Concrete Art in Argentina and Brazil

This multi-year international research project was an ambitious collaborative venture across Getty as well as three additional international research teams made up of art historians, conservators, and conservation scientists. The project re-examined Concrete art in light of new information about its materiality and collectively developed a comprehensive understanding of the materials, techniques, and processes employed by Concrete artists.

The three partner institutions were:

• United States: The International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA) at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH)
• Argentina: The Institute for Cultural Heritage Research – TAREA, National University of San Martín, Buenos Aires
• Brazil: LACICOR, the Conservation Science Laboratory at CECOR, the Center for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte

At Getty, a team jointly led by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and Getty Research Institute (GRI) examined 46 art works lent by the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros for a period of three years. All of the teams pursued archival research, methods of oral history, and close visual examination of the works themselves using ultraviolet illumination, infrared reflectography, x-radiography, paint cross-sections, and scientific analysis of paint binders and pigments.