Opinions Wanted Large and expensive art prints with no matting

[K.Murphy]

Hey all,

I've been seeing an influx of larger-sized art prints (usually signed by the artist) that are starting at upwards of $600 USD and easily reaching above 1k. Okay, no biggie, I'm a professional. But the issue I'm running into constantly is that they don't want matting because they're trying to achieve the minimal "Instagram" look and most of the time they don't want to pay for plexi, let alone UV-grade plexi, because they've, "already spent so much on the art". So glass it is (when it's below 36x48).

My first instinct was to reach for KoolTak's Restore (or whatever he's calling it since splitting from Bainbridge), but I've read some opinions that, that is not the best way to go. The customers are opting for glass, which obviously means spacers. I would t-hinge at the top and call it a day, but I don't have anything at the shop beyond Hayaku and I've recently read a lot of negative opinions on that. My manager is not a fan of hinging *at all* and I don't know how to properly prepare wheat paste or methyl cellulose.

Does anyone have some sage wisdom or miracle advice for a young padawan?

 

[JFeig]

1. Hinging of original art is a tried and true method of mounting in museums throughout the world even though your boss is not a fan of the process.
2. The making of mounting paste is an easy process and can be learned on YouTube. I use a microwave oven for the "cooking" of wheat or rice paste when making very small batches (1 tablespoon and up).

 

[tedh]

I wouldn’t recommend learning at your customer’s expense. Have you thought about corners and edge strips, with Framespace?

 

[K.Murphy]

1. Hinging of original art is a tried and true method of mounting in museums throughout the world even though your boss is not a fan of the process.
2. The making of mounting paste is an easy process and can be learned on YouTube. I use a microwave oven for the "cooking" of wheat or rice paste when making very small batches (1 tablespoon and up).

All of this I understand very well. We are not exactly on the same wavelength with things, especially as more expensive pieces have been coming through. Normally we work with very mundane or inexpensive pieces on a daily basis. I've been growing hungry for better solutions, but it's not my shop

I wouldn’t recommend learning at your customer’s expense. Have you thought about corners and edge strips, with Framespace?

Of course not. I'd be practicing on my own art if I ever had the chance.

The only spacers I have available to me in the shop are the typical 1/8", 1/4", and 3/8" ones that stick to the glass.

 

[wpfay]

Unless the owner of the business is willing to up their game, there's not much you can do.

Straight framing is problematic for fine art prints to begin with since it restricts the natural reactions to changes in temperature and humidity. There's no magic that makes that go away. Hinging doesn't resolve the issues caused by straight framing, though it may keep the piece from slumping in the frame.

Keep educating yourself in the techniques of preservation framing. With an improved skill set you are much more marketable, should an opportunity present itself.

 

[Bruce Papier]

I'm with Wally on this one. I wouldn't mess with hinges unless the art is on flimsy paper.

As a side note- Klucel-G takes a lot of the fear out of hinging (for me at least). Check it out and your manager may be a little less shy about hinging.

 

[Greg Fremstad]

Check out the 2 articles on hinging on the frametek.com webpage. The biggest problem is preparing for the difference in expansion/contraction of the art and backing. The typical museum method (including "T-hinges") does not provide for this. Thats why many pieces hinged that way buckle between the hinges. The articles explain how to prevent this.

 

[Joe B]

Depending upon the weight and quality of the art/poster you may not even need to hinge. I have framed many signed and numbered collector posters valued in the $1000.00s that I have not hinged. The trick is to use a good spacers between the art and glass, by that I do not mean econo spacer because sometimes the is glue seeps around to the front of the spacer and can end up on the art so for this application the econo spacer isn't a good product. I install the glass with the Framespace space (the Framespace spacer attaches the the glass without any adhesives) lay in the art/poster and backing on top of the spacer and then use a 2 ply mat corner as a spacer between the backing and the point driver. After driving the points I remove the 2 ply mat corner. In this way I am assured there is enough room for the art/poster to expand and contract but will hold it so it will not sag. If you shake the frame a little you will see that there is movement of the glass which shows that there is a bit of space for movement of the art/poster. I have been doing this for years and have never had a complaint about sagging or the art/poster getting waves because it is to tight inside the package. In fact, I have one poster on my display wall that I put up over 4 years ago that is perfect to this day.

 

[tedh]

I have two customers who collect movie posters, and one of them is a movie poster designer. I didn’t know that there is a movement consisting of artists who design new posters for old movies. I’m framing a new poster of “The Creature From The Black Lagoon”. I’ve done several jobs framing these oversized pieces. Both guys are OK with Mylar corners, in spite of being able to see them. They’d rather see the corners than have an adhesive affect the value of the artwork. And Framespace. I go through a lot of Framespace.

Many years ago, one of my print suppliers called and asked if I had a certain print in stock, that he wanted to buy back. But his stipulation was that it had to have been never framed. From that day on, I have never used adhesive on prints.

 

[Framar]

Greg - thanks for those articles on hinging - very informative. Never heard of that particular concept before. Cool!

Check out the 2 articles on hinging on the frametek.com webpage. The biggest problem is preparing for the difference in expansion/contraction of the art and backing. The typical museum method (including "T-hinges") does not provide for this. Thats why many pieces hinged that way buckle between the hinges. The articles explain how to prevent this.