Russell J. and Eleanor S. Quandt conservation reports and research papers

Russell Jerome Quandt (1919-1970) was a paintings conservator who worked for private individuals and public institutions. A native of New London, Connecticut, he left Yale College during World War II to join the American Field Service ambulance corps. Upon his return, a bicycle accident left him nearly deaf. As a result, he was largely self-taught in conservation methods; however, he did train under Caroline Keck and received help and advice from Louis Pomerantz, Robert Feller, Roger Dennis, and others.

In 1950, Quandt moved to Washington, D.C., to assume the part-time position of conservator at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He also developed an extensive independent practice, serving both private collectors and museums, among them the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Mount Vernon, Kenmore, and the Department of Collections and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center at Colonial Williamsburg. The latter association led to the making of the film, "The Art of the Conservator," featuring Russell and Eleanor Quandt and Robert L. Feller.

Eleanor Bryant Swenson Quandt was an art historian and served as her husband Russell’s business manager. She graduated from Smith College and held graduate fellowships at Smith and at New York University. In 1943, Eleanor Swenson became assistant to the curator of paintings and sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum (assuming full responsibility during part of World War II); in 1947, she was appointed curator of American Art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. While at the Brooklyn Museum, Eleanor worked with Sheldon and Caroline Keck, who were the art conservators of that institution. After Eleanor moved to the Corcoran, she encouraged that museum to hire Russell Quandt. Eleanor and Russell married in 1952 and had three daughters, one of whom, Abigail, became an art conservator. Eleanor assisted her husband in his private conservation practice, being responsible for technical documentation, reports, correspondence, and historical research.

Together, Mr. and Mrs. Quandt researched the materials and techniques of painting prior to the American Revolution, focusing on the anonymous painters of the Hudson River Valley, 1700-1750. Quandt concentrated his restoration efforts on American painting, especially the Hudson River School and American primitives. Mrs. Quandt wrote several articles based on their research findings. Unfortunately, Russell’s early death led to the closing of his conservation practice and slowed Eleanor’s research into early American paintings. In 1973, Mrs. Quandt was named assistant to the conservation officer at the Library of Congress, managing the office and editing its publications; she retired in 1990.

Russell Quandt was a founding member of American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and of the Washington Conservation Guild; he was also a member of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. He died suddenly in 1970. Mrs. Quandt was also a member of numerous conservation and historical societies. She died in September 2002.