Cracked painting

[HB]

Is there any tricks to mounting a canvas that was rolled tightly (1" diam), media in, and upon unrolling revealed cracks along the entire height of painting spaced 1-4" apart. Cracks are very noticeable & the painting when pulled by hand has considerable concaves between the cracks.

Painting is a tourist variety from Africa, approx 60" wide x 30" high on "bed sheets" - only rolled up for a week - came from 100 degrees F - fairly humid into a -30F dry environment. Its about 2 weeks old.

 

[GUMBY GCF]

oingo bongo best you can do is just stretch it.. cracks as you described are pretty much part of the painting now...It is what it is....

 

[Jeff Rodier]

Short of restoration there is little you can do. I had one like that last month and the customer elected to have me mount it which made it flat and will prevent futher cracking. Used Laminall on masonite since it was your basic $75 dollar bed sheet tourist painting. Came out pretty nice but the crack is visible just not as much as it would have been if stretched.

 

[RParrish]

Let me guess the painting was rolled up with the painted side inside and the back outside?

Had they rolled it up with the painting facing out, it might have cracked but the cracks would appear to go back together when unrolling.

 

[cjmst3k]

I had a painting like this about 2 years ago. Customer didn't want to invest in restoring it, so we ended up adhesing it to a sturdy board with I believe UMS fabric glue and put an even weight (box of glass) across the entire surface. Cracks were nearly unnoticeable after that.

 

[HB]

seems to me we need to come up with a way to stretch it WHILE adhering with some kind of glue to a board.

...Wheels are churning...

 

[HB]

Maybe...

-stretch first onto stretcher bar frame
-apply fabric glue to a board (maybe clear acrylic gel????) sized to fit inside stretcher frame
-place board glue side up on some solid spacers on table top
-place stretched canvas on top with the stretcher bar fitting around the pre-glued board
-layer of thin foam - like drymount foam on canvas
-heavy board on top
-weights on top

maybe stretch it on strainers with a board that has the glue on it - put foam & weights on it as it dries?

thinking out loud here...

what do you think??

 

[artfolio]

The only sure-fire way to save this artwork is for a conservator to wax reline it onto a better canvas which, for a decent sized piece, will run to at least $500 or so.

The customer would be nuts to spend that much on it so the next best solution would be to glue it down onto MDF or a similar substrate with lots of pressure in the vacuum press. Possibly, using a wet glue like P.V.A. could help to bind back any loose paint.

I very much doubt you could stretch it successfully but if you want to try at least make sure the customer understands and accepts the risk. In any case you should emphasise to them that they cannot expect this artwork to last very long.

 

[Ylva]

You know what came to mind; puzzle glue...you know, the paste that you apply on top of the puzzle (image side)...not sure if it would adhere to paint/fabric.


I did a few pieces like you described, where the customers did request stretching. I just told them about the risks and that the piece probably wouldn't last; they didn't care as long as they could hang it.

 

[FramerDave]

The customer would be nuts to spend that much on it so the next best solution would be to glue it down onto MDF or a similar substrate with lots of pressure in the vacuum press. Possibly, using a wet glue like P.V.A. could help to bind back any loose paint.

And while it's in the press, pray that the glue does not seep through the thin fabric.

 

[HB]

Followup

We steamed it from the rear - worked very good! Awesome results. The steam added a bit of moisture - restretched while slightly damp & cracks are not visible from 3 feet away!!!

 

[Jim Miller]

We steamed it from the rear - worked very good! Awesome results. The steam added a bit of moisture - restretched while slightly damp & cracks are not visible from 3 feet away!!!

Good luck with that. I guess from your original description (below) that this is an acrylic painting on lightweight fabric, since it was dry enough to crack after only two weeks. Oil paint would still be plenty soft. In any case, do you have any idea what affect the moisture might have had on the bond between the paint and the fabric? What happens if the paint begins to cup and/or peel/flake/crack off the canvas in a year or so?

...Hope you didn't put your sticker on the back of that frame.

OP:

Painting is a tourist variety from Africa, approx 60" wide x 30" high on "bed sheets" - only rolled up for a week - came from 100 degrees F - fairly humid into a -30F dry environment. Its about 2 weeks old.

 

[HB]

Jim

This was a kinda fix or chuck away job - & yes - no sticker - we didn't even frame it