The Framers Forum

I often find faint pencil marks, by they names, auction numbers etc on the rear of picture frames. Is there a particular spectrum of light or a scientific method that will illuminate them and make them easier to read?

Thank you.

If the old detective movies are to be believed you just shade pencil lines over it and it will suddenly become crystal clear.

I normally take a photo and then edit the colour or contrast levels on a computer and see if it becomes clearer.

Thank you, I'll give that a go

Shading with a pencil in the old detective movies is all about showing any indents in a surface which has been written on to cause the indents in the first place. This is not just fiction, but is based on actual fact, however it's probably not a good idea in this case, as it could make it much more difficult to discern any writting at all. There are techniques to lift off the pencil marks off of the surface in order to ready the writting, but this is also a bad idea, as it will destroy the provenance of the framed artwork and effectively reduce, or destroy the value of the artwork!

Have you taken a look inside the back of the frame to see if anything has been written on anything inside the frame. Ideally any provenance would be attached to the artwork, or writted on the mount if there is one. That way if the artwork gets reframed, then the provenance is not lost! Always best to play it safe, so taking a digital scan, or digital photograph and hen enhancing the image using a computer with suitable photo editting software is the safe way to go.

I will go the safe route as you suggest. I don't want to lose provenance. Thank you