Fine art, especially older works of art made with less enduring or already-worn materials, are vulnerable to their surrounding conditions. Two variables that greatly affect a piece's health are humidity and temperature. Here's a brief guide if you've ever wondered how temperature and humidity affect older pieces.
How the ambiance in art galleries affects fine art
According to a survey, museum visitors spend, on average, over two hours exploring and admiring paintings. But to ensure visitors are always coming back, museum curators must ensure the ambiance never changes. After all, an art gallery or a museum's atmosphere should elevate the collection's magnificence. Here's where temperature and humidity play a key role in ensuring that artworks and artifacts also stay comfortable. What we mean is that they should be constantly protected from the elements and maintained in an optimal environment for their conservation during their display, no matter how long.
Not for nothing, artists and curators are trained in the process of maintenance and upkeeping of the fine pieces with a great historical and cultural value;
according to the Canadian Conservation Institute, there are ten agents of deterioration when it comes to fine art: physical forces, vandalism and theft, water, fire, pests, lights, pollutants, dissociation, inadequate humidity and inadequate temperature.
While some of these can be easily prevented by physically protecting the gallery's objects, such as using protective barriers or shock-proof glass to keep visitors at bay, sudden temperature changes and humidity aren't that easy to keep under control.
Art objects: What are they made of?
Fine art pieces are made from a variety of substances. Most of these are organic, such as cotton, wool, linen, paper, silk, wool, parchment, feathers, leathers, bone, fur, ivory, and horn. As highly hygroscopic, these materials can absorb great quantities of moisture in a room. Too low or too high humidity can affect inorganic materials like glass or ceramic, let alone leather or paper. Reasons like these are why art galleries and museums should call for
water damage restoration services and invest in advanced data logs to keep humidity under control and to ensure there's no single damp area in the building that affects these pieces of art.
Effects of Temperature on Artwork
High temperature, whether it comes from inadequate temperature regulation or from proximity to automatic devices that produce heat, poses a great risk of damage to objects with a great historical value. Heat acts by removing the humidity from objects, making them more flammable, which is the main focal point for art pieces made of wood, canvas, or paper. Apart from this, increases in temperature can also wrap different materials, damaging glazes on sculptures and paintings, plastic, and photographs. But heat can also impact the protective encasings in which some art objects are stored; acrylic and plastic encasings can easily deform when exposed to heat. For instance, glass encasings may stand to higher temperatures, but they don't provide the necessary insulation to keep the heat at bay.
Different substances act differently when exposed to high temperatures. Some of the most "unstable materials" include cellulose and videotapes that become unusable. There are also acrylic paints that become yellow and foams that can melt in the presence of heat.
Effects of High Humidity on Artwork
A number of art galleries reduce the number of visitors when the weather is humid, and they have good reasons to do so. It's said that the crowded a place gets, the higher the humidity levels can be, particularly on a rainy day. High humidity impacts artworks in more than one way.
For example, too much humidity can make hygroscopic materials swell. It can also cause mold and mildew, encourage pests and cause fabrics to fade. Wood objects can warp when exposed to high humidity, while metal sculptures can easily rust or turn green or black, and this is a reason why galleries use dehumidifiers to keep humidity at a prime level.
Art objects can also contain acids and other chemicals that, when exposed to excessive humidity, can break down. High levels of moisture have also been linked with the grizzling and cracks on the surface of photographs.
When there's not enough humidity
Low humidity can also dry out and shrink art objects. For example, the veneer on wooden artwork can brittle and break when it dries out. Metal inlays, gesso, paint, oriental, European, or Japanese lacquer can get loose or detach. On the other hand, papyrus and paper are much harder to handle when they dry out.
Other materials that are susceptible to damage when exposed to low humidity are textile. For instance, hair or silk exhibits stretched across boards or frames can easily become brittle and break. Moist or dry conditions can also affect the mineral content in pottery, stone, and terracotta. The humidity affects the salt that's often brought to the surface. When dry, this salt crystallizes on the surface, causing flaking and powdering and giving the impression of stains.
Fluctuations in Humidity
Frequent fluctuations in humidity can also impact the hygroscopic materials causing them to swell and contract constantly. These fluctuations often stress the materials connecting fibers and gradually weaken them. A good example of the result of the contraction of the materials is the flaking of oil paintings.
Canvas paintings may be less vulnerable to different temperature variations, but it's very reactive to rapid changes. Long-term changes, on the other hand, don't affect as much canvas as quick humidity fluctuations do.
Ideal conditions
Because it's clear that different temperature and humidity fluctuations affect artwork significantly, it's important to understand ideal conditions for storage, transportation, and exhibition. Average humidity levels serve best between 25% and 65% at each stage, while the ideal temperature is difficult to pin down precisely, although insulated vans and cooler storage facilities that keep fine art out of the sunlight are the best for preserving artwork.
