During the 2-week program the trainees gained insight in wax-resin linings by taking part to in a variety of activities including practical workshops, presentation sessions, group discussions, as well as excursions to museum conservation studio and storage facilities. Furthermore, social events including a film screening at Eye Film museum were organized to facilitate networking . At the end of the masterclass, the participants parted ways with inspiration for further research and having forged new connections.

Interns at the Amsterdam Wax-Resin Project 

This summer Audrey Boivin and Camilla Dongelmans, Master students in C&R speciality paintings, carried out a 2-week internship at the Amsterdam Wax-Resin Project (AWRP). Camilla and Audrey contributed to the documentation process of the masterclass The Dutch Method Unfolded through the taking of color measurements of ground reconstructions and the reporting of the results in the workshop guide developed for the trainees in the program. Their work also aimed at improving the database on color change in ground layers after wax-resin impregnation. They also helped with the archiving of research materials related to this research.

This summer AWRP is also welcoming Eliza Bazakas for a 3-month internship. She is originally from Berkeley, California and is currently studying Chemical-Biological Engineering with a minor in the History of Architecture, Art, and Design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She has been working in a Chemical Engineering lab at MIT researching extracellular charge in bacteria and their interactions with electrodes for the past year and a half. Eliza’s summer internship is part of the masterclass the Dutch Method Unfolded and is organised in collaboration with the Cultural Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).

Eliza will analyze several samples of wax-resin mixtures brought by the trainees in the masterclass. The samples were taken from paintings in the collections they are charge of. The series of samples from collections worldwide will be analysed with Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) to identify the composition of the mixture. The goal of the research is to explore the change in recipe according to geographical location and time and increase current knowledge on the international history of the Dutch Method.