Caroline Keck in 2000

Caroline K. Keck, M.A. '32, one of the founders of modern art conservation, died on Dec. 17 in Cooperstown, N.Y. at the age of 99.

Along with her husband, Sheldon Keck, M.A. '32, whom she met while both were studying at Harvard, Caroline Keck helped to bring about the transformation of her discipline. By introducing scientific methods, concrete professional standards and new technologies, the Kecks delivered the care of aging or damaged art from a secretive world of craftsmen's workshops to laboratories.

Sheldon and Caroline Keck founded the Conservation Center of the institute of Fine Arts and New York University, which offered the first masters level program in the field, the art conservation laboratory at the Brooklyn Museum, where Mrs. Keck served as director while her husband served in the military during World War II, the Cooperstown Conservation training program, as well as laboratories and departments at many other museums. Mrs. Keck worked and taught in Cooperstown until her retirement in 1981. Graduates of that program now preform and direct restorations at museums across the country.

The Kecks were initial fellows of the International Institute for Conservation and for much of the 1980s, Mrs. Keck served as the executive director of the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation.

A strong advocate of establishing a doctoral level degree in art conservation, Caroline Keck was a chief proponent of the first Ph.D Art Conservation Research program in North America, inaugurated in 1990 at the University of Deleware.

Mrs. Keck authored several books that remain classics in her field including “How to Take Care of Your Pictures" (1954), “Handbook on the Care of Paintings” (1965), “A Primer on Museum Security” (1966) and “Safeguarding Your Collection in Travel” (1970).

Throughout her long career, Mrs. Keck also devoted time to consulting national museums including the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim, advising private collectors such as Nelson A. Rockefeller and serving as a personal conservator for a number of noteable artists.

As the personal conservator for Georgia O'Keeffe, who was devoted to preserving the physicality and intentions of her work, Mrs. Keck became an integral part of the artist's process. The Georgia O'Keeffe museum mounted an exhibition from June to September 2006 focusing on this aspect of the artist's work through an examination of her relationship and correspondence with Caroline Keck.

After Sheldon Keck's death in June 1993, the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) began bestowing an annual award, named for the Kecks, recognizing individuals who "promoted public understanding and appreciation of the accomplishments of the art conservation profession."

According to the IIC, the Keck's library and archives as well as a quarter of Caroline Keck's estate have been left to the University of Delaware Ph.D. program and Coremans endowment and doctoral fellowships.

Friends and colleagues remember Mrs. Keck as outspoken, opinionated, and passionately devoted to her chosen field.

Caroline Keck is survived by her two sons, Lawrence and Albert, and two grandchildren.