[2] Sheldon Keck was apparently among the first in the US to use medical x-ray technology in the examination, conservation analysis and authentication of paintings, employing a Metalix portable device - the first of its kind - manufactured by Philips.
Activities conducted under the Commission included documentation of damage to cultural property and its appropriation by the Axis Powers, was well as the restitution of these treasures.
Keck accompanied others in the MFAA in surveys of the region's cities, towns, churches, etc., occasionally entering the combat zone.
Perhaps most prominent among these projects was repair and conservation analysis of Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which had been damaged while on exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1948.
Caroline was regarded as quite assertive when it came to standards and practice in conservation, and late in her career had a fairly prominent dispute with art historian John Richardson.
Caroline Keck's more notable clients included American portraitist and representational painter Edwin Dickinson, the collection of Nelson A. Rockefeller, and Georgia O'Keeffe.
[14] Conversely, conservation projects where Caroline treated O'Keeffe works serve to reveal the impacts that time, materials selection and handling had on the artist's pieces.
The Kecks helped bring professional standards to the practice, emphasizing the sharing of technique and methodologies over the maintenance of trade secrets.
From 1934 to 1961, the Kecks operated a laboratory and studio at their residence in the State Street neighborhood [1] of Brooklyn, New York, becoming involved in the training of numerous conservators and consulting for many of the nation's most prominent art museums.
[18] In 1950, the Kecks became charter "Fellows" of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC), an organization founded by George L. Stout, Harold Plenderleith, Wallace Akers, Paul Coremans and others.
[19] In 1970 the Kecks established a successor program to the Center they created at the Institute of Fine Arts, this time in Cooperstown, NY.
[21] Continuing their support for advanced education in art conservation, the Kecks helped found yet another graduate program, this time a collaboration between the University of Delaware and the Winterthur museum.
In 1987, using the money from the sale of a Georgia O’Keeffe painting from their personal collection, the Kecks set up a fund for the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC), the earnings from which support the operations, conservation education, research, and outreach activities of the FAIC and AIC[4] Sheldon Keck died on June 12, 1993 in Cooperstown, NY.