Question spacers and glazing oils

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Nikki

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I have spent the last hour going over past threads regarding oils and glazing. I have an oil painting circa 1800's that is in a historic house here in town. Through some deed restrictions, the painting has to stay in the house, but is "maintained" by the Historic Society. The new family that moved in has 4 kids and therefore want to protect the painting.

So, with kids flying all over the house, I would use one of the optimum plexi-glass instead of Museum Glass. My question is what would you use to separate the plexi from the surface of the painting? Glass spacers wouldn't work since they would put pressure on the very edge of the stretcher bar and cause the painting stress. My painting conservator is against the Arlo or Spacemakers types. She didn't have a specific product but only said it shouldn't be hard, fiberous (like felt) or sit on the surface of the painting and preferably be silicon treated to not stick to the painting.

Years ago (maybe 15ish with NJPPFA) I think I took a class/workshop with Hugh and, if I remember correctly, he mentioned something about attaching rag mat strips to the sides of the canvas leaving about a 1/4" sticking out from the front of the painting and then fitting it into the frame. Does anyone remember such a concept?

How about Volara Rabbet Foam Tape and varnished oil paintings? My conservator was worried about the "aggressive acrylic adhesive" described in their marketing material. Of course this goes directly on the wood of the frame, but she worries about migration. On "good" paintings I have always sealed the rabbets with Lineco's frame Seal Tape.

How about lining the rabbet with felt?

Does anyone attach acid free foam core to the back of the paintings to prevent damage from the back? How do you attach them?

Thanks, Nicole
 
If you have a liner the acrylic should be placed between the liner and frame. Give some specifics of the frame and liner if there is one. The rabbet tape adhesive is not a concern with the painting since there is significant seperation between the adhesive and painting. Rag board backing would offer more protection since it is much more difficult to puncture. 8 ply would be ideal.

Give as much info as you can about all elements of the job or we will be simply guessing.
 
Nicole, I know I am being flippant, but I would can that conservator since she has nothing to offer but nay saying. Why is she even involved???

The attachment of a board to the back is common practice now. I prefer coro-plast board over AF fom-bord. Tougher, less expensive + easier to work with. Attach the backer with stainless steel screws and washers to the frame... not the stretchers.
Allow for movement by making the drilled holes in the board larger than the screw holes. Don't over tighten.

Volara tape would be fine. Possibly line the side of the rabbet with 4 or 8 ply rag board.

Send that conservator packing. She does nothing but worry and offers no sound advice.

Consult another conservator if the painting is that valuable. She is worthless... or at least misguided... a deer in headlights.

You are the one coming up with sound alternatives. Your judgment and due diligence is to be respected.

Hugh...where are you? Chime in and calm me down!

Am I missing something here?
 
Jeff and Dave - Thanks!!!

Do either one of you line the rabbet with the Lineco aluminum barrier tape. I started doing that when I took that class/workshop way back when. I charge more for the "museum painting installation", probably 3-4 times a regular install, but my clients know the difference. Lots of education going on here.

I'll give the coro-plast a try. In a perfect world the frame would accommodate not only the depth of the stretcher bar with a little room to fit and then you could attach the backer to the frame, but what about attaching the backing board if the stretcher bar projects out the back of the frame? Also I once worked for a frame shop/conservator who also put "air holes" covered with screening in the backing board to allow the painting to breathe and keep buggies out. Now he was trained in the 50 and 60's. What are your feelings on this?

I get to see the painting in person on Thursday morning when I do a house visit. I'm hoping the frame has a liner, but I highly doubt it. But one never knows. It could be in Decor ready made for all I know at this point in time.

It's funny dealing with conservators. The one I use is one referred to me by my old conservator who moved to Moscow. She is great at what she does and does have good ethics. I get photo documentation of all work done and condition reports before and after, fair pricing with room to mark up and completely reversable (sp?) practices. And as she says, she is not a framer. She can tell me what she has seen over the years come through her door, but she leaves the framing to framers. Her first words were - "Why?".

I have a victorian shadowbox that was design to house a completely framed painting in my back room. Seems extreme to me. Can you imagine a whole room of them?
 
Nicole... you seem like a gentle soul.

Sorry for my rant, but I can't believe your conservator was not offering any solutions. That is her job.

