The Conservator

Matthew Hayes is a conservator of Old Master and Early Modern paintings. He has treated a variety of works of art from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries.

After obtaining a B.A. in art history at Cornell University, Hayes trained at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and for several years as a Fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. He has worked as a conservator at the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein and the Atelier Gerhard Walde, both also in Vienna, as well as in private practice in New York. He received his PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts in 2017.

Matthew Hayes is a peer-reviewed Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

The Name

Pietro Edwards was perhaps the first professional art conservator; in 1778, he was charged with the care of the public pictures for the Republic of Venice. Edwards’s ideas of respect for the historic work of art, and his careful approach to materials and methods employed, remain central tenets of modern conservation. In tribute to his groundbreaking approach, this atelier is named for him: looking both back and ahead, we meld tradition and innovation in the treatment of art objects.