If an artist chooses cardboard as their canvas is their work collectible?
Asked by
Earthgirl (
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November 26th, 2011
I have an interest in folk art of all kinds. Quite often you see that the artists have chosen to use cardboard for a canvas. I know that not all cardboard is acid free archival material. How possible is it to conserve such a piece of art?
Recently I went to an open house in Hoboken NJ and the artist was a well established artist. She uses acrylic paint on cardboard. Her prices are over $1000 for a large piece. I wondered if investing in such a piece would be advisable. Would it maintain it’s value?
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9 Answers
Edvard Munch’s The Scream was painted on cardboard. So, it’s possible.
There are Picsso’s on napkins with value.
“Contemporary paintings, naive, or folk art may not have a ground layer or varnish coating. Paintings that do not have all of the traditional layers may be more fragile and susceptible to change or damage.” Gaston County Museum
That being said, though, many paintings are done on cardboard and are preserved just fine.
Yes, I believe they can be preserved by a preservation professional.
My mom painted with casein paint on the cardboard cards that came back from the laundry in my dad’s shirts. I have a couple of them that are at least 50 years old. (paintings, not shirts) They are holding up well.
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In case anyone else is interested I found a good paper on conserving outsider art.
A quote that I think sums up the question of what to do to preserve it:
“This art is also ephemeral, which challenges those of us who make our livings by keeping artifacts alive, one way or another. It calls on us to occasionally decide that certain works should be allowed to deteriorate naturally, that the warped board should remain warped, that the peeling paint should be allowed to continue peeling, and that the unfired ceramic should be allowed to return to dust. This may indeed be a challenge, given that human nature tends, also, to keeping, stockpiling, amassing, inventorying, for economic gain, and for historic significance, and for nostalgic purposes. The Outsider Conservator is called upon to balance the concepts of non-attachment and impermanence with concepts of conservation and preservation.”
See the entire article here:
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~cochinea/pdfs/b-heller-03-outsiderart.pdf
Seems painting on cardboard is the least of it! I had to laugh when I got to the part about the conservator putting the painting in a bag and spraying it with roach spray!
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