Glazing & Conservation at the VanArtHub gallery in Vancouver

Glazing & conservation

The part of framing that decides how long the painting lasts

Glass, acrylic, mats, and backing. The part of framing that decides whether a painting still looks right in thirty years. This is the hub our own framing standards come from.

Nobody ever regrets the glazing they paid for

This is the hub that matters most and the one people skip. Frame style is a matter of taste and you can change your mind about it later. Glazing and backing are not: they decide whether the colour is still there in thirty years, and the damage they prevent is the kind that does not reverse.

It is also where the money is most often saved in the wrong place. A beautiful hand-finished moulding around a sheet of ordinary glass and a piece of cardboard is a painting that fades from the front and stains from the back.

UV blocked Light reflected Standard clear glass 45% UV blocked 8% reflected Cheapest. Fine for a poster.UV / conservation clear 99% UV blocked 8% reflected The default for anything original.Anti-reflective (no UV) 45% UV blocked under 1% reflected Clear view; pigment unprotected.Museum grade 99% UV blocked under 1% reflected What we use on works on paper.
Four categories of glazing compared on the two properties that differ between them. UV blocking is what preserves the pigment. Reflection is what decides whether you can see the painting at all in a bright room. Figures are the published ranges for each category, not a measurement of one product.

Every guide in this hub

Glazing & Conservation

Protecting art

Materials

By medium

Our craft

Common questions

Questions about glazing and conservation

Is UV glazing worth the extra?

On anything on paper, yes, every time. It is the single cheapest thing you can do to keep a work looking the way it does now. On an oil on canvas that is not going behind glass at all, the question does not arise.

Does UV glazing stop fading completely?

No. It stops most of the ultraviolet, which is the most damaging part, but visible light also fades pigment slowly. Glazing buys you a lot of time; it does not make a wall opposite a south-facing window a good idea.

Glass or acrylic?

Glass for most pieces hanging at home. Acrylic when the piece is large, when it is going somewhere a knock is likely, or when it has to be shipped, because acrylic is far lighter and does not shatter. It scratches more easily and builds static, so it is wrong for pastel and charcoal.

Why does my old frame have a brown line around the edge of the picture?

That is acid burn from the mat or the backing board. Ordinary card contains lignin, which turns acidic as it ages and stains whatever it touches. It cannot be reversed, only stopped, and stopping it means reframing with acid-free materials.

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Framed by us

Rather just ask someone who does this every day?

We frame original paintings in-house, at our gallery on Davie Street. Send the measurements and a photograph and we will tell you what the piece needs, including when the answer is that it needs nothing.

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