Sandra Webster-Cook

Sandra Webster-Cook completed studies in Honors Science (Chemistry specialization), Art History and Studio art before graduating from the Queen's University Art Conservation program. She became an employee of the AGO in 1987 and is currently responsible for the conservation of the historical and modern paintings in the collection of the AGO.

Her work on the Canadian Historical collection includes research on the paintings of Cornelius Krieghoff and Tom Thomson. She carried out the research and major conservation treatment of Chardin’s masterpiece, Jar of Apricots, 1758. Her work on the 17th C Dutch collection includes the research and conservation of Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Lady with a Lap Dog and, Portrait of a Lady with a Handkerchief from Rembrandt’s studio, with the support of members of the Rembrandt Research Project.

She has recently completed the research and conservation treatment of Rubens, The Raising of the Cross, 1638, oil on paper which is the modello for the engraving and based on the triptych in the great Cathedral of our Lady in Antwerp, painted in 1610.

She is currently working with a team on preparations for a future multi-disciplinary exhibition on Picasso’s Blue Period with the support of Imaging Scientist John Delaney and the scientists of Northwestern University/Art Institute of Chicago (NU-ACCESS).