I bought a beautiful problem

August 26, 2013 4:48 PM

An art newbie wonders: just how does one properly store an oil painting?

This past weekend, I impulsively bought (what I believe to be) an oil painting on the street in Seoul. The painting is about 3' by 4', on a sheet of frameless canvas, and was immediately rolled and tubed for transport upon purchase. When I bought it, I had planned to store the painting on a shelf, cabinet top or some other flat surface until I had the time to properly hang it. I have since discovered that I have a mere two surfaces in my apartment that can accommodate a painting of this size: the futon (when in bed mode) and the floor.

My question is thus twofold:
1. How does one store a painting?
Can I reroll it and leave it rolled for the minimum seven months I have left in Korea?
Would some sort of large paper envelope protect it adequately?
Would keeping the enveloped, flat painting on an ondol (an apartment-wide, radiant floor-heating system) damage it over the course of a winter?

2. What are my short-term hanging options?
Long-term, I'd like to get this painting professionally-framed when I'm back home. I'm not sure that I want to do so here, in Korea, given the language barrier / difficulty of finding such places / expense / difficulty of shipping after framing. Do I have any other options for enjoying this on the wall without framing it? The painting is on a sheet of cut canvas that has approximately 1.5'' margins, so I doubt it could be stretched over an internal frame and then hung on a nail. Is puncturing these margins and hanging it from nails safe for the long-term health of the canvas (if just a bit declassé)? Do I have any other options?

Thanks in advance.

posted by charlemangy to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

Best answer: 1) I think you can store it rolled up as long as it's not so tightly rolled that it warps or cracks the paint. Flat would be preferable though. The oil paint (though it could well be acrylic) is likely more toxic to its surroundings than they are to it, but you could wrap it in archival-quality, acid-free paper if you want. I would not keep it on a heating element if it's a strong one - that may crack the paint depending on the overall heat and disparity between top and bottom temperatures of the paint itself.

2) Temporarily, I'd go with two bulldog or office clips, which you could then hang over nails. I would not puncture the canvas, that will limit your reframing options later. Heavy duty magnets to nails in the wall with the canvas hung between are also an option.
posted by vegartanipla at 4:57 PM on August 26, 2013

An oil paint film is not very flexible, so the paint surface stands a chance of cracking and sticking by being rolled. Oil paint films take a very long time to dry depending on the pigments used. If the work has a linseed oil based medium, the lindseed oil will yellow out of the exposure to sunlight, so the colors will shift yellow.

Your best bet for the work is to clip it to a rigid substrate, such as cardboard or thin plywood and hang it on the wall. Use the rigid support to ship it flat, and mount it on a flat surface such as plywood or melamine for permanence. I prefer thin birch since it has no stain and a straight grain.

Don't try to stretch the work over a wood frame, the flexing will be bad for the paint film surface.

Protect it from extreme humidity and freezing if possible. I hope this information is helpful.
posted by effluvia at 5:38 PM on August 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the replies, guys, office clips it is! Learning the term 'bulldog clips' was a happy bonus. Cheers!
posted by charlemangy at 7:08 PM on August 26, 2013