 Mounting
The Art!
Before any art can be framed and matted the art has to be mounted to
a backing board. There are lots of ways right and wrong to mount works
of art. Let’s examine some of the methods used and discuss some of
their pros and cons.
Kinds of Mount Boards
The most logical place to start would be to talk about the board the
art is mounted upon.
The most popular mount board today is foam core board. There are a number
of manufacturers making this board and all of them are of good quality,
although there are some differences in the boards that only your custom
framer really needs to know. For example, it comes in many sizes and thickness.
What you need to know is that there are two kinds of foam core board.
One is just plain regular foam core board and the other is acid free foam
core board.
 Regular
foam core board is the most widely used as it is cheaper. Acid free costs
quite a bit more. Which kind do you think you see in department stores?
I mentioned once before about getting what you pay for! At Grignon’s
Art and Frame we use only Acid Free Foam Core board. This board quite
often comes into direct contact with the art and we want the art to last
as long as possible. Sometimes art is mounted to mat board for various
reasons. For example, maybe the depth of the frame is shallow, or the
art is too thick. At Grignon’s Art and Frame we always use museum
grade rag mat to mount these art works because that is the best mat board
available. This is a very archival way to mount works of art. Then
there are those that use cardboard. Cardboard is one of the most acidic
materials that could ever be used to mount a picture on. Cardboard should
never be used to mount works of art. Cardboard will burn though a print
in a short amount of time, completely ruining the art. I have seen lots
of cheaply framed department store art mounted this way. People have come
to us to have these pieces remounted and many times I have taken the art
out only to find the prints already burned around the edges and ruined.
Mounting The Art
After deciding on which board to mount pictures onto, the art must be
mounted. There are several ways to accomplish this task. Again, many of
the techniques used only your framer really needs to know, but there are
several things that customers should know. You need to know about Dry
Mounting, Conservation Mounting and Junk Mounting.
Dry Mounting
Simply put, dry mounting involves putting some form of glue on the back
of the artwork. Then, usually using either a vacuum press or a heat press,
the art is pressed and permanently glued to a mount board. This process
results in a wrinkle free picture that should never warp or buckle.
There are methods of dry mounting which do not require a press, but for
all practical purposes, the results are the same. Your art is permanently
mounted to the mount board.
Dry mounting is fine for artwork that has little or no value. It is used
a lot on posters. This process should never be used on limited edition
prints or other works of art with value because it seriously reduces the
value of the artwork. Collectors of fine art would never accept dry mounting
of their artwork. Dry mounting is quicker and cheaper than conservation
mounting.
Conservation Mounting
Conservation mounting is accomplished by hinging the work of art to an
acid free mount board using acid free hinging tape and hinges. Sometimes
acid free corners are used. There are also other ways of doing conservation
mounting. Conservation mounting is also called Museum Mounting. They are
one and the same.
Conservation mounting is used on works of art that are meant to be preserved
for as long as possible without doing any damage to the art. When a work
of art has been conservation mounted it is ALWAYS possible to remove the
art from its mounting surface. If an object cannot be removed from where
it has been mounted, it has not been conservation mounted.
Not only can art prints and photos be conservation mounted but also objects
in shadow boxes. At Grignon’s Art and Frame we have developed ways
to mount objects in shadow boxes so that the objects can be removed at
any time. At no time will the mounting process harm the art.Conservation
or museum mounting means mounting your art work on acid free backboards,
using only acid free materials to mount the work of art. Conservation
mounting means your artwork is always removable in the future.
Grignon’s Art and Frame uses conservation mounting on every piece
of art we mount. That includes all prints, posters, photographs and needlework.
We mount all objects in shadow boxes using these methods. We have developed
ways to mount arrowheads, baby shoes, cross-stitch, guns, and anything
else using conservation methods. We feel that anything that deserves custom
framing deserves the use of these methods. Conservation framing is not
a frivolous expense if you value the art that is being framed.
Junk Mounting
Junk mounting is a phase I’ve coined up for some of the quick cheap
ways to mount works of art that I’ve seen and come across over the
years. I’ve already described mounting art on cardboard. That is
one type of junk mounting. Another is using masking tape to hold works
of art on anything. Masking tape is full of acid, which discolors and
ruins your art very quickly. For this purpose it is completely "junk".
Those that use masking tape for this purpose are not professionals. There
are other tapes that are almost as bad, such as many brands of clear tape.
Nothing should ever be mounted using anything other than pure "certified
acid free mounting tape, and/or other acid free products". Anything
else is junk.
Another way to quickly ruin art is to mount it using double sided Adhesive
Transfer Tape known as "ATG" Tape. I’ve seen framers in
frame it quick shops mount artwork by slapping on several strips of ATG
tape and pressing the artwork down upon it. This ruins the art. Not only
is the art permanently glued to the board, but also the artwork doesn’t
have a chance to breathe and flex due to changes in temperature and humidity.
Because the art hasn’t been mounted correctly, the artwork usually
bends and buckles over time. I’m certain you’ve seen art mounted
like this. Another problem I’ve witnessed over and over, is the method
of running a bead of ATG tape RIGHT OVER THE TOP OF THE ART, and then
pressing the mat board right onto the art. What a waste. I have to rate
this as the number one worst way to ruin someone’s art. This is being
done by many of the poster frame shops that sell art cheaply, usually
using plastic frames and Plexiglas.
Customers have brought us many such pieces to reframe and it is almost
impossible because the art has been ruined. It is a shame to say that
some people have been trained to mount art this way in order to speed
up production. I cannot condone such practices. It is totally unfair to
the customer.When buying a piece of art for resale, or to put in your
home or office, it will be unknown to you how the art was mounted. Did
the framer use acid free mount boards? Did he use conservation materials
and techniques? Are the mats rag mats? It can be difficult to tell just
by looking at the picture. You should never buy any art work without asking
these questions. At Grignon's Art and Frame you can always be assured
that we use only conservation materials and techniques at all times on
all art on the art we sell on this site.
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