Backing for Oil Painting on Board

Get help and framing advice from the framing community
Post Reply
mbaister
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun 14 Jan, 2018 10:44 am
Location: Glasgow
Organisation: Martin Baister
Interests: oil painting, photography, framing

Backing for Oil Painting on Board

Post by mbaister »

Question about backing board....I have a painting done on board, it will be framed with glass, a double mount and held in place with a foam core window. What I am unsure about is the backing. Is is OK to seal this in with tawney board and tape, making it air tight, or does the back of the painting need to be exposed to let it 'breath'. Would backing board with holes pierced to allow air in achieve this, if even necessary?

Its got a bit of value and is quite thick paint, so want to make sure it not going to damage anything long term.

Photos attached (hopefully). Any pointers greatly appreciated!

Martin.
Attachments
board with mount
board with mount
board with foam window
board with foam window
board with mount and frame
board with mount and frame
painting itself
painting itself
Abacus
Posts: 673
Joined: Mon 29 Nov, 2010 12:20 pm
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Organisation: Abacus Picture Framing and Gallery
Interests: Picture Framing, Furniture making.

Re: Backing for Oil Painting on Board

Post by Abacus »

No need for holes. This won’t breath. Usual barrier board and backing will be fine.
Not your average framer
Posts: 11013
Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
Location: Devon, U.K.
Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
Location: Glorious Devon

Re: Backing for Oil Painting on Board

Post by Not your average framer »

I have seen oil paintings which have been framed behind glass and sometimes they outgass and leave a misty image on the glass, but not always. In victorian and edwardian times, there was often a deeply coved slip which kept the painting well clear of the glass and generally this solved much of the problem. I have never particularly thought that air circulation and ventilation makes a great deal of difference, but I strongly suspect that a good degree of distance and air volume between the painting and the glass can be quite effective in reducing this problem.

If the inside of the space within the frame is not subject to air currents, I suspect that any out gassing will tend to remain closer to the oil painting than the glass. Also considering how small the volume produced by out gassing, not only will the large volume of air considerably reduce the concentration of any out gassing products, but it also adds to the area within the increased internal surface area, thereby allowing any ot gassed produces additional surfaces to settle on and as a consequence reducing the potential for any deposits settling of the glass as much of the out gassing products have already settled elswhere.

If you are concerned about reducing any potential for out gassing on to the glass, consider adding a fairly deep slip. This seems to have been a popular thing to do in bygone years, but at the end of the day it is very difficult to prove whether this works, or not. So take your pick!
Mark Lacey

“Life is short. Art long. Opportunity is fleeting. Experience treacherous. Judgement difficult.”
― Geoffrey Chaucer
User avatar
prospero
Posts: 11492
Joined: Tue 05 Jun, 2007 4:16 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: Backing for Oil Painting on Board

Post by prospero »

This is a contentious subject. Some folks will tell you an oil painting needs to 'breathe'. Some people sat it's a myth. :roll:

You can seal the back in with tape in the time-honoured way. It won't be airtight as you say. To achieve this you have to go to
quite extreme lengths.

One thing I will point out though.... Oil paint does not 'dry' by evaporation. It cures and hardens by chemical reaction with the air.
It will keep doing this for years (decades?). The way it does this depends on the thickness of the paint and the way it was applied.
Restricting the airflow will affect this. How long has the painting been done? There is also the factor of how the artist mixed the paint.

I usually frame oil paintings with no glass. To me, using glass is akin to chewing a toffee with the paper on. :lol: Many people will
present arguments for and against and they are all right one way or another. :lol:
Watch Out. There's A Humphrey About
mbaister
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun 14 Jan, 2018 10:44 am
Location: Glasgow
Organisation: Martin Baister
Interests: oil painting, photography, framing

Re: Backing for Oil Painting on Board

Post by mbaister »

Thanks to all of you! Really helpful. Its pretty thick oil paint, I guess kind of impasto. The client specifically asked for the mount, hence the glass, I would generally try to do them without as well. To be honest, I think they were more concerned making the thing as large as possible. with the double mount I've got between 1mm-4mm between glass and paint. It was glass in the old frame, with the linen slip giving it a little more clearance.
Post Reply