Italian paintings in the US and their conservation
APRIL 20, 2026 – How did so many of Italy’s most important classical paintings find their way into American museums and private collections? Please join us for a lecture by Molly March, Conservator of Paintings, to explore the complex cultural, historical, and economic forces that shaped the transatlantic migration of Italian art, particularly in the decades surrounding and following World War II.
We will examine the pivotal role played by influential collectors and dealers—among them Bernard Berenson, the Duveen Brothers, the Cook Collection, and Samuel H. Kress—in forming America’s taste for Italian painting. Their vision, resources, and networks profoundly shaped the presence of Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces in the United States and led to extraordinary gifts to public institutions across the country.
The lecture also addresses the physical journey of these works: how Italian paintings reacted to America’s different climate, the evolution of conservation and restoration practices in the U.S., and the emergence of specialized training programs for American conservators, including the influential Samuel H. Kress Program in Paintings Conservation in New York.
Finally, the talk considers a regional case study, asking why classical Italian paintings are absent from some Southern museums—such as the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston—while they are represented in institutions like the Columbia Museum of Art and the North Carolina Museum of Art.
Through history, connoisseurship, and conservation science, this lecture offers a deeper understanding of how Italian masterpieces became an integral part of America’s cultural heritage.
Molly March studied the History of Art at The University of California at Berkeley (B.A.) and New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts (M.A.), and holds an Advanced Certificate in Conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts’ Conservation Center. Her initial training was completed with restorers Nancy Krieg, Dianne Modestini and Marco Grassi, followed by advanced work as a Samuel H. Kress Fellow in the paintings conservation departments of the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence. For two decades, she operated a private restoration studio in Manhattan that specialized in Italian pictures, and her work space is now located on King Street in Charleston.
Date: Monday, April 20, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:30PM
Location: South Carolina Society Hall, 72 Meeting Street, Downtown Charleston, SC 29401
