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A Collector’s Quest reader contacted me recently, with a question about art. Her father had acquired an original Burnette Pletan, which had passed into her posession. She fondly remembered the painting on the wall, and hoped to display it again. However, she would like to display it un-framed, because the Masonite backing is part of the charm.

Remember Pletan? I wrote about him last year, in an article on outsider art. Burnette billed himself as the Fastest Artist In The World, producing large paintings in mere minutes and selling them before they were barely dry. His style, slapped on to sheets of Masonite with the kind of painter’s brushes you find at Menard’s, has enormous personality and charm, even if its not exactly high art. The uniqueness of his medium — store-grade acrylic paints, Krylon da-glo spraypaint, house-painting brushes, Masonite — also make his paintings quite recognizeable.

So, the question: how to display a Pletan painting, without covering the edge? Obviously, framing will obscure it, so that should be avoided. I spoke with my archival-framing expert, Joan Loughridge of Dry Creek Gold Leaf, Inc., and she had an idea. First, though, Joan points out that framing is the best way to protect the painting from damage, and should always be the first choice. If framing is out of the question, though, Joan suggested placing the painting on an easel for display.

The traditional ‘easel’, imagining beret-wearing painters strolling down Parisian streets with a three-legged easel under their arm, is probably not the best suggestion for displaying a completed work of art. Easels specifically made for showing works of art are called ‘display easels’, and come in a wider variety of styles and structure to accommodate all sizes of art and provide a sturdier support for the work. I would recommend going with a ‘H’ style of easel, one built with right-angles, rather than a tripod one, to support the art.

If you can’t afford the floorspace for a large display easel, there are a couple ways I’ve found to display art like this. The first, and probably simplest way, is to install a plate rail on the wall, and set the art on it. A “plate rail,” as it sounds, is usually used to display your Franklin Mint plates for all to see. It’s a very narrow shelf with a ‘groove’ running along the leading edge of the shelf surfave. Plates, or other flat displayables, rest their bottom edge in the groove, so they don’t slide off, and lean against the wall for support. If the Pletan artwork is short enough, attaching a plate rail longer than the width of the painting should give support without covering up the edges. “Short enough” is the key: the taller the painting, the steeper the angle of the painting against the wall. If the angle is too steep (the painting is too upright), a breeze, or even just shifting in the house, could cause the painting to fall off. The deeper the plate rail, the safer it will be.

The last suggestion I have is to use an art hanging system. Museums and private homes alike use them as easily-changeable, stylish ways of displaying art on a wall. They consist of attaching a modern picture-rail high up on the wall, with supports hanging down. Adjustable hooks on the supports allow art to be positioned and repositioned anywhere along the supports or the rail. Make sure to get a display system like the one pictured on the right, with small shelves or hooks that support the work; many of the display systems are designed to hang frames in a traditional way, via a wire on the back of the frame, which will not work in this case. This system also supports the top edge of the work, reducing the risk of falling that you would have with the plate-rail. Since most Pletan paintings are wider than the frames in the picture, you can line up two (or more) rods, even up the support clips, and the painting will be safely supported against sliding out or falling.

Because Pletan’s works are painted right to the edge, any display method that places pressure directly on the edge of the work might result in paint chipping. This does include framing, so in any case velveteen ribbon or a felt pad should be used to reduce the amount of wear on the painted edge of the work.

Joan Loughridge of Dry Creek Gold Leaf, Inc taught a room full of curators a lesson on proper archival framing at the Mountain-Plains Museum Convention here in Fargo last week. Start with Part 1, where we meet proper care of framed paintings.

When Things Go Horribly Wrong

A major focus of Loughbridge’s recommendations is minimizing damage if something does go wrong. By using offsets and not screwing or nailing a painting directly to the frame, it becomes easier to remove the frame quickly if damage occurs. Paper, which usually has a much more complex way of mounting, is often overdone in the interest of attaching the art as strongly as possible. This might look pretty — but if water gets in the frame or the frame becomes seriously damaged rescuing the art should be a quick and easy step to get it as far from the damage as possible before something worse happens. As with paintings, a primary focus is to mount — but not attach — the art in the frame. The various portions of the frame should support each other, but not be a permanent part of one another.

Paper — Photos, Watercolors, Etchings, etc.

Paper encompasses everything with a paper backing, including photos, watercolors, pen, lithographs, and prints (just to name a very, very few). The major differences between a canvas painting and a paper item are matting and glazing. Even a watercolor on heavy Bristol-board will likely be matted and placed under glass (the ‘glazing’). The matting will usually consist of a backing, and a layer or two of masking on the front to make a presentable ‘frame-in-a-frame’ around the work. Putting all these pieces together so that they don’t slide apart in storage or transportation can be tough, and many framers will glue the layers together to make sure it stays — and then tape it all to the glass. While this is secure in the fortified-military-installation way, it may actually be worsening the damage to the art.

You’d be surprised how often a print, or even original work of art, is glued directly to the cardboard backing of the frame. Then, the masking on the front is glued over the top of this (and probably to the front surface of the art), producing a thick art sandwich. If you’ve got one of these — stop right there, turn it over to a conservator. Ungluing is something only a professional can do successfully, if the art is to be kept in pristine condition.

