Harrison in London, England (1969) said:
"we are only the caretakers of these precious items, they will be here for future generations, if we do our duty to preserve and conserve"
"we are only the caretakers of these precious items, they will be here for future generations, if we do our duty to preserve and conserve"
All paper art should be suspect of fungus infection. The Saprophyte type which is attracted to paper grows best at 75 degrees and requires a relative humidity of 65% or more to foster its growth. Fungus spores saturate our air and require only a slight increase in humidity and a warm climate to start their rapid growth. A Saprophyte sees paper art as dead organic matter just waiting to be reduced to dust. We are all familiar with the little brown spots know as "foxing" but long before these visual signs appear an ultra violet light inspection can reveal the spores early growth. It has been reported that during the last eighteen years it was observed that over 60% of all paper art was infected by fungus growth. However in the last two years the percentage has climbed to over 88%. We should also be concerned with the fact that fungi readily spreads to adjacent materials thus a contaminated print can transfer its active mold to 100% mat and backing and thereby possibly eliminating the effort and expense of conservation framing. Arrange for an inspection and report every five years by a competent framer or conservator
We are dedicated to the preservation of books, documents and other valuable works of art on paper. The deacidification process neutralizes destructive acids present in most paper produced in the last 100 years. It is these acids which, if left unchecked, will cause embrittlement, yellowing and eventual disintregation of the paper. Deacidification is a permanent treatment which deposits a reserve of neutralizing agent (magnesium oxide) within the structure of the paper. This alkaline reserve will continue to neutralize harmful acids which paper can absorb from its surrounding atmosphere. One treatment converts unstable paper into a more permanent form with a lifespan which has been increased many fold.
This process has been thoroughly examined by:
There is a strict code of ethics in restoration circles "No restoration should be undertaked unless it is completely reversible". We estimate that 30% of our restoration work is un-doing and correcting damage done by "amateur restorers" who do not quite understand the damage that can be done in ignorance. Often we see money placed in front of ethics and this is wrong. Many valuable oil paintings have been severely harmed by water cleaning, some totally destroyed. The canvas support can shrink and develop fungus growth, the wooden support can swell and distort. All these changes in the oil painting support can cause distortion, cleavage, tenting, fungus and probably loosening of the gesso layers. We find that many of the newer paintings (ie: up to 50 years old) have never been varnished. This maybe because the painting was purchased direct from the artist or within two years of its completion. An oil painting should not be varnished for at least two years after its completion, to allow for outgassing, but then it is a must! Otherwise it is left open to soils such as Graphite (from automobile tires) Carbon (smoke) and fine particles of Silica to mention just a few. Lack of varnish leaves the pores open and highly susceptible to deeply ingrained deposits which can be almost impossible to remove.