Born this day in 1901 Alberto Giacometti, was one of the most influential sculptors of the 20thC. His work is currently presented at Barbican with new works by contemporary artists until May 2026. https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/series/encounters-giacometti #Giacometti #Barbican #Sculpture

Exciting news, we're going to be at the LAPADA Fair this year showcasing our conservation work. More updates soon...

Do you know your rust from your iron oxide? Bronze disease from Verdigris? We delve into the topic of corrosion and patination with our metals conservator Hal: https://plowden-smith.com/conservation-conversations-patina-vs-corrosion/

Exciting news in Conservation Science: the Getty Research Institute, University of Akron & New York University have developed a safer more sustainable substitute to an essential paintings conservation adhesive: www.getty.edu/news/scienti... #PaintingConservation #FineArtConservation

"I mention it here because the show does not and seems keen to keep things polite." Waldemar Janusczcak sees great things in the Lee Miller retrospective but asks for more early-life context. The Times' Chief Arts Critic reviews Lee Miller @ Tate Britain www.thetimes.com/article/0725... #photography

What's your favourite arts podcast? Its the equinox and we're looking for something to get into as the evenings draw in. #Podcasts #Equinox

Making Isinglass in our paper conservation studio. Isinglass is used to consolidate parchment. Parchment is made from treated animal skins, which is why the consolidant used is different to those more commonly used in our Paper studio for works on paper. #PaperConservation #Parchment #Conservator

"It happened to Caravaggio, Vermeer, even Rembrandt. Forgotten for centuries, they needed to wait to be remembered. It’s what happened as well to Georges de la Tour." Waldemar Januszczak reviews Georges de la Tour at the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris: www.thetimes.com/article/0407... #OldMasters

We couldn't quite believe the news from @theartnewspaper.bsky.social about the passing of Giorgio Armani having just read an interview with him in the FT published the weekend prior to the designer's death aged 91. www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/09/05/g...

The National Gallery announces new wing and move into modern art. Reported in @thetimes.com by Nancy Durrant www.thetimes.com/article/5513... #NationalGallery #ModernArt

"Everyone thinks of Van Gogh and his Sunflowers as a joyous explosion of horticultural ecstasy and summer love. But not Gauguin." Waldemar Januszczak explores artists painting artists in @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/ff47...

"Scholars will not be able to resist speculating. Could this portrait have been a gift from Southampton to Shakespeare? … no other man of the time cultivated as androgynous an image." @rhysblakely.bsky.social reports a portrait miniature with a hidden secret: www.thetimes.com/article/ba9c...

‪Our #Exhibition pick of the week is the @royalsculptors.bsky.social "Spaceshifting". The society has invited its international members to show works in the Central Lounge of the luxurious Royal Over-Seas League Clubhouse. Admission is free but booking is required. sculptors.org.uk/whats-on/202...

Looking away from art for a second.. that was a close match, we're celebrating a different bronze today. #euros

Happy Friday! Here's our exhibition picks of the week from Scotland, Yorkshire, London and Paris: #WhatsOn #Exhibition #Gallery #Museums

Squashy but satisfying. Inlays may look like a messy business but once they are all in place the item is French polished. The final surface is smooth when finished, and each inlaid element shines. plowden-smith.com/furniture-re... #FurnitureRestoration #Inlay #Marquetry #HistoricFurniture #Antiques

We have three vacancies available. Find out more about each role on our website and join our team: - Administrator - Head of Client Services - Decorative Arts Conservator (Fixed Term) plowden-smith.com/about/careers/ #Hiring #HiringNow #ArtsJobs

The #SummerExhibition at @royalacademyarts is well underway. We had the honour of visiting a couple of days ahead of the VIP opening; Joe in our #mountmaking team measured up & created bespoke mounts for a range of objects on display, working alongside the RA's installation team.

That's a wrap on the Islamic Arts Biennale. Our conservators have completed their last condition reports in Jeddah for all objects ahead of their journeys back to their respective collections. plowden-smith.com/conservation... #HeritageConservation #Conservator #IslamicArtsBiennale

Re-Discovered: The Larder Invaded by Sir Edwin Landseer Despite being often reproduced and discussed, the picture vanished in the 20th century. Its last known sale was in 1923, the painting is expected to fetch up to £60,000 at Sotheby's on July 3 www.thetimes.com/culture/art/... #painting

We're exploring putting some longer reads out about conservation concepts. First up, springing from an impromptu chat about the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, patina and corrosion through the lens of arms and armour: open.substack.com/pub/plowdena...

Its coming together, if you like longer reads please subscribe to be ready for our first conservation conversation: plowdenandsmith.substack.com?r=5qj5pa&utm...

Fascinating feature in @theobserveruk.bsky.social about identifying counterfeit objects from contemporary luxury goods to ancient papyrus. @msrachelcooke.bsky.social and @donnalferguson.bsky.social speak to experts on spotting fakes. observer.co.uk/style/featur...

V&A East Storehouse has opened at Here East, formerly the Olympic Games Broadcast Centre in the Olympic Park. Here's throwback to our team restoring Frank Lloyd Wright's Kaufmann Office and documenting it for accessioning to the museum, now on display in full: www.vam.ac.uk/blog/east/va...

