Platinum prints to glass or not to glass?

I seem to remember...

Kerik said:

Well, if you live in a museum, you probably don't have to worry as much about glazing valuable prints. