MIDLAND, MI — A Mark Rothko painting has been restored and once again is on public display at London’s Tate Modern thanks, in part, to research by Midland’s Dow Chemical Co.
In 2012, Rothko’s painting, “Black on Maroon (1958)”, was damaged by graffiti.
“Black on Maroon (1958)” is one of the artist’s Seagram murals, iconic works of American abstract expressionism that he gave to Tate in 1970, according to a Dow news release.
It took 18 months of extensive conservation work informed by analytical information from Dow coating material experts to successfully restore it, the release states.
Tate’s conservation scientist Bronwyn Ormsby carried out a scientific investigation of the ink and the painting, drawing on research by Dow scientists.
Dow experts analyzed the ink and then identified possible solvents for an effective cleaning solution, the release states.
Dow scientists Melinda Keefe and Felipe Donate spent two days in the Dow Solvent Laboratory in Midland testing
Article source: http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-michigan/index.ssf/2014/06/dow_chemical_research_aids_res.html