Framing

We have a number of paintings in our collection by a local artist,
deceased, not famous, never likely to be (if that matters). Some
were painted on canvas and others on canvas board. They were
"framed" by the artist and are held in their frames by any
combination of the following (please don't cry)

    masking tape
    packing tape
    fibreglass tape
    screws in the frame that overlap the edge of the canvas board or
        backing
    nails
    nails into little squares of wood or cardboard that swivel over
        the canvas board to hold it in place

In some cases there is masonite or plywood behind the canvas but
nothing has been stretched.

We have had these items since 1988. All hanging hardware was removed
in 1988.

My questions are:

    Should I remove all the tape, even if it is still holding the
    picture in the frame just fine?

    What is an acceptable way to hold these pictures in their
    frames, assuming I remove the tape? Can I use standard framing
    hardware, even though that will put holes in the frames?

    In order to hang these I need to attach mounting hardware. In
    most cases, it looks as if I can use the existing holes but in
    other cases I can't. Do I go ahead and put new holes in the
    frames if I have to? Is it okay to use the old holes?

None of these pieces is particularly heavy.

We are small (director and me) and our collection is primarily
things that reflect life in the north, late 1800s to the present.
These paintings are of value to the community because they were done
by a local person whom many people still remember.

Lauraine Armstrong
Curator of Collections
Northern Life Museum
PO Box 420
Fort Smith NT X0E 0P0
867-872-2859
Fax: 867-872-5808


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:77
                  Distributed: Thursday, May 16, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-15-77-020
                                  ***