The damaging effect of air pollution, paper degradation, sunlight, artificial lights and the acid by-products of the art’s own aging, can cause serious deterioration to art, prints, photographs and documents.

Whether your artwork or objects are sentimental family heirlooms, or have investment value, our conservation experts will use materials and techniques that will actively protect and extend the life and beauty of your possession.

Conservation framing involves experts applying specialised knowledge, materials and techniques to ensure that if the artwork is removed from the frame in the future, it will not show any evidence that it was framed, thereby preserving it’s long term value.

The three most important elements of conservation Framing are the mat board, the backing material and the glass.

Mat Boards
Matting is the border that surrounds your art within the frame. It is more than just a pretty colour; the purpose of matting is both protective and cosmetic.

In conservation terms, the main purpose of matting is to keep the cover/glass from coming into contact with the framed subject matter. Placing the glass directly against the artwork can result in buckles, wrinkles, mould formations, Newton’s rings (applicable to photographs) and adherence to the glass.

Using higher quality mat board is essential to protecting your artwork. Mat board that is not rated as conservation quality contains elements that will damage the artwork over time. These natural substances include acids, nitrogen dioxide and sulpher dioxide (found in the air we all breathe) and lignin. Through the aging process, which is intensified by sunlight and heat, the mat board burns or discolours the art that it surrounds.

"Acid free" is a term commonly flung around in the framing industry. Often it means a mat is used that is made of acidic materials such as wood pulp, that is buffered with calcium or magnesium carbonates to raise the mat's PH level so it can be delcared "acid free" at the point of manufacture. This is true however, over time the acids in the mat and the surrounding wood frames etc, cause the protection provided by the buffering material to decrease until eventually (within a few short years) the mat is no longer 'acid free". While these mats are certainly cheaper than mats that do not contain lignins and ground wood, the short term benifit of saving a few dollars, is far outweighed by the longer term benifit of not having to reframe the artwork or document in 5 -10 yers time to prevent possible damage to the item).

As our standard, mat boards used by gallery 360 are 100% alpha cellulose and completely acid and lignin-free.  All mounting of conservation artwork is carried out so it can be completely removable, to ensure no damage to your art.

Our mat boards goes beyond the basics of preservation to provide the highest level of archival protection available. It effectively shields against the pollutants and acid by-products that fade, discolor and damage artwork.

The mat boards uses at Gallery 360 are the same as those used in hundreds of leading galleies and museums including:

The Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC
Tate Gallery London, England
Victoria & Albert Museum London, England 
Whitney Museum of American Art New York, NY 
British National Library London, England
Bibliotheque Nationale Paris, France
National Monuments of Records Centre (RCHME) Swindon, England
National Museum of Film, Television & Photography Bradford,West Yorkshire
National Museum of Wales Cardiff,Wales
National Portrait Gallery London, England
National Postal Museum London, England
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, MA
Museum of Modern Art New York, NY
National Archives Washington, DC
National Archives of Canada Ottawa, Ontario
National Gallery of Art Washington, DC
National Library of Ireland Dublin, Ireland
  

glass and acrylic glazing 
Glass or clear acrylic serves as a barrier between the artwork and the outside elements such as dust, moisture, curious observers and ultraviolet (UV) light. The energy in UV light can cause paper embrittlement, colour deterioration, loss of brightness and other damage. This damage is both cumulative and irreversible.

The glazing should not interfere, but enhance your artwork.

Our conservation team will assist you in choosing the most appropriate glass for your artwork.

Regular clear glass used in every day picture framing will protect the artwork from dust and pollution, but will allow UV light and reflection to interfere with the art.

Conservation clear glass contains UV qualities that block 97% of damaging UV light, but does not have any anti reflection properties.

Choosing an anti-reflective conservation glass will allow approximately 97% light transmission into the artwork with less than 1% reflection with UV protection.

Museum quality glass blocks out 97% of UV light, whilst allowing 97% of light transmission to the art with less than 1% reflection. Museum quality glass is the ultimate option when framing with glass.

An alternative to glass is using clear acrylic. This is the option often used by museums and Public Galleries. Acrylic is lighter than glass when framing larger artworks, it does not break and has superior thermal qualities than glass. However it can scratch more easily than glass, so we weigh each option carefully before recommending a particular glazing for your item. Acrylic is also available in museum standard UV versions. Gallery 360 regularly uses this for travelling exhibitions. We have had our glazing independently tested for UV qualities.

Backing Material
Gallery 360 uses an inert backing material for all our conservation framing. It contains no wood pulp (a highly acidic substrate). It does not contain lignin. In addition, our framers use 100% cotton barrier paper between the artwork and the backing to ensure a 100% acid free environment for all conservation framing.

Where appropriate, we line our frames with an inert tape to prevent migration of the acids and lignins from the wood in the framing meterial, to the mats and artworks.

All items  used in conservation framing at Gallery 360 are completely removable, if your framing requirements change in the future. This ensures you will not receive any potential damage to your item through ill informed or inexperienced framing practices, such as glueing items and materials into place.

Visit Gallery 360 and our consultants will advise you on the most appropriate framing for your requirements.

View our restoration page for more information on this specialised service.