Scope and Content of Collection

The collection documents Kopelman's numerous projects as an independent conservator commissioned by various institutions such as The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and The Toledo Museum of Art, as well as art dealers including P. & D. Colnaghi & Company and Wildenstein & Company. Highlights of the archive include restoration projects of paintings by major artists such as Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Hendrik Terbrugghen.

The client files in Series I form the bulk of the archive and document Kopelman's conservation projects for museums, galleries and art dealers. The majority of the files contain black-and-white photographs and color transparencies of the paintings that Kopelman restored, as well as related papers including correspondence, invoices and clippings. Some files also include color slides and prints, as well as x-rays of artworks such as Rembrandt's Obelisk, Rubens's Rubens, His Wife Helena Fourment, and One of Their Children and Antoine Watteau's The Island of Cythera.

Series II provides a glimpse into Kopelman's research work and conservation process. A small number of research papers and condition notes on numerous paintings comprise this series. The archive also contains a collection of black-and-white photographs of frames which can be found in Series III. These photographs were organized by Kopelman according to school.

Additional black-and-white negatives of paintings restored by Kopelman comprise Series IV. Hundreds of these negatives have been assigned numbers but the names of the works were not identified by Kopelman.

Arrangement

Arranged in four series:
Series I. Client files, 1950-2010, bulk 1970-1989;
Series II. Notes and research papers, undated;
Series III. Photographs of frames, undated;
Series IV. Negatives of paintings, undated.