Running out of wall space!

[JasonLambert]

So as the kids get older I find my walls being covered with images of them. I have 22 canvases in the house and can't find a space to put any more. With paper products, I just keep the older images behind the newer ones but you can't do that with 1.5" thick canvases... So what do you do with them? Any storage tips? Is a plastic garbage bag tossed into a closet okay, or should they be wrapped in paper first? I have a lot of money invested in these and would like to be able to display them off and on through the years, so I want to keep them the best looking as I can.

Thanks,
~Jason

 

[KmH]

It's going to depend on how the print was put on the canvas, the pH stability of the canvas, and what material the canvas is attached to.

Wood stretcher bars are quite common. Wood is acidic, and not good for long term life of a canvas or a paper print in a wood frame.

Canvas prints are made 3 ways:

1. A chromogenic print has the emulsion layer separated from the paper it was origianlly on and the emulsion is placed on the canvas. Archival quality will depend on the pH of the canvas and coatings, if any, applied on top of the emulsion.
2. The print is sprayed onto the canvas by a high quality inkjet printer using either pigment-based or dye-based inks, and is called a Giclée. Pigment-based inks are archival, most dye-based inks aren't.
3. The inkjet printer is not a high quality machine, the cheapest canvas and inks available are used, and the end product is far from archival quality.

Which type are yours?

You would want to use plastic bags specifically made for photographs/art (they don't outgas like garbage bags can).