Hear the Conservator (y1971-13)
For sculptors in the 1960s, the metal known as Cor-Ten steel was an amazing and empowering new material. Meadmore's outdoor steel sculptures were often made of this weathering steel, which the sculptor chose for its natural aesthetic, the matte and mostly homogenous deep reddish-brown patina you see here today, and for the protective nature of this special rust. Cor-Ten was first developed in the 1920s as a strong and low-maintenance material for railroads, industry, and civil engineering, like bridge supports. After its use by architects like Eero Saarinen in the United States, weathering steel was quickly adopted by sculptors also seeking durable materials and so-called “natural” texture and colors.
Sculptor Bill Tarr, a New York City contemporary of Clement Meadmore, told me that in the 1960s sculptors thought Cor-Ten would last outdoors as long as cast bronze, which has been known to survive for hundreds of years. Many artists, engineers, and architects were surprised and disappointed when weathering steel building facades, bridge supports, and outdoor works of art suffered massive destructive rusting. People soon realized that Cor-Ten has a few simple but firm design criteria: to develop and benefit from the protective patina, weathering steel structures must repeatedly get wet and dry off and must drain well and not retain water.
To prevent the massive corrosion caused by water retention in some sculptures and infrastructures, weathering steel was often painted soon after bad rust appeared, and this happened here, too. But changing an artwork's color and texture can radically change its appearance and meaning. What these art structures really need to keep their original character is enhanced drainage and unobtrusive sealing. Indeed, the rust patina on Meadmore’s 1970 Upstart II gave protection and a handsome aesthetic, but before 1976 the two-part sculpture was overpainted to forestall corrosion. Yet because the base and the junction of its two parts were not well drained or sealed, rust began to form in both places. In 1980, Upstart II was removed to eliminate the juncture by uniting the sculpture into one piece, to seal the interior, and to paint the exterior. Beforehand, in response to the conservator's query, Clement Meadmore wrote approving the recommended paint type, but not the color black. Instead, Meadmore specifically requested “the color of weathered Cor-ten.”
As the next conservator for Upstart II, I cleaned and maintained its painted surface starting in 1985. Well before passing in 2005, Clement Meadmore told me he'd agreed to overpainting Upstart II on conservation advice at the time and that he still preferred the rust patina. In 2009, after much discussion and careful planning, we finally restored Upstart II to its intrinsic aesthetic.
