Anyone know how to store a painting to avoid damage

[arcticcat522]

Looking for anyone who knows how to store art. My grandparents both passed away in the spring and I got a painting that was over thier couch for as long as I can remember. My dad took it to a place and they shipped it out here, but I haven't taken it out of the packaging. I dont want it to be out for the kids to potentially damage and i do t have a good spot to hang it. I doubt it is worth any money, but it means a lot to me. Anything I can do to avoid it being damages in the packaging? Like, will the paint stick to the bubble wrap or should it be fine for as long as I need it packaged up?

[ganesh]

I have no idea how to store it however if you give a call to one of the reputable framing places they can probably point you in the right direction I think

[tirebob]

What kind of paint is it? Oils? Acrylic? Water Colour? etc... How old it is? Oil paints dry for years and get harder, but fresher paints can definitely be impacted by the pressure from bubble wrap etc.. Sounds like it is older though. Oil is also pretty durable overall, but you don't want it getting a hole or something leaning against a wall around rowdy kids. Other mediums like water colour or pastels etc are easy to fuck up so be extremely careful that way. Acrylic is pretty reliable but again not impervious to damage from objects etc.

Personally I would just hang it somewhere in the temporary even if it won't be its final spot. Off the ground and on a wall is safest really.

[arcticcat522]

No idea about any of those questions, but if I had to guess, oil paint....I like the idea of hanging it somewhere out of the way. I will see if I can find a spot where the kids don't play. They seem to damage parts in every room. It's currently in the laundry room, off the ground, in a dark corner wrapped up pretty well. I might call a frame shop to see what they say too....any effects because of how dry it is out here? Anything I should be worried about due to that?

[tirebob]

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No idea about any of those questions, but if I had to guess, oil paint....I like the idea of hanging it somewhere out of the way. I will see if I can find a spot where the kids don't play. They seem to damage parts in every room. It's currently in the laundry room, off the ground, in a dark corner wrapped up pretty well. I might call a frame shop to see what they say too....any effects because of how dry it is out here? Anything I should be worried about due to that?

Dry is better than humid... Humidity can cause mold to develop on the canvas. Nothing too crazy to worry about though. Just keep it out of direct sunlight so the colours stay better and hang it. Oil paintings are quite durable. I mean there are crazy amounts of old paintings in the world that have survived well! The less handling/flexing of the canvas the better as the paint is older and because it gets harder and can crack and craze easier. That is normal though. All old paintings have cracking/crazing over time just from the paint shrinking a bit as it cures.

Edit - I am assuming this is on canvas and not a wood substrate etc?

[arcticcat522]

Ya, again, I think canvas. Haven't really looked that close. It was always there. Never really inspected it. Since it was shipped here, it's stayed in the shipping packaging. Thanks for your input.

[Chantastic]

As Bob said, dry is good. I'm no expert on the subject, but do you know what kind of company shipped it out? Was it an art delivery company, or a generic shipping place? The only reason I ask is because of the possibility of acidic materials used to wrap the painting. Bubble wrap would not be a concern, unless it is wrapped really tightly. However they may have placed cardboard inside of it somewhere and that's definitely acidic. It's more of a concern for paper based artwork but for long term storage it would be worth looking to see if there's any cardboard near it.

[arcticcat522]

I will check. Fairly sure it's just bubble wrapped fairly tight. Still need to find some wall, away from the kids to put it

[darthVWader]