A thread of exhibitions around the UK for Half Term. What is on your list this week? #Exhibitions #WhatsOn

Is it your birthday today? You share it with George Braque 1882 - 1963, co-founder of Cubism. This is an exceptionally creative week for artist's birthdays. Find yours below. 🖼️ Georges Braque, 1910, Violin and Candlestick, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Hopeful and helpful news from Melanie Gerlis in the @financialtimes.com: some clarity around artworks and their #USTariff status. Just ahead of Frieze, TEFAF & ArtBasel NY, artworks are protected as "informational material" an exemption rooted in the first amendment. www.ft.com/content/95d5...

Happy Birthday Tate Modern! Here's a roundup of the coverage for this landmark gallery turning 25: #TateModern

The legend that is JMW Turner was born 250 years ago, tomorrow, and a host of exhibitions are celebrating his legacy this year. If you want to spend the summer retracing the artist's footsteps throughout the UK @mattrudd.bsky.social tells you how in The Times: www.thetimes.com/article/e01c...

Happy Birthday to Gino Severini, born on March 7th, 1883! A pioneer of Futurism and a master of movement and modernity. His dynamic works continue to inspire and shape the world of art. Suburban Train Arriving in Paris, 1915 (Tate) #GinoSeverini #ArtHistory #Futurism #Birthday

Don't let your sculptures freeze! While clear spring skies are warming our days, temperatures can plummet overnight. @metoffice.bsky.social Today: "Dry with mostly clear skies, however a few isolated mist and fog patches developing by dawn. Feeling chilly with a widespread rural frost developing."

This sounds fascinating: Tuning in this evening for the Moral Maze on #Art and #elitism @bbcradio4.bsky.social at 8pm www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Eid Mubarak! Wishing a blessed Eid to all celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan. Mosaic panel | Egypt 8th—9th century AH / 14th—15th century CE Curtain (sitarah) for the Hujrah screen | Istanbul, Türkiye AH 1278/1861 CE

Team training: Hal our metals conservator and Jonny in marketing are new fire marshalls for our office, studios and workshops. Thanks to St. John Ambulance in Wimbledon for the excellent course.

Exhibition: Discovering Jewish Country Houses: Photographs by Hélène Binet at @waddesdonmanor.bsky.social #photography ow.ly/OTyO30sL1VV

Morris & Co. Sussex Chair restoration: Our restorers found that it wasn't its first break so reinforced the arm with a fiberglass dowel before restoring the ebonised finish. These iconic chairs were made from turned beech with rush seating based on a traditional sussex design. #FurnitureRestorer

Did Edvard Munch peak at the scream? The Times' Waldemar Januszczak reviews Edvard Munch Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery www.thetimes.com/article/1994...

#TEFAF Maastricht Highlight: Stuart Lochhead, Stand 108 ‘Velázquez + Michelangelo. Early Modern Women: Devotion, Inspiration, and Global Travel’ After a model by Michelangelo, Crucified Christ, c.1560-1570, bronze. Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Jerónima de la Fuente, c. 1620.

It's World Sleep Day! Our eyes are wide open at TEFAF but we spotted a sleepy figure among the busy VIP Preview. Massimo Stanzione - Rest on the Flight to Egypt - at Porcini Gallery, Booth 341 TEFAF Maastricht #WorldSleepDay #SleepWell #TEFAF

With TEFAF opening this week check out Melanie Gerlis' insider’s guide to collecting antiquities (and dodging knock-offs) www.ft.com/content/cfc9... via @financialtimes.com #TEFAF #Antiquities #ArtMarket #MelanieGerlis

Congratulations to Dr Flavia Frigeri on her appointment as Curatorial and Collections Director at the National Portrait Gallery.

News | National Portrait Gallery appoints curatorial and collections director museumsandheritage.com/advisor/post...

Looking forward to seeing The Face Magazine: Culture Shift at the National Portrait Gallery. Plenty of iconic images - reviewed in the Sunday Times (£) www.thetimes.com/article/8fe5...

Excited to get to work on this! Thank you @theees.bsky.social for trusting us with this wonderful chair.

Beatrix Potter's 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice' comes to life at her former farmhouse, Hill Top in Cumbria 🐭 Over 300 hours of conservation work has recently been carried out on Potter's former doll's house, which has seen scenes from the 1904 novel come to life 🧵

Happy Valentines Day! Art gallery and a fancy meal, right?

"Up and down today’s art world, on all its levels, we are watching a retreat from reason and a stampede towards unreason." - Waldemar Januszczak takes us on a whistlestop tour of Magic and Occult on display today including the excellent Tarot at the Warburg Institute www.thetimes.com/culture/art/...

Its #WorldRadioDay and podcasts are just radio on demand so if you ever tire of the #Radio3 archives for your arts fix we recommend: Talk Art with Russel Tovey and Robert Diament. Strong suggestion to dig into their interviews with Dame Tracy Emin open.spotify.com/show/1rnFyso...

With half-term on the horizon, this week we're bringing you our top pick of Exhibitions in the UK for anyone staying at home. 1: Turner In Light and Shade at the Whitworth in Manchester Marking the 250th anniversary of Turner's birth. www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whats-on/exh...

Charles Dickens was born #OnThisDay in 1812. In 2012 we manufactured mounts for the redevelopment of the #CharlesDickens #Museum. Objects were mounted to appear in situ and we enjoyed the challenges of a non-standard display, making mounts as if they were part of the furniture. #Exhibition