Our History

Tager Stonor Richardson has been in operation since 2002, widening access to infrared reflectography for paintings that cannot easily travel, such as those in historic houses and private collections; delicate works undergoing conservation treatment; and important works on display in museum collections.

We have many years experience of producing infrared reflectograms, at first working with the established Vidicon based technology, and more recently using the 16 mega-pixel OSIRIS camera. We have worked on diverse art objects, including paintings, painted furniture and master drawings.

TSR has developed particular expertise in the imaging of British Tudor and Stuart paintings both for private clients and as part of the Making Art in Tudor Britain project at the National Portrait Gallery. Examination of the work of early Rubens at the Courtauld Galleries has led to important discoveries regarding his painting practice and his collaboration with an unknown landscape specialist for ‘Cain Slaying Abel’. For more information regarding our projects and expertise, please explore Our Work.

The Team

Kate Stonor

Clare Richardson

Colin White

Alongside their work undertaking infrared studies, founding partners Kate Stonor and Clare Richardson have worked more widely in the field of technical examination of paintings and as paintings conservators. They received a Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project Award and Woodmansterne Art Conservation Award for their work on early Rubens paintings at the Courtauld Institute Galleries, and have shared Caroline Villers Research Fellowships and Paul Mellon Fellowships in British Art.

Clare was a senior conservator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, where she worked on Constable’s oil sketches and Botticelli’s Portrait of Smeralda Bandinelli. Clare subsequently became a senior manager in conservation at Royal Museums Greenwich where she was involved in the study of Tudor paintings including the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I.

Kate worked as a microscopist in the scientific department of the National Gallery, London, where she published on the materials and techniques of Monticelli, Vuillard, Corot and Seurat. She contributed research to the Bologna-Ferrara and Nineteenth-century French catalogues at the gallery. Prior to this Kate worked at Tate Britain on technical research for the Tudor-Stuart catalogue.

Colin White is a photographer and photographic manager based in London with over 25 years experience in photography and optimizing photographic capture systems in the cultural heritage and other sectors. Colin works as a freelance photographer for major museums, artists and conservators, as well as being part of the TSR team. Colin was the Head of Photography at the National Gallery, London, from 2005-2011, where he was responsible for the capture, asset management and preservation of both technical and creative photography.

Our Clients

• The Courtauld Gallery
• Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London
• National Portrait Gallery
• National Trust
• Royal Collection Trust
• Victoria Art Gallery, Bath