Behind the scenes at LACMA

A replica of a Ming Period emperor, photographed on Nov. 22, 1966, towers over a variety of objects being sorted by volunteers for a sale held by the Art Museum Council.

Members of the Museum Service Council help to classify material in the library at LACMA. This photo was published in the June 30, 1967, Los Angeles Times.

Ben Johnson, conservator of LACMA, cleans discolored varnish from the surface of a 17th century Dutch work on June 19, 1967.   (Bill Murphy / Los Angeles Times)

Dorothe Curtis, coordinator of exhibitions at LACMA, and Jim Kenion, museum head packer, prepare to return a shipment of borrowed art works to its lender on Feb. 5, 1968.

Ben Johnson, LACMA‘s head of conservation, studies a Southeast Asian bronze statue in preparation for taking minute samples for analysis in the mass spectrometer in the background, operated by Dr. Thomas Cairnes of the museum’s Conservation Center. This photo was published in the April 14, 1969, Los Angeles Times.

Mary Kahlenberg, assistant curator of the Costume and Textiles wing, works between a chemise by Callot Soeurs, left, and a Paul Pairet evening gown with bugle bead bodice, in preparation for a 1969 costume installation.

On March 24, 1981, conservators William Leisher and Billie Milam unwrap a terracotta figure for the Bronze Age show at LACMA.

On Nov. 7, 1986, Virginia Rasmussen and Sid Frischer prepare to frame Stuart Davis’ ”Premiere” for an exhibit of 20th century art.

Frieda Kay makes a close inspection François-Hubert Drouais’ portrait of the Marquis de Sourches and his family, one of the works featured in LACMA’s Treasures of Versailles exhibit.