Pastel on Canvas

[Ron Eggers]

Is today Monday? It sure seems like a Monday.

I just had someone bring in a very large stretched canvas in a frame. At one time, it had glass, but someone had removed it. My customer is wondering whether it <U>should</U> have glass.

The medium is almost certainly pastel and it appears to have been sprayed or varnished. The pastel does not rub off. The customer prefers the look without glass and there are no smokers in the household.

My inclination is to clean up the frame and refit the canvas without glass, but this is not oil or acrylic. Does anyone think this should be fitted with glass (and spacers, of course?)

 

[preservator]

Glazing such an item can't hurt. If it is not
at all friable, you could use acrylic, but given
the difficulty of proving this, glass may make sense. Since either of these can be had with UV
absorbers in them, the effects of UV on the pigment and on the coating on top of the pigment can be mitigated. Glazing will also help to keep oxidizing gases away from the front of the item and will lower the risk of punctures during transit. The tension used to stretch the canvas creates a structure that can vibrate during transit and the glazing and a backing board will damp out such vibration.

Hugh

 

[GUMBY GCF]

Ron, Just a thought could this be an oil Pastel?
Jim
OHIO