If the canvas protrudes beyond the frame there are several ways to tackle the "problem". It sounds like this is a very high archival treatment, or, at least you are treating it as such. Good for you!

I would consider building up the back of the perimeter of the frame with wood slats, or even rag mat board panels, to the height of the stretchers and then using cloroplast (or rag board) larger than the stretchers to attach to the slats.

I keep hoping Hugh will chime in because my solutions are not always the best that this forum has to offer. There are quite a few people on this forum that know more than I do. The collective knowledge on this forum is quite amazing.
 
If you are using an acrylic glazing, like Optium, you can secure the Volara to the inside of the glazing sheet, taking care not to stretch it out, as that can cause instability, later. Lining the rabbet wall with a foil barrier may be useful, but remember that if this is an antique painting, its stretcher will not be lined with anything. It is important to very carefully screw the backing board (Coroplast) to the stretcher so it will protect the back of the painting at all times. No holes should be put in the backing board. Holes allow in dirt, pollution, pests, and punctures. With or without holes, the backing board will also dampen vibrations in the painting, itself. If the painting comes out the back of the frame, the frame can be deepened with added wood, screwed to its back or with FrameSpace pieces.



Hugh
 
Interesting, Hugh, that you suggest attaching the backing board to the stretchers instead of the frame. I had always attached the backer to the stretchers but was chided (I believe here but possibly on some other forum) that you shouldn't put additional holes in the stretcher frame.

From a practical standpoint it does seem more logical to attach the backer board to the stretchers because it is more likely to stay with the painting when re-framed, etc and therefore would continue to provide protection from rear force trauma, help stabilize the canvas and keep out bugs and other debris.
 
Here's a drawing to show how you can frame a painted canvas with nothing in contact with the painted surface. There are also other suggestions in "To Glaze or Not to Glaze", an article in the October, 2006 edition of Picture Framing Magazine.

Since you are working with an existing frame, you probably would have to add a back-box or otherwise extend the rabbet depth. If nothing else, you could cut a rigid sheet, such as fluted polypropylene or aluminum composite material, large enough that you could screw it to the back of the frame, and screw it to the back of the stretcher frame. That is, the stretcher frame would be mounted to the center of a rectangular 'platter', which would then be attached to the back of the frame.

The only risky part of this procedure would be attaching the frame-sized, rigid backing board to the back of the stretcher frame. Measure and drill carfully to avoid (at all costs) drilling or screwing through the stretcher frame and into the canvas. The practice of carefully screwing to the stretcher frame is OK, because that secondary support is considered to be of no lasting value to the art, and replaceable.

The Museum Optium Acrylic would not contact the painting at all; it could be secured in the frame by strips of 4-ply or 8-ply board attached (like shadowbox mat-walls) to the inside of the frame's rabbet.
 
I'M pretty sure that Hugh mnt to say "RabbetSpace" insted\ad of FrameSpace. Check it out here: http://www.frametek.com/HTML/RabbetSpace/index.html

This would be a good way to hold both the canvas and that polyflute to the back of the frame. RabbetSpace comes as deep as 1/2 inch. It also meets the PAT test so it's safe to use against fine art.
 
I'm really digging the conversation since I am running all of the possibilities through my head and will have to do some samples to work out the kinks.

Hugh - Thanks for the clarification on whether to attach the backing board to the stretcher bar or the frame itself. I have used three different conservators over the years for paintings and when the painting is returned tome they have all attached the acid-free foam-core backer to the stretcher bars. Never any holes. That was just the one guys I worked for. I'm going to check out the coroplast material. I am assuming i can get it from Don Mar, Larson or M and M.

Jim - Thanks for the illustration. Visuals sometimes make all the difference. I'm going to try this out in January when it's slower. I'll check out Oct 2006 PFM.

Dave - Everything I do comes from an archival point of view. Not to throw anyone under the bridge, but when I first started 20 years ago, I met a wonderful woman at Deck the Walls who trained me. She said "I'm going to show you two ways to do everything, the way we do it here and then the correct way." Best person I could have met. As for conservators, don't you think they should stick to what they know best instead of stretching themselves thin knowledge wise? We consult back and forth behind the scenes, but she doesn't want to be bothered with all of the aspects of framing and I certainly don't want to learn everything she knows about paintings. And with what i have seen come through her studio, the more I love framing since the basic frame hasn't changed.

Nicole
 
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