Fine Art Painting dilemma

[hpeer]

My Wife owns a couple of fine art oil paintings. These were passed to her for her parents so they have some emotional and sentimental value as well as some moderate monetary value. The big one is close to 2 feet by 4 feet. There are to somewhat smaller.

The dilemma is that we don't want to be rid of them, nor do we have anyone who can take them.

We are trying to figure out a way to keep them. They need some degree of environmental control.

Any ideas?

PS As I type my Wife found a site online selling reproductions of one painting. I wonder how that works?

[Paul L]

If you check with a moving and storage company they offer forklift sized boxes that are stored in climate controlled spaces. The monthly costs are much less than the U-store places you see around town.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by hpeer

My Wife owns a couple of fine art oil paintings. These were passed to her for her parents so they have some emotional and sentimental value as well as some moderate monetary value. The big one is close to 2 feet by 4 feet. There are to somewhat smaller.

The dilemma is that we don't want to be rid of them, nor do we have anyone who can take them.

We are trying to figure out a way to keep them. They need some degree of environmental control.

Any ideas?

PS As I type my Wife found a site online selling reproductions of one painting. I wonder how that works?

I would check the actual value of the painting that is being reproduced. If near NY I'd go to someone like Sotheby’s. Don't trust a local small time art dealer. If it is being reproduced it could be more valuable than you think. Is your pauting an original oil or is it lithograph? If a lithograph there could easily be copies. If an original oil again it could be worth more than you think. IMHO

[CSY Man]

Name of artist?
(Important)
Duh

[Snore]

Are they of such caliber you could lend them to a museum?

May be some tax advantages to this also.


Sent from my iPhone- please forgive autocorrect errors.

[Delancey]

We have an oil painting onboard that I love which I have screwed to a bulkhead. If you enjoy them and have the space perhaps consider keeping them?

Keep in mid that "oil paint" is sort of the original polymerized paint and has been selected as the medium of choice for fine art painting over hundreds of years because of it's inherent durability.

Oil paint typically consists of pigments ground into suspension in linseed oil, which is a naturally drying oil. There are others such as walnut and poppyseed but over time linseed oil has proven itself the best.

So much so that it was the base for paints and varnishes used to protect boats for many years prior to the advent of modern chemistry and continues to find use by itself as a popularwood finish even today.

Oil paintings can be on canvas or panel with linen canvas and panel (depending on the type of panel) being considered archival. Cotton suffers from degradation due to the presence of acids in the paint. The main thing to worry about is UV damage otherwise I don't think a boat is a necessarily bad place for a painting as long as you can keep it dry.

Art was meant to be experienced and I think you should consider keeping them if you can put them somewhere out of the spray. Alternately, I recommend looking at finding a trusted art gallery to store them. Particularly it they are really valuable or significant.

I'm not talking about some small town poster shop. A good fine art gallery will have a means to safely store fine art as it is their stock in trade.

[AmericanVagrant]

Originally Posted by Snore

Are they of such caliber you could lend them to a museum?

May be some tax advantages to this also.

In my opinion this is the way to go - if one is of sufficient caliber to be reproduced I'm sure there will be galleries interested in showing it/them.

[Steadman Uhlich]

If they are of more sentimental value than monetary value, and that is usually the case, I would hang it securely on a bulkhead if you want them with you. The most likely damage would be mildew. Bulkheads in a typical yacht saloon are a good place.

If they are of moderate monetary value, but not wanted on your boat, then I would loan them to a local library or similar public venue, with insurance, if you think the subject would be appropriate or even wanted in a library and if you like seeing that the art is viewable by the public.

If the only value is sentimental and it has low monetary value, and many old paintings are really worthless or low value, and the subject is not generally appealing (you can not find any friends or family who want to hang it on loan) nor is the artist considered noteworthy, then I would simply store it in a box in a dry relatively cool environment, but not in an attic or damp basement.

[hamburking]

Put them "on loan" to a local museum or university art gallery.

OR

Place them for sale at an art gallery, but asking 10x their real value. You will either get free storage, or a big winfall.

[CarlF]

Most museums have far more art in climate controlled storage than displayed. They will often store a painting for no charge on the chance an exhibit comes along. They may also lend it to another museum (insured and with your permission) for an exhibit.

This is a digression just to work in one of my favorite artists. The recent exhibit of Turner's maritime paintings at the Peabody Museum outside Boston required shipping the 8ft x 12ft "Battle of Trafalgar".

“There isn’t an airplane with a cargo door large enough that flies from Heathrow to Boston,” says Finamore. “Those large padded crates were put on a truck to the channel tunnel and sent by train over to the continent and then by truck to Luxembourg and then put on an airplane that flew to New York and then on a truck that came up to Salem. But it’s well worth it, I think.”

[SailFastTri]

A marine environment is not a place to preserve anything that's fragile and has great emotional/monetary value. You need a controlled-humidity environment to preserve them.


No matter where you store them, you should consider having them appraised and insured. Insurance is cheap on these things, in my limited experience.

[tbodine88]

I carried some stuff with me onto the boat in the Caribbean. They were only aboard a few months. Some rotted, some became mildewed. So do what Paul L says, store them ashore in a climate controlled space, then in the house you move into when you tire of living aboard.

[jheldatksuedu]

I was going to suggest, make a digital copy of the pictures and frame them, store the originals some place safe. It is probably the memory and thoughts that is more important and they should be spurred by looking at a copy knowing the original is safe.

[ytquest]

Originally Posted by hpeer

My Wife owns a couple of fine art oil paintings. These were passed to her for her parents so they have some emotional and sentimental value as well as some moderate monetary value. The big one is close to 2 feet by 4 feet. There are to somewhat smaller.

The dilemma is that we don't want to be rid of them, nor do we have anyone who can take them.

We are trying to figure out a way to keep them. They need some degree of environmental control.

Any ideas?

PS As I type my Wife found a site online selling reproductions of one painting. I wonder how that works?

You might check with a couple of galleries and see if they would like to put it on display for care and storage. depending on how long you plan to be gone and maybe line up another to take it when the first one is ready for a change. Get VERY good appraisal and insurance. Sharing fine art is always appreciated by galleries!

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by hpeer

PS As I type my Wife found a site online selling reproductions of one painting. I wonder how that works?

Lot's of "ifs" here, but if you own the original and the artist has never given permission for anyone to reproduce it (and if you haven't either) - then you've got a wonderful copyright infringement case here (If the copyright has not expired).

My guess would be that if someone is selling reproductions - then the original will have a not insignificant monetary value. You should get it appraised, check to see if the copyright (this is simply a matter of time - how long ago was it painted?) has expired and then see if a gallery or museum is intersted in exhibiting it (or storing it).