Sabine Cotte. Paintings Conservation
31, Niagara Lane
Melbourne Vic 3000
M: 04 02 843 543
E: sabinec@ozemail.com.au
W: www.sabinecotte.com
Nationalities: French and Australian
Education
2011
1994
1986-1990
1982-1986
1982-86
Masters by Research. ‘Tibetan paintings in Australia: conservation of a
living heritage’. University of Melbourne.
Diploma in Conservation. International Centre for the Preservation of Cultural Property in Rome (ICCROM). Mural Painting Conservation Course.
Honours Bachelor in Conservation and Restoration. French Institute for
the Restoration of Artworks. (IFROA) Paris. Specialisation in easel painting
conservation.
Honours Bachelor in Fine Art. Specialisation Engraving and Lithography.
Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Honours Bachelor in Art History. University of Paris I, History of Art and
Archaeology
Selection of clients and
Museums and galleries
artists
Artists
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
Ballarat Fine Arts Gallery, Australia
Geelong Art Gallery, Australia
Hamilton Art Gallery, Australia
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Australia
Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Sotheby’s Australia, Melbourne
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
Musée du Petit Palais, Paris
Musée d’Orléans, France
City of Yarra, Melbourne
City of Port Philip, Melbourne
National Trust, Australia
French National Trust
Soo Tze Oriental Antiques, Melbourne
Au Lion des Neiges, Sydney
Parkham place Gallery, Sydney
Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney
Himalasia foundation
UNESCO
Rick Amor, Howard Arkley,
Clarice Beckett, Charles Blackman,
Arthur Boyd, Daniel Buren, Judy Cassab,
Robert Dickerson, Ian Fairweather,
Othon Friesz, Théodore Géricault,
Daisy Jugadai, Emily Kame Kngwarreye,
David Keeling, Richard Larter,
Frederick McCubbin, Albert Marquet,
Roy de Maistre, Amedeo Modigliani,
Mirka Mora, Sydney Nolan, John Perceval,
Garry Shead, Pierre Soulages, Lindy Lee
Chaim Soutine, Arthur Streeton,
Eugene von Guerard
Prince of Wales, Judy Watson
Brett Whiteley, Philip Wolfhagen
Aboriginal paintings, contemporary and
traditional (barks)
Various French, Italian and Dutch artists
from VIIIth to XXth century, paintings on
canvas, panel and copper.
Anonymous Tibetan artists from XIIIth to
XXth century: thangkas, tsakli, wooden
book covers, scrolls.
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Professional experience
Arrived in Australia in 2001. Since 1990, work for museums, galleries and private collectors
in France and Australia. Professional expertise includes:

Treatments of Western, Aboriginal and Tibetan paintings on various supports (cardboard, canvas, bark, panel, silk, copper…). Professional experience includes numerous treatments of 14th to 18th century paintings involving delicate consolidation and stabilization, cleaning and inpainting; delicate cleaning and
transparent relining of Himalayan paintings; treatment of high profile colonial and
contemporary Australian artists works. Treatments range from minor tear repair
and superficial cleaning to consolidation, relining, strip lining, removing of varnish
and over paintings, texturing the fillings and extensive inpainting. Advice for packing, storing, displaying is also given to clients.

Collaboration with contemporary artists

International expert for UNESCO in Himalayan painting conservation: training of Himalayan people in thangka or mural paintings conservation
for assessment, diagnosis and
treatment of their artworks: this includes interviews for research and documentation of original materials, technical condition assessment, and discussion with the
artists on treatment options and materials. These options acknowledge the artist’s
original intention and current artwork’s situation, particularly in the case of public
artworks. Recent examples of such collaboration are work on Mirka Mora’s public
paintings and mosaics, David Keeling, Paul Boston and Philip Wolfhagen’s paintings.
during UNESCO workshops set in the region (India, Nepal, Bhutan 1996, 2000,
2003, 2005), liaising with local conservators; participating to conservation sustainable projects in liaison with local conservation architects and painting conservators
(Mustang 2008 and 2009); creating, funding and implementing a multi disciplinary
project in preventive conservation of temples and mural paintings in Bhutan (Associate laureate, Rolex Award for Enterprise 1996); raising awareness about conservation of Himalayan heritage by publishing papers in international conservation
congresses and journals (see list below); training conservation students on thangka
painting conservation (Workshop at Tainan university for the Arts, Taiwan,
2009); giving talks at international symposia on Himalayan painting conservation
(New Delhi, ICOM-CC, Thangka Conservation Forum, 2008) or workshops on the
topic (National Gallery of Australia, 2009).

Survey of collections and condition reports:
Documenting, listing objects by conservation needs priorities, planning and pricing conservation treatments, preventive conservation plan, writing documents for tender when applicable. Assessing condition of artworks prior to auction or exhibition, preparing artworks for exhibition (minor conservation treatments). Installation within the museum, in liaison with artists.
Professional experiences include condition reports for exhibitions or prior to auctions in Melbourne, as well as condition reports for exhibitions in Museum of Modern
Art and Petit Palais Museum, Paris, and accompanying a touring exhibition of masterpieces of Museum of Modern Art, Paris, to Japan, with condition reports before
and after the show and minor conservation works during installation;
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Publications
2011 ‘Conservation of Thangkas : a review of the literature since the 1970s’, in Studies
in Conservation, Vol.56, Issue 2, 2011
‘Conserving sacred thangkas as a living religious heritage in mountain sites and beyond’, in Mountains in the Religions of South and Southeast Asia: Place, Culture,
and Power, 4th SSEASR conference, Thimphu, Bhutan, July 2011.
2010 ‘Conservation of public art: keeping artworks alive and reinforcing community’s
engagement’ in Dialogues with Artists, 12th AICCM Paintings Symposium, Adelaide
October 2010
2010 ‘Conservation of living heritage, or can we adapt principles to local needs?’ in ‘Conservation in a Changing World’, ICOM-CC Session at the ICOM General Conference,
Shanghai, November 7-12, 2010
2009 ‘Conservation- Restauration des Thangkas: préserver un patrimoine religieux vivant’, in CoRe, issue 22, July 2009 (in French)
‘Conservation of Thangkas: Preserving a Living Religious Heritage’, in Proceedings
of the Forum on the Conservation of Thangkas, Special Session of the ICOM-CC
15th Triennial Meeting, New Delhi, India, September 26, 2008
2008 ‘A handbook of preventive conservation in Bhutan (Himalayas)’, in ICOM-CC 15th
Triennial Meeting, New Delhi, India, September 2008
2007 ‘Proposition for transparent relining in conservation of thangkas paintings’ in Studies in Conservation, Vol 52, 2007, Issue 1, p.2-12
2006 ‘Ethical standards: can we find an Himalayan way?’ Poster for IIC Munich Congress,
August 2006
1999 ‘Urgence et restauration: l’incendie du Parlement de Bretagne’, in ICOM-CC 12th
Triennal Meeting, Lyon, France, 1999
‘Restoration of thangkas in National Museum of Bhutan’, in CoRe (Conservation/Restauration of Cultural heritage), Issue 7 (in French)
1995 ‘Conservation problems of mural paintings related to architecture in Bhutan, Himalayas’ in Congress of the Laboratory of Conservation of Stone, Lausanne, 1995
(collaboration with architect David Nock)
1994 ‘Bhutan; Dzongs and their Mural Paintings’, poster in 15th IIC Congress, Ottawa
Canada (collaboration with architect David Nock)
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