Mounting canvas

Amy Rider <drider2<-a t->csrlink< . >net>

>Can anyone tell me the harmful effects of mounting an early 19th
>Century oil painting on a sheet of Aluminum?  A director at the
>local museum said that two well respected framers suggested mounting
>the canvas on a piece of aluminum with fixative. The canvas had some
>damage and the framers were afraid that restretching the picture
>would damage it even further.

There is nothing wrong with aluminum as a secondary support for
paintings on canvas.  Since there is no indication of what the
fixative is, I can't comment on that.  What is wrong is for framers
to treat paintings.  Materials in themselves don't cause damage; the
people doing the work do. A treatment needs to address what is
really wrong using the most reliable methods and materials, and it
needs to be carried out by a properly trained conservator.  Framers
should be referring conservation problems to conservators.  I don't
know where you are located but AIC has a referral list, and there
are many other ways to find a paintings conservator.

B. Appelbaum

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:26
                Distributed: Tuesday, September 16, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-26-005
                                  ***