Paper Buckling (Cont'd)   

Buckling is a serious conservation problem in several specific situations. Sometimes a general, "washboard" buckling takes place in a piece of art. Such an "all-out, all-over" attack may indicate drastic fluctuation in relative humidity and is often seen in prints hung in houses built near the sea. Such severe buckling should be regarded as a sign that humidity levels are unsafe, that mold growth may well occur as a result, and that appropriate measures need to be taken. Buckling is especially dangerous when it warps the paper to such a degree that the art comes into contact with the glass of its frame. Condensation easily occurs when that happens. Friable media are particularly threatened by extreme buckling. A layer of pigment must move if its support moves; a brittle pigment layer - pastel, desiccated tempera paint, or gouache - often flakes.

Localized buckling of paper
Localized buckling is the distortion of a sheet of paper in one particular area, as opposed to the overall buckling described above. Usually, localized buckling is caused by improper mounting of the print or drawing.

When a work of art is properly hinged into a mat, it is free to move with climatic changes. While it can exhibit severe overall buckling with fluctuations in humidity, under normal conditions no undue tension will be exerted by its hinges.

Prints and drawings are often improperly mounted to paper or cardboard for framing, and the mount used may bear no relation to the artwork, either aesthetically or historically. In some instances, however, artists have mounted their works to secondary supports that they have dated, marked with a title, decorated, or signed. Mounts so treated by the artist should never be taped, marked, trimmed, or otherwise altered. The same rule applies to mounts carrying information intimately related to the artwork - for example, the decorative mounts of eighteenth-century collectors, such as Pierre-Jean Mariette, which carry the collector's stamp or seal. Original or period mounts demand careful consideration before they are overzealously disposed of. Localized buckling can also result from the constrictions of a label, tape, hinge, or an old repair that restricts the natural movement of the paper of a print or drawing. The paper simply expands and contracts around the substance that impedes it. Start