Caring for an art collection is crucial for buyers at all levels and works across all mediums. Prioritizing the safety of any artwork begins from the moment you buy the piece, to the way in which you pack and ship it, to how you live with it now and in the future.
There are many nuances to caring for art depending on the material, the intended location, and even your living situation. Moreover, as you own a work over time, you might encounter situations where you need to intervene, whether moving it to a different location, cleaning the surface, or fixing damage. How buyers address these situations can be essential to maintaining the integrity of an artwork.
Speaking with expert dealers, collectors, and shippers, Artsy compiles four tips to care for your art collection.
1. Know your work and look at it often
Looking at a Rothko, 2023
Maise Corral
Galeria Jordi Barnadas
The most commonly referenced suggestion to protect your work is knowing what it looks like when you purchase and receive it. Condition reports—documents that detail the artwork’s physical state—can help determine what you should expect when you buy a work, but you should also pay attention to the details you see. For example, if an artist has applied paint in heavily impastoed brushstrokes, note what this looks like on the surface. Are there any distinct characteristics (intentional or from degradation over time), such as cracks or stray bristles? Does the canvas appear taut? If the work is made of metal, what does the patina look like? Documenting this can be as simple as taking photos and noting any issues or unique details.
“As collectors, we are first and foremost stewards of the work we acquire,” said Kelly Freeman, a collector and vice president of event operations and partnerships at Art Market Productions, which organizes the San Francisco Art Fair, Seattle Art Fair, Art on Paper, and Atlanta Art Fair. “We are trusted to preserve the work we bring into our homes and institutions so that it can be shared with future generations.”
While most art materials are relatively stable—an oil painting isn’t going to degrade in just one lifetime—it’s important to regularly monitor your collection, whether it’s on view in your home or stowed away in storage. Perhaps you might notice speckles on a piece you hadn’t seen before. This can be a sign of an issue like mold, or it might be part of the artist’s vision that’s been there all along. Knowing what your work looked like when you bought and took possession of it is a way to safeguard from problems in the future and ensure that potential issues are addressed before damage is irreparable.
2. Not all materials are alike
Andy Warhol Holding Dracula Myth 1981, 2015
Robert Levin
Maison Gerard
Materials act differently depending on their environments and have unique requirements for care. A work on paper, for example, might buckle with changes in temperature and humidity. This is expected to a degree, but knowing when a material is behaving abnormally is crucial to being proactive.
“Art doesn’t require daily attention like a pet or a plant,” said Vilma Mačianskaitė, owner of the Vilnius, Lithuania–based Contour Art Gallery. “However, multidisciplinary practices and innovative materials—fiber art, glass, mixed media, or even unconventional components like hair or bread crumbs—bring unique challenges.” Among the challenges that fiber art might have that something like ceramic would not, for example, are the same threats to all textiles in one’s home: sensitivity to light, accumulation of dust, and the risk of bugs.
Asking the dealer or artist about the nuances of a work can help you protect the piece. Perhaps they have suggestions on framing or installing, or tips for unconventional materials like those in Mačianskaitė’s example. Some pieces might be expected to evolve, such as Lotus L. Kang’s works made of unfixed photographic film, which are continuously sensitive to light and change color over time. This detail would be crucial to know when buying and living with a piece.
3. Location matters
Refractions, 2006-2023
Roxa Smith
C24 Gallery
Inherent in understanding the materials is knowing the conditions that will enable you to best care for a work. How one displays art is a personal preference, but safety should be a top priority. For example, works without glass, such as paintings on canvas, should be installed in locations where they won’t be knocked into or scratched.
Collectors would also be wise to consider who could be interacting with the work, too. “If you have kids at home, paintings can become irresistible experimental canvases for a budding Cy Twombly wielding markers or pens,” said Mačianskaitė. “One of my beloved collectors had this exact experience!”
The location of an artwork can also affect its condition over time. As mentioned, works on paper can buckle with changes in humidity or temperature. Installing a print or drawing in a bathroom, therefore, could damage a piece. These can also fade if they are installed in direct sunlight, which can be mitigated with professional framing and UV plexi. “As an avid collector of works on paper, UV plexi has been my saving grace (mainly because we love to have as much light as possible in our homes),” said Freeman.
One of Freeman’s more sensitive works is a piece from 1973 by Robert Rauschenberg made of paper and light-fast pigments in rich red and yellow hues. “Now, 50 years later, the light-fast pigment has muted a bit, but not because of a lack of familial effort,” Freeman said. “One of my earliest memories is watching my mom shift the vitrine around the living room out of the way of errant sunbeams. It now lives in the darkest room in our home next to a Virgil Ortiz ‘Watchman.’”
4. Trust professionals
Art Packing, 2021
Sung Kook Kim
Gallery LVS
From shipping and installation to cleaning and conservation, when in doubt, trust a professional. “Working with a trusted fine art shipper or handler ensures that your artwork receives the specialized care it deserves,” said Jason Bailer Losh, director of business development and environmental affairs at Dietl, an art shipping and logistics company.
In addition to navigating the nuances of packing and shipping, professional shippers can help to make decisions on living safely with art. “Installations require a careful balance between the distinctive qualities of the artwork, the specifics of the location, and client expectations,” Losh added.
The same can be said for conservation. Mačianskaitė suggested consulting the person or company where you purchased a piece for instructions on routine care, but emphasized the importance of hiring professionals when needed. Knowing what to outsource goes back to understanding the materials themselves, the extent of the intervention needed, and the value of a work. “You would undoubtedly trust a Botticelli to a reliable restorer with centuries of expertise behind them,” Mačianskaitė explained.
For some buyers, however, professionals are not always nearby. The Art Design Project in Miami, for example, has seafaring collectors like cruise ships among its clientele. The gallery provides step-by-step guides on how to move and protect the work they sell, including in circumstances that require someone on board a ship to handle or clean a piece. “Over the years we have seen it all,” said Juan Carlos Arcila-Duque, owner and director of The Art Design Project. “There have been cases where we’ve had to speak to the cleaning department or the person in charge of cleaning.”
Ultimately, dealers and collectors agree that appreciating the artwork itself is the surest way to maintain long-term care. As Arcila-Duque put it: “Love your works of art because you are the ones who live with them.”
from Artsy News https://ift.tt/JHgQbKW
No comments:
Post a Comment