Choosing a framer for a watercolour or valuable print?
A limited edition print is a print of an original painting which the artist or publisher want to make available to a wider public by printing 'just a few' copies so as to keep some rarity value.
To be of any value it will have to be by a very good or popular artist and the number of prints should be low. Lower than a thousand in my view. They are signed and numbered by the artist in pencil at the bottom of the print – something like 12/64 which means you have print number 12 out of a total run of 64.
Remember that very few prints actually rocket up in value, if you want that then buy an original by a good collected artist. Also since the word 'investment’ may come up in conversation the value of prints may go up or down.
Conservation Quality
The Conservation Register is a Professional Body consisting of members who are charged with looking after our historical artefacts. To architectural historians something as mundane as a 1950’s public toilet may well need preserving if it’s a good example of public architecture. Then there is the preserving of artworks of no financial value – but of intrinsic value. And lastly there is something of purely personal and sentimental value. Example? I’m a family historian and I would pay hundreds of £’s for a photo of my wife’s grandfather.
The Conservation Register's website is independent and accurate. It shows you exactly how and with what a picture should be framed if it's going to last. You can view the page here
I've put these two together because the price of a top end Limited Edition Print and a 'local artist' watercolour could have similar price tags on them.
Since you've paid a £100 or so plus for the pictures which means you'll probably want to display them somewhere prominent in your home, I suggest you try and compare the cost of framing them to something equally as important to you, like, oh I don't know - say a TV or coffee table? As I say, I've put them together but they'll need slightly different treatment.
Prints
Most Framers will 'dry mount' or 'cold press' a print to a mount so it's nice and flat and looks good under a 'Window Mount' or two. Generally speaking that's OK but you might not want to do it to a really important print.
What's a 'really important print'? Good question. Put the onus on to the Picture Framer to advise you. Tell him or her the price you paid, and the importance it has to you and ask if it should be framed in a 'reversible way' and that you would like it to remain in it's current condition and not rot away in the frame.
Ask the framer about the quality of mountboard being used - and they may say 'acid free' (which is totally meaningless) or 'Archival' which means something to an archivist I suppose, or 'Conservation Quality' which does actually mean something as long as that's what you are really getting. See my notes on the right.
Watercolours
Your original watercolour will probably not be entirely flat when you get it as a piece of paper. There is a bit that can be done to limit this cockling but it's the nature of the beast. Wet paint on dry paper = cockles. It's actually OK to have a bit of a cockle - it shows that it's an original. So framers should not drymount your watercolour to flatten it. They will hinge it between a bottom mount and a window mount.
Really want to know the details? Click HERE.
Framed By The Artist
Sometimes watercolours are sold ready mounted by the Artist. A fair number of artists will slave over their opus for days, weeks, and months and then frame it as cheaply as they can. I don't know why this is, but believe me it's true! So ask A FRAMER to remount and frame it. A framer will be much better at presenting art to bring out the best in it.
© 2008 Stephen Todd
