TAPESTRY PRODUCTION & CONSERVATION 125 years De Wit Royal Manufacturers of Tapestry

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TAPESTRY PRODUCTION & CONSERVATION
125 years De Wit Royal Manufacturers
of Tapestry

Supported by dozens of magnificent illustrations, this volume demonstrates the variety of ways in which ongoing research and the development of new technology can serve to revive the splendour of fragile tapestries kept in European and American museums. 324 p., 200 col. ills, 240 x 300 mm, 2019
ISBN 978-1-909400-52-8
Hardback: € 100 / $130.00 / £85.00

Supported by dozens of magnificent illustrations, this volume demonstrates the variety of ways in which ongoing research and the development of new technology can serve to revive the splendour of fragile tapestries kept in European and American museums. As the Royal Manufacturers of Tapestry, De Wit has been a leading force in undertaking the most pioneering and impressive restoration and conservation campaigns for more than a century. The enterpreneurial and artistic strategies that marked the beginning and subsequent development of De Wit, are extensively discussed in the first part of this book. Koenraad Brosens provides an in-depth analysis of the roles played by the three directors of the Royal Manufacturers – from founding father Theophiel De Wit, to Gaspard De Wit, to current director Yvan Maes De Wit. Each of these individuals’ choices have been closely linked to the increasingly rapid and significant developments in the European and American tapestry landscapes. The second part of this volume, by Yvan Maes De Wit, surveys the most pioneering and impressive restoration and conservation campaigns undertaken by the Royal Manufactory. Through its original and creative scope of investigation, this book aims to make an invaluble contribution to art-historical discussion and research on nineteenth- and twentieth-century tapestry production, restoration and conservation.

Koenraad Brosens is Full Professor in and Chair of Art History at the University of Leuven. He has published widely on Flemish and European tapestry. He directs projectcornelia.be, a multidisciplinary data-driven computational research project focusing on the seventeenth-century Antwerp and Brussels art worlds.

Yvan Maes De Wit graduated in Art History at the University of Louvain. He was trained as a master weaver and restorer by his grandfather, Gaspard De Wit. Since 1980, he has headed the Royal Manufacturers of Tapestry De Wit in Belgium, a renowned workshop whose access to unique technology and expertise have enabled it to undertake the largest international conservation campaigns in the field and to create an unmatched client list of prominent institutions and museums.

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