This information pertains to all works of art, although certain mediums require additional care in order to protect your investment. Materials used for digital printmaking and traditional (silver) photography are independently tested by Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc., considered the authority on testing image permanence. Aproximate Life Expectancy of photographs, assuming conditions are controlled (see below): C Prints = 30 years, Silver Prints = 100 years, Iris Prints = 150 years. For a detailed explanation of image permanence, test conditions employed, and test results, consult www.wilhelm-research.com.
Transit and the environment remain the two biggest risks to works of art. Collectors need to consider carefully where they display artwork and how it will be shipped. Try not to hang art in direct sunlight. Shut the shades on your windows when your away. Keep the temperature at 68 to 72 degrees, and the humidity at 50 percent. Excessive dampness, dryness, or heat, and fluctuations in relative humidity and temperature, will have a detrimental effect on artwork. Don't skimp when packing and shipping a work—and expect and insist that the same standards be maintained wherever you are shipping your art.
Don't wait for something to happen before beginning updating and organizing records on artwork for insurance purposes. If you hang a painting in direct sunlight and it fades, 99.9 percent of insurance policies won't cover it. If the work itself is to be handled, use linen gloves when possible. For works on paper support the long sides of the sheet with both hands and, if possible, protect the area to be touched with folded tissue paper. Ink jet prints are water miscible from both sides so do not apply materials containing water to either side of the print.
When framing, only ragboard and other high quality acid free materials are to come in contact with works of art. Where a composition is in no danger of flaking, acrylic sheeting, such as Plexiglas or Lucite, with an ultraviolet absorber (UF3) should be used in preference to glass. This will protect the work of art against photochemical or light damage and to avoid physical damage in the event of the glass shattering. Never put labels directly on the back of artwork as some glues will eat away at the surface over time.
Art evokes tremendous emotion in the people who own it, sell it, and protect it. These are important, valuable parts of our history, and should be treated as such.
There are many articles and books explaining what
should and should not be done to care for art. For more
information, read Close Those Drapes
by Michelle
Falkenstein, in
ARTnews:
November 2000; and The Care and Handling of Art Objects
by Marjorie Shelley, available from
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.