialty Group (PSG) Wiki Committee (2022-ongoing) designed to host articles, share research on materials and topics in paintings conservation, and as editor of the Paintings Specialty Group Postprints.
 

Recent Publications
F. Beckett, A. Shugar. Following the Light: Use of Multimodal Imaging and Fiber Optic Spectroscopy to Evaluate Aging in Daylight Fluorescent Artists’ Pigments. Colorants 2022, 1, 208–225. https://doi.org/10.3390/colorants1020013  

S. Guidera, F. Beckett, E. Hamilton, Investigation into Consolidants for Reverse Glass Paintings. Recent Advances in Glass and Ceramics Conservation 2022. Eds. Gridley, R. and Schussler, V.  6th Interim Meeting of the International Council of Museums -Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC), Glass and Ceramics Working Group.

Beckett, F., & Smith, G. D.  Restoring a “Broken” Tulip: Analysis-Informed Conservation Treatment of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger’s 17th-century Floral Still-life. CONSERVATION 360º, 2022, 2. https://monografias.editorial.upv.es/index.php/con_360/article/view/399

F. Beckett, A. Holden, G.D. Smith, Seeing the Light: Research, Conservation and Exhibition of a 1980s Daylight Fluorescent Painted Leather Jacket Designed by Sprouse and Painted by Castronovo. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation. Vol. 58. Issue 4. 2019. 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01971360.2019.1614290

F. Beckett, A. Shugar, JJ. Chen, R. Ploeger. A Closer Look at Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Young Man Seated in an Armchair at the Memorial Art Gallery. American Institute for Conservation, Research and Technical Studies Postprints. 2021
https://www.culturalheritage.org/membership/groups-and-networks/research-and-technical-studies/resources/publications

Published Technical Studies in the Masterpieces from the Clowes Collection: Paintings. Indianapolis: The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields (2019-2022):
Corneille de Lyon, Portrait of Rene de Puy de Fou.
Corneille de Lyon, Portrait of a Marie de Guise
Jan Brueghel, Seascape with a Cliff
Tintoretto, Apollo and the Muses
Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger, Flowers in a Glass Vase
Unknown German Artist, Passion of Christ Series of 12 Panels
Pier Francesco di Jacopo Foschi, St. Philip-Benizzi and the Gamblers
Bernardo Luini, Madonna and Child with Saint John and the Lamb
Giulio Francia, Madonna and Child
Bastiano Mainardi, Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel
Master of Breughel, River Landscape
Master of Badia a Isola, Madonna and Child
El Greco, Saint Matthew
El Greco, St. Luke
El Greco, St. Simon
Leandro Bassano, Portrait of a Man with a Book
Bronzino, Portrait of a Lady
Vezzano Titian, Portrait of Andrea de’Franceschi
Claude Lorrain, Flight into Egypt
John Constable, The Cornfield
Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Mrs. Watkinson Payler
Bellini, Madonna and Child

(Technical Reports and Imaging published online: https://dev-paintings.theclowescollection.org/browse/technical-reports/all/)

F. Beckett, A Hangover Part III: Conserving Thomas Couture’s Supper After the Masked Ball, American Institute for Conservation - Conference, San Francisco. May 28-31, Paintings Specialty Postprints, 2015.
https://www.culturalheritage.org/publications/books-periodicals/library/specialty-group-publications/paintings-specialty-group-postprints

Recent Presentations
C. Gratini, F. Beckett, J. Chen, A. Shugar, R. Ploeger. Straight Out-of-the-Tube: Analysis and Conservation of George Mathieu’s Pour une aliénation définitive du logos. 51st Annual Conference, American Institute for Conservation. Jacksonville, FL. May 20, 2023.

K. Nurmi, F. Beckett. When Doing Nothing is Best for the Future: Analysis and Conservation of Louise Nevelson’s Dawn’s Image, Night. 50th Annual Conference, American Institute for Conservation. Los Angeles, CA, May 13- 17, 2022.

