If you have a fine art collection that you no longer have any room for in the house, you might be looking at various storage options. But you should know that storing fine art comes with some specific requirements if you actually want to preserve the appearance and financial value of the art. To that end, here are some tips to keep in mind that will help ensure you make the right decisions to preserve your collection.
Temperature is Everything
The very first thing you should do when selecting a facility or company to help you store your art is to make sure that temperature control is available. If store your art somewhere where it will get too hot or too cold, you will ruin your collection with warping and cracks. Always inquire about climate control when talking to any company that offers fine art storage services.
Be Careful When Wrapping If the Artwork is New
If you have just recently added some pieces to your collection but now need to put them into storage, you should be very careful about wrapping the art if there is paint involved. If the paint is latex based, it will fully cure within a matter of weeks, so you'll likely be fine. But if the paint is oil-based, it could take up to a year to fully cure, even if it looks fine on the surface. (Curing is the process in which the paint solvent fully evaporates. This will ensure that the paint will not spread onto other objects if something is pressed against it.) If you are indeed storing oil-based artwork, make sure you let the fine art storage company know so they can take appropriate measures.
Keep It Off the Ground
Finally, try to avoid leaning your art against a wall or setting it on the floor. You want air to be able to circulate around the art if at all possible, so consider installing a shelf or two within the storage facility if possible. Artwork should also always be stored in a vertical fashion so that other pieces inside the facility have less of a chance of landing square on top of it if something goes wrong.
If you want to ensure your artwork maintains its look and value while in storage, contact a fine art storage services team, like those at LA Fine Arts & Wine Storage, today. You'll ideally want to find a service that offers climate control and has the expertise to wrap your art with care to protect it for the long term.