If you can get the layers apart, or if you’re framing art from scratch, the key phrase here is acid free. Even ‘acid free’ doesn’t always mean ‘acid free’ — any wood pulp product has acid in it, and most wood-based acid-free products simply treat that acid with a base to counteract the effect. Again, this may be fine for a while, but eventually — remember the ‘centuries’ timeline — it potentially could cause browning and damage. The best way to prevent this is to go completely away from wood-based, and use a cotton-based matting board. There is a price difference, Loughbridge said in response to a question, but the cost of either product is so minor compared to the value of the work that there should be no reason not to use cotton boards. One drawback of cotton boards is that they do not take dyes as well as paper, so the fashion-color cotton boards will have one colored paper surface. These are OK to use, as long as the paper surface isn’t touching the art. Colored surfaces can also potentially bleed, so never place the colored side against a work of art. Foamcore should be avoided, because it slowly releases chemicals (‘outgasses’) that can damage art and changes the shape of the matting.
Saying not to glue it together doesn’t mean glue is absent from the process. Appropriate gluing is key. As with framed canvas, temperature and humidity can change the shape of your framed work, and if there’s no room to move, then damage will result. To avoid this problem, build the matting in a way to allow some movement, but hold it together for display. First, size and cut all your pieces. Then, create a hinged ‘book’ by connecting the mask to the backing at one end. Museum quality care recommends using kozo, aka rice paper, as a hinge, and gluing each end with wheat starch paste. While these aren’t WalMart sorts of products, most art supply stores should have them. If you simply cannot, make sure the hinge is far enough away from the artwork and I’d recommend to use white glue or gluestick and acid-free printer paper. Remember, though, stuff from the office supply aisle at a department store is not considered archival quality.

To mount the art inside your hinged matte, we return to something you may have thought disappeared in the olden days. To allow the art to move a little bit, use mylar photo corners to support the art, without directly gluing to the art itself. Don’t go wild and secure all four corners, however — to make sure the art as room to move, only secure the bottom two corners and one of the upper corners. The mask will sandwich the art to keep it from falling away from the backing, so the corners just keep the art from slipping downward or rotating inside the matte. Once you have your corners set, slip in the art, and fold the matting closed.

The practical purpose for the matte mask on the front is to hold the art away from the glass. If any moisture gets on the glass, it will drip down to the bottom, seep between the glass and frame, and wick back up between the glass and whatever’s touching the glass. Don’t let that be the art! If the glass were to get sprayed, this mounting technique ensures that the most damage will happen to the matting, and you can quickly pull the art from the mylar corners before anything worse happens.

If your frame is the same size as the art, particularly photo frames, a spacer should be used. If the photo can accommodate it, and you’ve got a steady enough hand, a thin-edged matte from cotton board could be sufficient. Companies like FrameTek, however, produce custom archival plastic spacers that attach to the glass and ensure that an air gap remains between the glazing and the art. Most households have experienced a photo damaged from water wicking between the glass and picture, and a spacer will prevent it from causing as much damage.

The frame’s glass is critical to ensure that the color and pigments in the art do not fade. The one real way to protect against this damage is to use UV-filtering glass. Even if the glass is antique, Loughbridge recommended replacing it (she recommended saving it or donating the antique glass pane for non-framing purposes, like restoring period windowpanes), because the frame’s ultimate purpose is to protect the art, and period glass will not do it. Modern frames often do not come with UV-protected glass — this may need to be purchased separately in the interest of protecting your art. The UV coating is only applied to one side of the glass, and can be easily scratched. To test for UV protection, use an exacto knife and scrape a part of the glass that won’t be seen when it’s in the frame. A razor won’t cut the glass, but it will leave a line in the UV coating. Keep in mind, though, to use great care with UV-coated glass — one slip-up and you could have one of those fine line scratches across the middle of the glazing. The UV side goes on the interior, towards the art.

Once you’ve got your glass and your assembled matted art, it can go back in the frame. Place the glass in first, UV side inward, and then the matted art. Lastly, make sure you put on an archival-quality back — the cardboard back that came with the frame is most definitely not acid-free, not waterproof, and not sturdy enough to protect against blows. Go with Coroplast again, or if the board has important labels that need to be protected, use a thick, clear acrylic sheet. Re-pin the frame to keep the matted art from falling out (the pros have ‘point guns‘ — an art collector should get one and learn how to use it properly). Now you should have an assembled, archival-quality framed paper artwork.

Lastly, to make absolutely sure that you’ll keep out the wooly-bears and other creepy-crawlies that eat art, seal all edges with frame-sealing tape. This is a non-organic tape that’s too strong and sticky for critters to sneak through. If you want to go all-out, tape the glass into the rabbet before putting in the art. If you have a bolted metal frame (they’re quite popular these days as cheap custom-sized frames), make sure to tape the corners from the inside — there’s just enough space there for a critter to sneak through and snack on your etchings. For the hanging hardware, use the same recommendations as in the framed-canvas article.

Documenting Your Work

Whether you’ve re-framed a painting or matted a family photo, you need to give your hard work some credit. Years down the line, you might be updating your art or considering passing it on to a new owner or a museum — so you will need to know the condition of the framed work. Anything that isn’t obvious, such as UV glass, cotton matting, or acrylic corners — note everything on a small paper label and glue it to the back of the framed piece (not directly to the art, but I don’t need to tell you that, right?) Date it, include your name, and any other relevant information about your task. Remember what I said about the labels documenting the art’s provenance? The careful work you put into conserving your art makes you an indelible part of the art’s history. Don’t sell your work short: if you care enough to give your art the best possible home for the next hundred years, it should be noted.