Prints and drawings on paper

Prints, drawings, and manuscripts have been created in many cultures over the centuries, with prints often tied to traditions of book illustration. Despite variables of media and forms of printing, a defining characteristic of prints and drawings is the way in which colorants such as inks, washes, pencils, and pastels become incorporated into the absorbent, fibrous texture of paper. Unlike paintings on canvas, which are laminated structures with distinct layers, even hard-pressed and heavily sized papers seize ink and colour; art on paper is a kind of amalgam, in which paper and pigment become inseparable. The permanence of prints and drawings is thereby greatly influenced by the quality of the paper support and by the environmental circumstances under which the artworks are housed. Despite being considered a fragile or ephemeral material, good-quality paper that receives proper handling and environmental stability has been known to survive for over one thousand years. Countless modern masterpieces have been made with inferior papers containing wood pulp, fugitive media, or poor technique, however. These qualities identify works with “inherent vice,” and there is little the art conservator can do but provide the best possible environment to slow the inevitable deterioration of such works.

Most conservation treatments of prints and drawings or archives on paper aim to reduce the discolorations and acidity brought about by unfavourable climatic and storage conditions. These are commonly caused by contact with poor-quality acidic framing materials, matte-burn due to proximity to acidic window or back mattes, darkening due to light exposure and chemical deterioration, and brown spots known as “foxing,” which may result from the combined influence of metallic particles in paper and mold. Additionally, attack on the cellulose and sizing of paper and paint media by biological pests such as silverfish, book lice, beetle larvae, mold, or fungus can result in very destructive and unsightly damages. The absorbent nature of paper renders it especially vulnerable to chemical transfer or image offset during storage, and so storage and framing with only acid-free archival papers (preferably 100 percent rag content) is generally the museum standard. Careful human handling, including prudent policy management for exhibition, ranks high among the factors influencing length of preservation of artworks on paper.

In terms of remedial treatment for deteriorated art on paper, there are numerous techniques and specialized equipment available to the paper conservator, including vacuum-suction tables, humidity chambers and platens, semipermeable plastic sheeting, steam and hot-air pencils, and leaf-casting apparatus. The conservator limits the use of moisture in procedures such as washing and stain reduction based on the degree of tolerance of the individual drawing media and on the subtle qualities of the paper. Immersion in water baths is limited to the most stable situations. Prudent use of bleaching, deacidification, and other reagents depend upon myriad circumstances, including the long-term aging characteristics after treatment and the possible consequences of residues left in the paper.

Repairs of mechanical damages to prints and drawings such as tears, thinning, or losses can be remedied by applying reinforcements, new paper inserts, or pulp into damaged areas. Additional overall support can be provided by adhering new paper (or backing sheet) to the reverse of the original. Typically, Japanese tissues, pure paper pulps, archival papers, and stable antique papers, used in combination with wheat- and rice-starch pastes, can be used for this purpose.