Icon Paintings Group

📢 Call for Speakers: Icon26 Paintings Group Event – Treatment Cycles for Easel Paintings

The Icon Paintings Group is planning an upcoming event for the Icon Conference 2026, focused on Treatment Cycles for Easel Paintings.

The Group is currently seeking 3–5 speakers from within the Group who would be interested in delivering a short 10-minute talk or presentation on this theme.

What We Are Looking For:
We are particularly interested in contributions that explore questions around how long conservation work lasts under normal conditions (barring accidents), and how we as conservators understand the expected lifespan of treatments. This may include reflections on when and why re-treatment or re-conservation becomes appropriate, and how these decisions are informed by both material change and evolving professional judgement.

We also welcome proposals that critically engage with conservation guidelines and core principles, such as minimal intervention and reversibility/retreatability. Speakers may wish to consider how these principles are interpreted or applied differently depending on specific circumstances - for example, a painting’s condition, treatment history, context of use or display, or the emergence of new research - rather than being understood as fixed or universal rules.

Contributions may cover any aspect of treatment cycles, including (but not limited to):
• Practical case studies
• Research-based insights
• Methodological approaches
• Reflections from professional practice

Submit Your Proposal:
If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please email [email protected] with your proposal. We look forward to hearing from potential speakers and to bringing together a wide range of perspectives for this event.

Want to learn more about this photo? Join us on September 30th to hear the incredible story behind the conservation work on this painting!

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