artwork/glass

[red]

Is it bad practice for artwork to touch the glass in the frame? I'm asking
because as I mooch about charity shops I see lots of professionally framed
work with artwork against the glass. surely it is bad practice?
are there situations where it is acceptable?

[prospero]

There will be lots of folks who will tell you that they have stuff that is framed touching the glass
and there is nothing wrong with it thank you very much. That may well be true but the fact is they
have been lucky.

The practice is bad for two main reasons:

If the framed item is paper then the perimeter will be crimped tight and will not allow movement. In
a stable environment it may never contract/expand. But if it ever gets moved to a place with more extremes
of temperature/humidity, however briefly, all sorts of bad things will happen. It will go wavy.

Moisture can condense on the inside of the glass. This migrates to the paper. This can make the colours
run and leave 'tidemarks'. Mold even. Photos or things like acrylics can stick to the glass.

In general terms the art will suffer.

Now all these things can still happen if the glass is spaced but the art is safer and stands a fighting chance of
being unaffected. It's like saying you have been driving without a seat belt for forty years and never had an accident.
Fair do's, but if you did have an accident with no seat belt you are likely to end up with a bent head.

[red]

agree with you totally,Ive had to undo many a photo at home which has stuck to the glass
only when I became interested in framing did I notice the problems,
I recently went to hang a dozen or so prints for a friend these
were framed by a professional framer- the prints were all touching the glass!
maybe if the artwork has no real value then maybe ok?

[Steve N]

Sorry but I don't anal about it any more, when work that is already framed and the artwork/photo is touching the glass, been doing this far to long , a lot of the stuff you may see in charity shops could be framed by contract framers, using cheap poster/prints no real value, it's just wall decoration. Framed pictures you see framed in pubs /hotels , much the same story, when it come to friends and relatives, well you don't know whole story, what was said at the frame shop, if the framers advised against it, or they wanted framed as chip as chips. We get it in our shop, normally with opening words of " want to frame this in a simple way" but meaning "Cheap" I ask if it of any value , if so advise to use a mount or spacers, or if it's a shiny photo / poster, give the same advise, if the customer turns down the advise, then pop a not in the back of the frame saying so, and frame it the way they want - Simple - and don't lose any sleep over it

[JohnMcafee]

Same here.
We would always recommend a mount and explain why, but totally understand if the customer is not up for the additional expense.