Adriana García Gómez
Conservator and Restorer of Cultural Heritage
INTRODUCTION. Part 1
“Where can I place my painting? This is undoubtedly a great question that in most cases is accompanied by an answer that has been carefully thought out before buying, or even getting to know the work in question. There is currently a multitude of paintings on the art market, whose materials, techniques and characteristics vary completely from one another. This range of properties results in the appearance of a wide range of very different types of deterioration in the works. The conservation and exhibition of a contemporary work of art are closely linked and involve multiple challenges in terms of finding the ideal conditions for both purposes. Museums face this problem with great equipment and means at their disposal, but how can we exhibit our paintings properly with the resources we have available, and at the same time avoid exposing the work to unnecessary dangers? In this brief article, we will focus on the general care of oil paintings and other materials that must be taken into account when conserving and exhibiting them in a domestic environment.
GENERAL CONSERVATION TERMS
In order to address this issue, it is essential to understand that we can distinguish between two types of factors that affect the current state of the work. The first refers to intrinsic causes, derived from the nature of the work itself, such as the materials and the manufacture of the paint. In this line we cannot intervene to slow down or eliminate the degradation, it is necessary to call in a professional restorer in the field, so we will not go further into this case. We thus find the extrinsic factors that affect the work externally, and on which we can act, monitoring and modifying the conditions of the environment. This is how exposure acquires relevance, given that the site chosen for it can have a negative effect on the work.
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