Mounting canvas

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

>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.

Gustav Berger evaluated a variety of support materials for paintings
in his 1975 article in Studies in Conservation, aluminum has
positive and negative aspects.  Berger also notes a number of
unusual support solutions in his later articles in Studies, but in
each case these treatments require a skillful practitioner.  If the
canvas is failing, I would not rely on a framer to conduct such a
complex treatment.  I have treated paintings on metal surfaces and I
can tell you that they have unique problems, thus the transfer of a
fragile canvas to metal will introduce a multitude of complex
relationships.  You might want to contact the Rustin Levenson Art
Conservation Associates in New York for a consultation.

Niccolo Caldararo

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:37
                 Distributed: Friday, October 17, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-37-006
                                  ***