Simon Rodia, Watts Tower, 1921-54.
Watts Tower, along with artworks by Jackson Pollock, Diego Rivera and Rembrandt, will be among those undergoing conservation work under the auspices of Bank of America’s Art Conservation Project. This year, 24 museums in 16 countries have been awarded grants totaling about $1.5 million from the program, which provides funding to support the conservation of significant works of art.
Also undergoing restoration are stone sculptures dating to China’s Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) and an 8th-century Koran. Perhaps the largest in scale among the works is the Watts Tower, a national historic landmark of 17 interconnected structures, some as tall as 99 feet, built by untrained Italian artist Simon Rodia in Los Angeles between 1921 and 1954.
The project, which awarded its first grants in 2010, works with institutions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas. It has, since its founding, supported conservation efforts in 25 countries with over $5 million in grant money. This year’s recipients, listed below, bring the total of projects funded to 57.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Detroit Institute of Arts
Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo.
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Miami Art Museum
Minneapolis Institute of Art
New Bedford Free Public Library, New Bedford, Mass.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Art
Abbey Theatre, Dublin
National Portrait Gallery, London
New National Gallery, Berlin
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
National Art Gallery of Brera, Milan
National Gallery, Prague
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul
Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City
Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo
Johannesburg Art Gallery
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Independent Administrative Institution/National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo National Museum
Shike Yisha Bowuguan (Art Museum of Stone Carving), Beijing
China Art Museum