The Framers Forum

Hi,

A friend of mine wants me to stretch an original canvas he's bought back from overseas. The trouble is, he thinks it's been painted with really thick acrylic and then rolled before being completely dry and it's going to crack severely if we stretch it.

Any tips of what we can do? perhaps a coating of something like Breathing Colour's Glamour veneer and/or damping the back of the artwork?

It's not valuable and he'd be happy to get it stretched, cracks and all, and perhaps fill the bigger cracks in afterwards.

I did suggest photographing it and reprinting, but he'd (obviously) like the original.

Thanks,

Steve

It's not valuable

I'd glue it to a board, plywood or similar with pva . It'll never be worth anything in the future(if its what i think it is) and this method will help stabilise the surface(as long as the pva penetrates the back of the canvas)

"Stretching" is a somewhat misleading term. You should be able to mount it onto stretcher bars without harm if you go carefully. You only need get it flat so it doesn't flap about and there are no waves or ripples in the surface. There is no need to apply tension. Obviously I can't make too much comment without actually seeing it......

Gluing is an alternative, maybe better course of action. Make sure and seal the back of the board with PVA to help prevent bending in the future.

Before unrolling I would make sure it was fairly warm - leave it in a sunny spot for a while. The acrylic will be a little more flexible if warm.