Acrylic grounds on oil paintings

I was recently approached by an artist concerned about the use of
acrylic grounds on his oil paintings since he was told by someone
else that he should be using oil priming.  I understand there is some
debate over whether acrylic 'gesso' grounds are good or not for oil
painting; however the reality is that they are the most widely used
grounds for oils by artists nowadays, plus the vast majority of the
preprimed canvas on the market.  Oil grounds are not so readily
available as acrylic gesso, so artists may have to prepare them by
hand, and they take a lot longer to dry.  I would like to know if
there is any conclusive conservation research on this subject, since
I haven't been able to find any literature apart from the various
advice from different art suppliers.  I would like to hear other
conservators opinions on the subject, should we be advising artists
to use exclusively oil primings on oil paintings?

Mar Gomez Lobon, Paintings Conservator
Artco - Art Conservation and Museum Services
PO Box 148
Launceston 7250
TAS Australia
+61 487357433


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:31
                Distributed: Thursday, February 6, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-27-31-024
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