Appraisals had to be drawn up. Restoration costs estimated. Insurance adjustments made.

In cases in which the works’ artists are living, they have to be consulted on repairs. Under a federal law known as the Visual Artists Rights Act, artists retain the right to disapprove any proposed alteration or destruction of their paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures or still photographs, even after they’ve been sold.

And in cases where the works could not be restored, when the insurance company decided they were indeed “totaled,” the paintings had to be discarded in a formal process that was photographed to protect against a work’s resurfacing years later.

More than six months after Sandy, many of the efforts to save artworks are continuing. In Ms. Pitha’s case, on the advice of a family friend she took the Cassatt and 18 other works to conservators at Alvarez Fine Art Services, a midtown company that was, like its peers, racing to keep pace with its client load after the storm.

Alvarez specializes in the conservation of works on paper. When Ms. Pitha’s works were delivered, the company separated those that had gotten wet from those that had stayed dry and assessed the damage, explained Scott Krawitz, who opened the business 30 years ago with Antonio Alvarez.

Conservators at Alvarez prepared a condition report and financial estimate. Ms. Pitha, trusting that her insurer, Champion International Moving, would later provide coverage, signed off on the repair plan and the Cassatt etching was removed from its frame and glass. When the matting was removed, the storm’s watermark and a brown stain could be seen around the perimeter of the image, Mr. Krawitz said.

Jason Marquis, studio manager for Alvarez, said after the Cassatt was cleaned, it was placed on a series of cotton rag paper blotters under weighted glass to remove as much moisture as possible.