What is Historical Framing?
What Visard considers historical framing is any framing, matting, or contextual ephemera connected to the artwork when acquired by Visard. We categorized historical framing internally in three distinct categories.
1. Decorative Historical Framing: This is framing that is inherited and strictly decorative. It does not contain any markings, insight, or historical context academically valuable to the work.
2. Contextual Historical Framing: This is framing that is inherited that provides context or insight into the work. This can be framer’s markings that help track provenance, artistic notes, or signatures.
3. Ephemeral Historical Framing: This is framing that is inherited with added materials. These can be invoices, original price tags, or other materials that document the work’s history.
What do we do with Historical Framing?
Historical framing at best is a protective layer for shipping art all over the world, at worst it is actively damaging work and should be removed. What we see commonly is that the work is neither helped nor harmed by historical framing but does not present the work in its best light. When making the decision on what to do with historical framing, we lean on our Historical Framing Policy and Patina and Non-Interference Policy. When acquiring work through Visard, you can expect it to come one of three ways.
1. Without Historical Framing: We decided to remove historical framing or matting because it was decorative or actively harming the work and did not have historical significance.
2. With Historical Framing: We decided to keep historical framing because it was not actively damaging the work and serves as protection during shipping or has important contextual or ephemeral significance.
3. Historical Framing with caution: We decided to keep historical framing because it has important contextual or ephemeral significance but may cause long-term damage to the work.
Historical Framing with damaging materials
Archival materials for framing and matting were not widely available to consumers until the early 1980s. Because of this, we treat any historical framing done before 1990 as potentially hazardous to art. When we receive historical framing that meets these criteria our first goal is to stabilize the work and prevent further damage. Once stabilized, the work will be returned to its historical materials and shipped to the collector upon acquisition. This is an important step in maintaining the work’s history. In cases where the historical context’s removal cannot be returned to its original state, Visard will leave the work as is.
Our framing recommendations
We recommend our collectors reframe their work with archival materials upon receipt with rare exception. This is the best way to ensure their investment is protected and is presented in a way that uplifts the artwork. The rare exception is when the framing materials contain important historical context. In these cases, we recommend collectors preserve as much as possible and store historical context materials for the future. If a collector wishes to dispose of such materials, we recommend informing Visard, so we can document the change in the work’s history.
Historical documentation
Visard’s mission is to recontextualize artwork and document its history so the story can continue for generations to come. Part of that work is documenting the historical materials once acquired. If historical materials need to be removed, Visard documents this and maintains a record of the work’s transformation over time.
Archival does not always mean archival
Sometimes we receive historical framing that claims to be archival through framer’s marks. Perhaps framing met the archival standard when it was originally framed, but this no longer qualifies under current archival methods. This is especially true when dust covers are removed. We often find artwork being backed with acidic cardboard, damaging adhesives, or rusting nails. This is why we recommend reframing. Often, what appears to be protecting the work is secretly hiding materials that may harm the work over time.
The sun is poison
In addition to archival framing, we recommend museum glass or acrylic to protect art from UV rays. We also recommend keeping artwork out of direct light if possible if UV protection is not above 90%. For small to medium works, museum glass is optimal. For large works, museum acrylic is recommend due to the damage possibility for large sheets of glass. For sensitive works like pastel, we recommend anti-static acrylic if acrylic is needed but glass is preferred. These are our broad recommendations, but speak to your archival framer for your artwork’s unique needs.
Stewardship is key
We at Visard believe stewardship is most important when investing in art. Collectors become the expert and caretaker of a history that needs to be preserved, shared, and maintained. By following the guidance and treating artwork with care, it will not only maintain its value, but maintain its rich and rewarding context and history. "