Home Forums The Learning Center Studio Tips and Framing packing a pastel for an auction

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  • #459082
    bvanevery
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        My Mom is going to donate a work by the late Elsie Popkins to a charity auction. It is a pastel on paper, framed and under glass. The work is 38″ x 23″ x 1.5″. It is insured for $5000.

        I’m trying to come up with a way to pack it appropriately for the auction. There is going to be a contractual “handoff” where if they damage it without selling it, they have to pay. We can expect competence out of most people involved with the auction, as it’s being run by a local artist’s guild, but there’s always the fear that some volunteer might show up that doesn’t exactly know what they’re doing. So I’m trying to come up with a storage scheme that’s fairly bulletproof. My Mom has also advised, it needs to be simple enough that people handling the work at auction, aren’t going to be fluxommed and incapable of repacking it.

        I learned a lot about museum conservation issues last fall and I have some ideas about what I should and should not be doing. I do understand thermal and humidity buffering, the issue of condensation with papers under glass, and the need to prevent shocks, pokes, or vibrations to the work. I thought I’d anyone if yes you already have an approach that you know works. Cost-effective and practical approaches would be nice. In particular, this does not have to be “nicely dressed” for a buyer. However it does have to be practical for auctioneers who are unpacking and repacking it.

        #659612
        contumacious
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            Are you shipping it or hand delivering to the auction?

            #659609
            bvanevery
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                Hand delivering. My strategy as of this evening is to buy 10 lbs. of Uhaul’s acid-free packing paper. That will be the inner layer of protection, serving as a humidity buffer. Then EPS from Home Depot on the outside as thermal insulation and anti-poking. All inside a large cardboard box.

                #659613
                contumacious
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                    That sounds like a good combination to me. Just make sure they keep it laying flat, face up unless it is actually hanging on the wall to avoid getting pastel dust on the glass.

                    #659610
                    bvanevery
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                        Good point. I’ll put some kind of note in big bold letters on the front.

                        #659611
                        bvanevery
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                            I built a large hinged box out of old cardboard and 0.5″ XPS insulation I bought from Home Depot. The final dimensions are 41.5″ x 28.5″ x 9″. That is to contain a 38″ x 23″ x 1.5″ pastel. I spent $30 acquiring materials off the shelf at retail. I have stuff left over, so probably $20 went into the box and the paper to pack it with. The number of labor hours was ridiculous, this may have been an 8 hour project. It will get the work through the auction, and my Mom is grateful. But if this were part of an art business, there’s no way I could make a profit doing that much labor. I’d have to find a supply for some or all of this. At least now I know a lot about making boxes and the fully loaded labor costs of packing.

                            The Uhaul website claimed the packing paper I bought was acid free, but the box it came in made no such claim. As this artwork is only going to be stored for several weeks, I’ve declined to worry about it. If it was going to be long term storage I’d be more careful, probably also about the packing tape I used too. Short term, the big problem is humidity buffering and paper will help with that.

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