Your home would look and feel like a totally different place without your artwork. As well as adding beauty, colour and texture to your rooms, the pieces you display also likely reveal a lot about your taste and character. It’s important to preserve them so they can continue making an impact, but do you know how to keep your art safe?
Here are the five golden rules for keeping your artwork in mint condition so you can continue to enjoy it for years to come.
1. Avoid direct sunlight
Natural elements often pose the biggest risk to your artwork, especially sunlight. Displaying pieces in brightly lit areas may help draw attention to them, but direct sunlight will only cause fading. Some materials are more vulnerable than others. For example, acrylic and oil paint fare better in the sun compared to watercolour paints, but will still show signs of fading after an extended period.
Therefore, the best thing you can do for your artwork is to avoid hanging them in areas that get a lot of sun and also reduce sunlight when it’s most intense by pulling curtains and blinds.
2. Use anti-UV glass
As well as avoiding as much sunlight as possible, you can also take precautions by displaying your artwork behind anti-UV glass. “Finding the right cover for your frame is critical to protecting your artwork,” explain framing experts Soho Frames, which offers anti-reflective art glass with UV protection from 70-99%. UV light is even more dangerous than visible light when it comes to art, as the high energy can cause fading, yellowing, discolouration, and even weaken the structure of the fibres in paper or canvas.
3. Reduce humidity
It’s important to monitor the humidity levels in your home if you want to protect your art. According to the Northern States Conservation Center, sudden changes in relative humidity (RH) can be incredibly damaging: “High RH (above 65%) can cause mold growth and metal corrosion. Low RH (below 25%) can cause embrittlement of hygroscopic materials such as leather and paper.” Between 45% and 55% is a good range to aim for, but rather than focusing on hitting a particular number, it’s more important to try and keep humidity levels stable. You can track humidity using a hygrometer and manage it with a dehumidifier.
4. Don’t touch art with your hands
Never touch your artwork with your bare hands. As the Zimmerman Art Gallery in New Zealand explains: “There are good reasons why touching art is generally frowned upon. Dirt particles, body oils and perspiration on our hands can stain or corrode artworks, and damage to the surface can be caused by poking, stroking or knocks. While a single light touch alone may cause minimal harm, a series of small touches by a number of people over time can quickly add up to a multitude of interferences with the artwork’s surface.”
Therefore, only handle your artwork while wearing cotton gloves, but even then, be gentle as paint layers can be cracked or dislodged with very little pressure.
5. Store them flat
If you have paintings that you haven’t framed and hung yet, make sure you store them flat rather than rolling them up. Paint isn’t supposed to bend or be distorted so doing this could cause cracks and flaking. Even prints and posters will be in better condition if you store them flat as this will prevent the edges of the paper from curling or tearing. However, if you have multiple pieces in storage, keep a layer of fabric or a matboard between each one to stop any colours from transferring, and reducing the chances of acidic damage, curling and creasing.