Varnishing outdoor sculpture

My museum recently acquired a large outdoor steel sculpture.  At the
time the artist recommended a varnish (Valspar's Clear Val Oil) to
treat the sculpture regularly with. However within a few short
months the varnish started to peel and the sculpture to rust.  The
sculpture is not protected from the weather in anyway and as we are
in the desert temperatures can be extreme (120 degrees F in summer).
For another outdoor steel sculpture, the artist recommended that we
use Tectyl 151A.  Should we be using that on steel sculptures or is
there another more appropriate varnish we should be using?

Michelle Gallagher, Collections Manager
Palm Springs Desert Museum
PO Box 2310
Palm Springs, CA 92263-2310


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:50
                   Distributed: Monday, March 3, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-16-50-026
                                  ***