Mounting The Art!
Before any art can be framed and matted the art has to
be mounted to a backing board. There are lots of ways right and wrong
to mount works of art. Let’s examine some of the methods used and
discuss some of their pros and cons.
Kinds of Mount Boards
The most logical place to start would be to talk about
the board the art is mounted upon. The most popular mount board today
is foam core board. There are a number of manufacturers making this
board and all of them are of good quality, although there are some differences
in the boards that only your custom framer really needs to know. For
example, it comes in many sizes and thickness. What you need to know
is that there are two kinds of foam core board. One is just plain regular
foam core board and the other is acid free foam core board.
Regular
foam core board is the most widely used as it is cheaper. Acid free
costs quite a bit more. Which kind do you think you see in department
stores? I mentioned once before about getting what you pay for! At Grignon’s
Art and Frame we use only Acid Free Foam Core board. This board quite
often comes into direct contact with the art and we want the art to
last as long as possible. Sometimes art is mounted to mat board for
various reasons. For example, maybe the depth of the frame is shallow,
or the art is too thick. At Grignon’s Art and Frame we always use
museum grade rag mat to mount these art works because that is the best
mat board available. This is a very archival way to mount works of art. Then
there are those that use cardboard. Cardboard is one of the most acidic
materials that could ever be used to mount a picture on. Cardboard should
never be used to mount works of art. Cardboard will burn though a print
in a short amount of time, completely ruining the art. I have seen lots
of cheaply framed department store art mounted this way. People have
come to us to have these pieces remounted and many times I have taken
the art out only to find the prints already burned around the edges
and ruined.
Mounting The Art
After deciding on which board to mount pictures onto,
the art must be mounted. There are several ways to accomplish this task.
Again, many of the techniques used only your framer really needs to
know, but there are several things that customers should know. You need
to know about Dry Mounting, Conservation Mounting and Junk Mounting.
Dry Mounting
Simply put, dry mounting involves putting some form of
glue on the back of the artwork. Then, usually using either a vacuum
press or a heat press, the art is pressed and permanently glued to a
mount board. This process results in a wrinkle free picture that should
never warp or buckle.
There are methods of dry mounting which do not require
a press, but for all practical purposes, the results are the same. Your
art is permanently mounted to the mount board. Dry mounting is fine
for artwork that has little or no value. It is used a lot on posters.
This process should never be used on limited edition prints or other
works of art with value because it seriously reduces the value of the
artwork. Collectors of fine art would never accept dry mounting of their
artwork. Dry mounting is quicker and cheaper than conservation mounting.
Conservation Mounting
Conservation mounting is accomplished by hinging the work
of art to an acid free mount board using acid free hinging tape and
hinges. Sometimes acid free corners are used. There are also other ways
of doing conservation mounting. Conservation mounting is also called
Museum Mounting. They are one and the same.
Conservation mounting is used on works of art that are
meant to be preserved for as long as possible without doing any damage
to the art. When a work of art has been conservation mounted it is ALWAYS
possible to remove the art from its mounting surface. If an object cannot
be removed from where it has been mounted, it has not been conservation
mounted.
Not only can art prints and photos be conservation mounted
but also objects in shadow boxes. At Grignon’s Art and Frame we
have developed ways to mount objects in shadow boxes so that the objects
can be removed at any time. At no time will the mounting process harm
the art.Conservation or museum mounting means mounting your art work
on acid free backboards, using only acid free materials to mount the
work of art. Conservation mounting means your artwork is always removable
in the future.
Grignon’s Art and Frame uses conservation mounting
on every piece of art we mount. That includes all prints, posters, photographs
and needlework. We mount all objects in shadow boxes using these methods.
We have developed ways to mount arrowheads, baby shoes, cross-stitch,
guns, and anything else using conservation methods. We feel that anything
that deserves custom framing deserves the use of these methods. Conservation
framing is not a frivolous expense if you value the art that is being
framed.
Junk Mounting
Junk mounting is a phase I’ve coined up for some
of the quick cheap ways to mount works of art that I’ve seen and
come across over the years. I’ve already described mounting art
on cardboard. That is one type of junk mounting. Another is using masking
tape to hold works of art on anything. Masking tape is full of acid,
which discolors and ruins your art very quickly. For this purpose it
is completely "junk". Those that use masking tape for this
purpose are not professionals. There are other tapes that are almost
as bad, such as many brands of clear tape. Nothing should ever be mounted
using anything other than pure "certified acid free mounting tape,
and/or other acid free products". Anything else is junk.
Another way to quickly ruin art is to mount it using double
sided Adhesive Transfer Tape known as "ATG" Tape. I’ve
seen framers in frame it quick shops mount artwork by slapping on several
strips of ATG tape and pressing the artwork down upon it. This ruins
the art. Not only is the art permanently glued to the board, but also
the artwork doesn’t have a chance to breathe and flex due to changes
in temperature and humidity. Because the art hasn’t been mounted
correctly, the artwork usually bends and buckles over time. I’m
certain you’ve seen art mounted like this. Another problem I’ve
witnessed over and over, is the method of running a bead of ATG tape
RIGHT OVER THE TOP OF THE ART, and then pressing the mat board right
onto the art. What a waste. I have to rate this as the number one worst
way to ruin someone’s art. This is being done by many of the poster
frame shops that sell art cheaply, usually using plastic frames and
Plexiglas.
Customers have brought us many such pieces to reframe
and it is almost impossible because the art has been ruined. It is a
shame to say that some people have been trained to mount art this way
in order to speed up production. I cannot condone such practices. It
is totally unfair to the customer.When buying a piece of art for resale,
or to put in your home or office, it will be unknown to you how the
art was mounted. Did the framer use acid free mount boards? Did he use
conservation materials and techniques? Are the mats rag mats? It can
be difficult to tell just by looking at the picture. You should never
buy any art work without asking these questions. At Grignon's Art and
Frame you can always be assured that we use only conservation materials
and techniques at all times on all art on the art we sell on this site.
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