How to Care for Your Impressionist Art Collection
Collecting and buying impresssionism art can be a real joy, and many people work hard to expand their art collections throughout the course of their lives. You might have a lot of space to display your art, and many people try to ensure that their favorite pieces are in their office, living room, or portrait gallery they have created in their home. Caring for your Impressionist Art collection can be just as important.
Art preservation is a big part of taking care of an art collection. No matter whether your paintings are hanging on the wall or stored somewhere else, you need to remember that art that is not properly cared for will start to fade and can lose value. In some cases, the artwork can become too damaged that it is impossible to restore it again.
You do not want your art to fall prey to improper storage situations or display conditions and be damaged beyond repair. It is meant to be an investment, one that you should take care of and have some pride in too.
What is Art Preservation?
If you own art, you need to make sure that preservation is part of your routine. This can be tough if you don’t know much about art in the first place. Educated art collectors need to be aware of the process by which art can be properly stored and you also need to be sure that you are working hard to keep your art safe where it is displayed.
These are the factors that can damage art significantly. If you allow any of these factors to come in contact with your impressionism art, you could end up with impressionist artwork that is impossible to restore. Some of the factors that may significantly damage your art include:
· Moisture
Caring for your Impressionist art collection also means you must keep water and moisture far away. No matter the medium of the art in question, moisture is its enemy. Paintings are most susceptible to damage from wet conditions, and even moisture in the air at beach locations can cause damage to your art pieces.
Make sure that all of your art is stored properly to prevent water from getting to it, and protect the items that you have hung up from being impacted by moisture in the air. This can be done through correct framing and protection with glass.
· UV Radiation
UV light is really hard on the pigments in paints, but the sun can fade any surface given enough time. While it can be tempting to display your art collection in a place with a lot of natural light, this can actually be the worst place for your paintings to be hung up.
You will need to be very careful with the amount of light from the sun in the area when you choose places for your paintings to hang, as this can be one of the number one reasons that paintings are damaged beyond repair despite being properly hung up.
· Pests
This is more of a concern that is related to storage, but even famous works have been damaged by pests when placed in storage requirement restoration to get them back to their former glory. Mice and insects can destroy a painting while it is in storage.
This is one of the reasons that you need to be sure that you are following the right storage processes for any art that is not being displayed at the time. You can usually opt to store your art in a gallery or a specific painting storage location to avoid this kind of problem. Places like the garage, basement, or storage unit are no place for a piece of art to be stored.
· Heat
Heat can be very hard on paintings because canvas can expand and contract when exposed to heat. This can cause paint to flake off the canvas or can lead to the canvas shrinking off the frame and damaging the work. Heat can be linked to UV damage when a painting is placed in the hot sun on a wall, but heat can also damage paintings that have been stored.
This is another reason that you might want to choose to store your paintings in a gallery when they are not on display since these locations have climate-controlled storage locations made for painting storage.
How Can I Protect My Art That is Hanging on the Wall?
If you have your collection hung up on the wall, make sure that you have done so properly so that you are not putting pressure on the frame. Consider covering your paintings with glass or acrylic that will protect them from the sun. Museum-grade filtering will be about 99.9%, and you should aim for this kind of protection for your art collection as well.
Avoid hanging your paintings where they will be warm or moist as well. If you are living in a coastal location, there might be specific preservation techniques that are recommended for this environment and for your region. You can contact local art galleries for suggestions about how to protect your art from moisture in the air in these areas of the world.
Protecting your paintings from excess heat is usually as simple as ensuring they are not placed near heating vents or right next to windows which can communicate heat when the sun is shining on them.
Consider having a portrait room that is windowless for your art display. This is a much better environment for paintings because you can protect them from so many of the threats that impact their longevity.
How do I Protect Art That is in Storage?
As mentioned before, it is usually wise to have a gallery or a specific storage company handle any of your art that is not being displayed. This is the best way to ensure that your art will be protected from damage, and it is usually quite affordable to place your paintings in this kind of storage.
If you are going to store your art at home, you need to be sure that you think about the common issues that can damage art and make sure that you don’t allow these problems to impact your own artwork.
Basements and attics can be good places to store art, but only if they are dry and do not have excess dust in them. Be careful to prevent bugs and mice from getting into these spaces if you have paintings stored there.
You will need to prep your art for this kind of storage by wrapping each painting in tissue paper or foam. There are products sold specifically for this kind of storage, and you should use these rather than generic wraps and papers.
The storage foam and tissue paper that is made for paintings are designed not to impart heat, catch moisture, or bleed chemicals that can damage your paintings. Never use newspapers, as this can transfer ink onto the works that you are storing. You will also be wise to use cardboard to protect framed items since bubble wrap can trap humidity really easily.
Be sure that paintings that are framed are not stacked against one another, and consider getting a storage rack that will allow you to place each painting into its own rack for safekeeping.
Oil paintings cannot be placed on concrete since concrete bleeds a lot of moisture as it heats up and cools off. Also, be sure that you keep oil paintings stored standing up and not lying down flat.
Acrylic paint is not as affected by the sun as oil paint, but the storage processes that you use for your oil paintings should be followed for those made with other kinds of paint as well.
Pastel can be the most difficult to store since it can smudge. Be sure that you are not allowing these works to touch other stored paintings and that you keep them up off the floor where they could be exposed to moisture.
You can see why it is usually a good idea to allow a professional company to take over the storage process for your art that is not being displayed! There are a lot of variables that can impact the art storage process, and you should not leave anything to chance when you own an art collection that is of great value.
Caring for Impressionist Art Collection Requires Attention to Detail
There are many things that you need to think about when you are caring for your Impressionist art collection. Be sure that you don’t hesitate to reach out to a gallery or an art expert to ensure that you are following the right methods when it comes to the storage and display of your art.
The more careful you are about the locations where your art is displayed and stored, the less likely it will be that the pieces you own will ever need restoration. Keeping your Impressionist art collection in good condition is important for many reasons.
These are valuable pieces that you have invested money in, but they are also vibrant and beautiful pieces that should not be allowed to fade or be damaged by moisture and heat. Being sure that your Impressionist art will stand the test of time is key if you are going to invest in an art collection.
Caring for your art is a big part of the ownership of these kinds of assets, and this guide will help you to avoid common problems that can impact art collectors who do not realize how delicate paintings really are.