If for any reason you need to put away a work from your art collection, be aware that certain precautions are necessary to prevent the piece from suffering damage, especially if the intention is to keep it in storage for a long period. In this post, we share some tips on precautions when packing works of art.
Why bubble wrap is not a good idea
The first impulse of anyone facing this need is to wrap the entire piece in bubble wrap, but this is not good practice. The indiscriminate use of plastic can trap moisture against the work, creating risks such as mould growth, which we have discussed in another post.
Bespoke crate or soft packing?
Transport and storage over longer periods ideally require the construction of made-to-measure crates for each work: this is museum-standard packing, which keeps the piece stable and minimises the risk of damage during handling. But storage for short periods can also be handled with so-called soft packing, made with layers of cardboard, glassine paper and acrylic padding.
How to store: never on the floor, canvases upright
When putting pieces away, they should not rest directly on the floor. Canvases should be kept upright and not leaning against one another. Ideally, the whole process should be overseen by specialists to ensure that handling does not compromise the integrity of the works and, consequently, their value.
From a single piece to a whole collection
Even for short periods of time, Clé Chenue do Brasil offers storage solutions with quality, security and complete specialisation in works of art, with in-house logistics and conservation and cataloguing partners, to provide clients with complete solutions, whether to store a single piece for a short period of time or an entire collection in a private room.
See our storage solutions here and speak with a specialist.
Also check out the logistics solutions of Clé Chenue do Brasil, which maintains its own woodworking shop for building made-to-measure packing crates.
