MODERN & CONTEMPORARY WORKS ON PAPER
Expert Paper Conservation for Modern and Contemporary Art in NYC
Novak Studios is a private conservation practice in New York City devoted to modern and contemporary art on paper. We treat drawings, watercolors, prints, and mixed-media works for private collectors, galleries, auction houses, artist foundations, and institutions.
The studio is directed by Adam Novak, who holds a Master of Science from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and has spent more than twenty years in the field.
Before founding Novak Studios in 2020, he spent five years as paper conservator at a Chelsea conservation studio devoted to modern and contemporary art on paper, and he has worked in the New York art market since 2015. Earlier, he spent seven years at Harvard — in special collections conservation at Harvard Library and as a fellow at the Harvard Art Museum — and held a fellowship at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
WHAT WE CONSERVE
Our work is confined to a single material class, and that focus is deliberate.
Paper is a structurally active support: it responds to humidity, light, atmospheric pollutants, and the adhesives and mounts applied to it over decades. Modern and contemporary works compound this — synthetic media, unstable colorants, coated and engineered papers, and materials the artist never intended to last.
WE TREAT
Drawings in graphite, charcoal, chalk, ink, and pastel
Watercolors and works in gouache
Acrylic and other synthetic media on paper and paper-like supports
Mixed-media and collage works on paper
Prints and multiples, including screenprints, lithographs, etchings, and monotypes
Bound volumes, artists’ books, and archival material on paper
We do not treat paintings on canvas, textiles, or photographic materials. When an inquiry falls outside our specialty, we are happy to refer it to a conservator who works in that area.
Conservation Treatment
Intervention to repair or stabilize damage while preserving the artist’s intent. Complex, individually designed treatments prioritizing structural stability and the integrity of the original surface.
Condition Reports
Written documentation recording the state of an artwork at a specific moment — for sale, loan, insurance, shipment, or long-term collection records.
Assessments & Surveys
Verbal or written evaluation of individual works or entire collections. Identifies risks, establishes conservation priorities, and produces a sequenced plan.
Preventive Care & Light Exposure Guidance
Framing, storage, environmental, and display recommendations, including cumulative light exposure frameworks for works on paper.
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work by referral with private collectors, galleries, auction houses, artist foundations and estates, art advisors, and museums. Most clients come through people we have worked for before.
Adam has treated works by artists including Degas, Picasso, Schiele, Agnes Martin, David Hammons, and Keith Haring.
Considering a treatment, or unsure where to begin?
Send a description of the work and, if possible, photographs of the recto and verso. We will tell you honestly whether it needs intervention, whether it needs intervention now, and whether we are the right studio for it.