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A few words about Art Conservation and Art Restoration.

"That which everybody guards, will soon disappear." Polish Proverb. 

My intention with this page is to give  the collector of older works of art, in particular oil paintings, some simple guidelines on how to care for and not further, or irrevocably, damage their paintings.  Often, the most troublesome repairs are to damage caused by previous unskillful attempts at conservation and restoration.

*In my experience, great damage can occur to older paintings when they are moved or stored improperly.  The best way to move a painting is in it's frame, with cardboard on both sides, bubble wrap around it and in at least one box.  Double boxed is best.

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*When you remove a painting from a frame be sure to remove ALL the nails from the frame and the the stretcher bars that fastened the picture in the frame.  Many a tear in a canvas has happened by stacking paintings against one another in a storage area and not realizing there were nails in the sides.  

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*Whenever possible, do not remove canvas paintings from stretcher bars.  It is difficult to impossible to restretch an old canvas without tearing it and it will probably have to be relined, a process whereby a new canvas is either dry mounted or attached with hot wax to the back of the original canvas to give it strength.  This process is expensive and in some cases can compromise the value of an important piece by covering valuable clues to it's origin which are often found on the back of canvas, the stretcher bars, and original frame.

*NEVER roll up an old oil painting unless you are transporting it by camel with hords of Vikings chasing you.  If  you find it off stretchers, keep it flat between stiff cardboard, (preferably acid free) until it can be restretched. If the hords are encroaching, be sure you roll it with the painting side out around a cardboard tube (preferably acid free) with as large a diameter as possible and wrap with a soft cloth before putting in saddle bags.

*One of the most powerful enemies of oil paintings is water, water vapor or humidity.  Moisture separates the oil paint from the glue (gesso) that binds it to its ground (canvas, board, etc.)  That will be the next installment....but in the meantime, don't wash them or leave them out in the rain and don't put them under glass. (Unless you can vacuum seal them as the museums do.)

"The beauty of art is that it can show humanity to itself."

My best to you,

Sunny Meyer

 Sunny Meyer Fine Art -  info@oldart.com          

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Art...is working on something until you like it...then leaving it that way.

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