Drawings Under Glass

I was recently on a gallery website on their "About Us" page. They state that they have "paintings and works of art." I emailed them to ask if the "works of art" included works on paper.

They promptly replied, which I really appreciated, and said they have not had much success with works of art that need to be framed under glass--"people don't like the reflections which make it hard to see the art."

There is no reason, today, for anyone to settle for reflective glass on any work of art. In fact, if it is art that is valued at all, it should be framed protectively. That is, it should be framed under glass that will keep the art from fading. Standard glass (clear or non-glare) offers no protection.

Conservation clear and coonservation non-glare and "museum" glass offer different levels of protection. Conservation clear and non-glare glasses have a clear coating on one side that filters 97% of the ultraviolet light from fading your artwork. Museum glass has a second layer that increases light transmission through the glass. This makes the glass almost invisible as there is less reflection for the eye to see.

It is important to use conservation or museum glass when there is a lot of sunlight or even flourescent lighting in the room. It is NOT 100% effective however. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, you should never hang artwork on a wall that receives direct sunlight. It WILL fade the colors over time, the conservation glass will only slow the fading.

Conservation and museum glass is more expensive than standard glass. When you purchase a work of art, you place value on it above and beyond what you actually pay for it. You should do everything you can to preserve and extend the life of that work of art.

My hope is that anyone working in or running an art gallery would be aware of the greatly improved conservation glass available for framing today over the glass of previous years which was hazy and distorted the artwork.