Paul Arthur Messier (born 1962) is an art conservator and head of the Lens Media Lab at the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Education

Messier received an A.B. cum laude in Art History from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

in 1984 and a M.A. and C.A.S. in paper conservation from the Art Conservation Department of the State University of New York College at Buffalo in 1990.

Career

Consulting with private and institutional collections worldwide, Messier served as a senior advisor for the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

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Object, Photo
initiative to characterize modernist photographs in its collection and is directing a program to establish a photograph conservation department at the State Hermitage Museum. In February 2015, he was named the inaugural head of the Lens Media Lab at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

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"Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage."
The largest authenticity scandal in the fine art photography market, fraudulent prints attributed to

Lewis Hine Lewis Wickes Hine (September 26, 1874 – November 3, 1940) was an American sociologist and muckraker photographer. His photographs were instrumental in bringing about the passage of the first child labor laws in the United States. Early life ...

were exposed through his research in 1999. Other authentication research has focused on the work of

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...

Dorothea Lange Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Great Depression, Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administratio ...

and Charles-Edouard de Crespy le Prince among others. Messier has assembled a reference collection of photographic papers that is considered unique in the world. Ongoing research on this collection has involved numerous partners including the

Getty Conservation Institute The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), located in Los Angeles, California, is a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. It is headquartered at the Getty Center but also has facilities at the Getty Villa, and commenced operation in 1985.J. Paul Getty ...

the

, the Art Conservation Research Center at Carnegie Mellon University, the Department of

Surface Metrology Surface metrology is the measurement of small-scale features on surfaces, and is a branch of metrology. Surface primary form, surface Fractal dimension, fractality, and surface finish (including surface roughness) are the parameters most commonly a ...

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a Private university, private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities and now has 14 ac ...

, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

and the

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

. His work to characterize photographic paper was described by ''

ARTnews ''ARTnews'' is an American visual-arts magazine, based in New York City. It covers art from ancient to contemporary times. ARTnews is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. It has a readership of 180,000 in 124 countr ...

'' as advances that “will reduce fraud, influence the marketplace, and even revise art history.” The collection was purchased by Yale University as part of the formation of the Lens Media Lab. In 1998 Messier founded the Electronic Media Group of the

American Institute for Conservation The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) is a national membership organization of conservation professionals, headquartered in Washington D.C. History The AIC first launched in 1972 with only a handful of members. Now it is grown to over 3 ...

(AIC). He was elected to the AIC board for two terms, serving from 2004-2010. While on the board his major initiatives included the publication of the AIC Guide to Digital Photography and Conservation Documentation (2008) the transfer of ConservationOnline and the ConservationDislist from Stanford University (2009), and the establishment of the Conservation Catalog Wiki (2009). ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called Paul Messier "the man when it comes to photography and paper restoration."Anonymous
"The Connoisseur: Is There a Bespoke Framer?,"
''

'', 2 December 2007. Retrieved on 25 May 2012.

References

External links

Paul Messier official website

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, Topics in Preservation series (web cast), March 2010
"History of Silver Gelatin Papers, by Paul Messier"
New York Public Library (web cast) September, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Messier, Paul Living people Art forgery 1962 births Conservator-restorers