About US

As an orphan in Italy, Luciano Liparini was inspired to pursue an apprenticeship in art conservation, pushed by his foster mother who believed in his potential. His love for art and acuity in the trades allowed him to progress in the field. He worked on paintings in Italy, before meeting his American future wife on holiday, while he was riding a pink bicycle and transporting a painting of a reclining nude. They immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1979, opening our studio the Liparini Restoration Studio in Evanston in 1983. Luciano was well loved by many Chicago collectors and institutions, unfortunately passing in 1998 at the young age of 51. The practice was then taken over by his daughter, Chloe.

In 1999, Inez Litas, paintings conservator from the Czech Republic, continued on Luciano’s practice as the Litas Liparini Restoration Studio. Inez expanded the practice to also include the treatment of small objects. In 2003, the practice partnered with Foley Conservation in the United Kingdom. Jane Foley, accredited Conservator through the Institute of Conservation, expanded the practice’s expertise to include major sculpture, monuments, and industrial objects conservation. The practice became the trusted go-to for many of the major museums and collections in the region.

Anna Weiss-Pfau, Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation, began working with Jane and Inez in 2009, and ten years later formed Third Coast Conservation, LLC, to represent the breadth of collections this lineage of conservators have come to serve. The merging of these two companies and our excellent conservation staff allowed L.Liparini Studio & Third Coast Conservation to further expand their services beyond paintings and objects conservation to include services for collections overall, including museum assessments, project management, and emergency planning and response training.