Choosing the correct place

It is not easy to display a lot of fine pictures in a home. Trying to obtain balance whilst keeping them in a good condition Whether they are lithographs, prints or paintings.

Here are my tips :

1. Sunlight is by far the worst of all, pictures will fade in just one season. Letting a picture receive direct sunlight for more than an hour per week is already too much. If left for too long the browns and weaker colours will start to become purple.

2. Draughts are another damaging aspect. Draughts are fine as an entity but they bring with them a certain amount of moisture, so if a draught is reaching a picture then it may be getting damp, and dust. Which is not good.

3. If you look at really old prints or books you shall occasionally notice grey black circular spots on them. This is microbial, a sort of disease. It is caused by moisture, and cant be reversed.

4. Pictures that have been exposed to all the above conditions shall develop bubbles or "crinkling", this is caused by the dampening of a print, followed by the drying out of it. Paper, like buildings shall change shape seasonally. But if you are not careful you can create those seasons within one week in a single room.

5. Never get an "airtight" frame in the hope that you have beat the problem, you will just create a "double glazing" atmosphere, moisture will be attracted to the inside of the frame. This is due to temperature differentials in the room.