The requirement of keeping art in climate-controlled art storage conditions is not a whim of industry professionals who want art owners to spend more money. It’s a reasonable recommendation meant to preserve the global cultural legacy and protect collectors’ financial interests. Here are a couple of notorious cases of ignoring this rule and bearing the costly consequences of disregard for climate control.
$15,000 Warhol Restoration
A private collector from Miami, FL, stored his Warhol in a standard storage unit without climate control equipment. One day, they noticed the signs of mold on the back of the screenprint. The owner quickly took action and hired a professional conservator who stabilized the artwork. After that, the art object was moved to a climate-controlled facility, but the cost of that mistake exceeded $15,000 for restoration work.
Mold in the Detroit Collection Resource Center
This story happened in 1995 in Detroit, MI. The summer was hot and humid, and the Detroit Collection Resource Center had a poorly functioning mechanical system of climate control in its storage. As a result, the humidity levels reached an alarming level of 80-90%, which remained unmonitored for some time. These conditions provoked quick mold growth and urged the center to pay a huge bill for emergency conservation procedures.
The Elgin Marbles Cleaning at the British Museum
The principles of acid-free, conservation-grade methods and materials were poorly understood around a century ago, and all findings in this area were obtained via costly errors. One of such mishaps happened to the unique art object – The Elgin Marbles – with abrasive tools and chemicals used during art restoration at the British Museum in the 1930s. Museum staff used copper scrapers and diluted nitric acid to perform regular cleaning, which resulted in natural patina removal and irreversible surface damage.
Fungus in Lascaux Cave
Fragments of gray and black mold were found in the French Lascaux cave with mysterious prehistoric paintings. An object only recently opened for public visitation, the Lascaux cave suffered from mold growth for the second time, with no clear answer to its causes. One of the guesses among the scientific community was the negative impact of humans, which distorted the stable environment and triggered negative processes.
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