R. Childers, F. Beckett and P. Ravines “Lady in Blue: Mitigation of Blanching Through Varnish Application on a 16th Century Portrait” Poster, American Institute for Conservation- 49th  Annual Conference, June 24, 2021.

F. Beckett, A. Shugar, R. Ploeger, J. Chen, A Closer Look at School of Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair at the Memorial Art Gallery, American Institute for Conservation – 48th Annual Conference, May 19-23, 2020.

F. Beckett, A Closer Look at School of Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair at the Memorial Art Gallery. Invited Lecture. Twentieth Century Club, Buffalo. Feb. 17, 2020.

F. Beckett, A Closer Look at School of Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair at the Memorial Art Gallery. SUNY Buffalo State College, Conversation In and Out of Disciplines Lecture Series. Feb. 28, 2020. https://dailybulletin.buffalostate.edu/spring-2020-conversations-series-begins-february-28-talk-prof-fiona-beckett

F. Beckett, Conservation Program Overview and Paintings Conservation at SUNY Buffalo State, Invited Lecture, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Nov. 6, 2019.

F. Beckett, R. Norris, Technical Analysis of the Portrait of Andrea de’Franceschi by Titian’s Workshop, Midwest Art History Society, Technical Art History – 44th Annual Conference, Cleveland Museum of Art & Case Western Reserve University, April 6-8. 2017.

F. Beckett, Seeing the Light: Conservation and Exhibition of a 1980s Day-Glo Painted Leather Jacket. American Institute for Conservation – 43rd Annual Conference, Miami. May 13-16. 2015.

F. Beckett, A Hangover Part III: Conserving Thomas Couture’s Supper After the Masked Ball, American Institute for Conservation - Conference, San Francisco. May 28-31. https://www.culturalheritage.org/publications/books-periodicals/library/specialty-group-publications/paintings-specialty-group-postprints

F. Beckett, Thomas Couture In the Studio.  Lecture. National Gallery of Canada - Ottawa. Feb.6. 2014. 
Conservation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEFJLitwzow&t=1s
Magazine: https://www.gallery.ca/magazine/in-the-spotlight/conservation-of-supper-at-the-maison-dor-by-thomas-couture

Recent Posters
F. Beckett, A. Shugar. Following the Light: Use of Multimodal Imaging and Fiber Optic Spectroscopy to Evaluate Aging in Daylight Fluorescent Artists’ Pigments. Buffalo State College Faculty and Staff Research Forum. Dec. 1, 2022. https://artconservation.buffalostate.edu/sites/artconservation.buffalostate.edu/files/uploads/BECKETT_FALL_FORUM_Poster-Fluorescent%20pigments_2022.pdf

K. Zinsli, F. Beckett and A. Holden, Piecing It Together: Analysis and Treatment of a Painted Silk Flag. 50th Annual Conference, American Institute for Conservation. Los Angeles, CA, May 13- 17, 2022. https://artconservation.buffalostate.edu/posters-presentations

J. Munch, F. Beckett and A. Shugar “Structural Conservation of a late 16th early 17th Century Panel Attributed to Paul Brill”. Poster, 47th American Institute for Conservation Conference, Uncasville, CT, May 13-17. 2019         

E. Robson, F. Beckett, A. Shugar, and J.J. Chen “In-Depth Technical Analysis and Treatment of a Floral Still Life Painting”. Poster, 47th American Institute for Conservation Conference, Uncasville, CT, May 13-17. 2019
 

Additional Projects
Cecily Brown Community Mural Project, 2021
https://www.buffalo.edu/arts-collaboratory/working-artists-labs/working-artists-lab-cecily-brown.html

Conservation Advisor, Grace Ann Philips’ short film, Georgette in the Garden, Colombia University) https://suny.buffalostate.edu/news/buffalo-state-art-conservation-professor-serves-adviser-tfa-alumnas-film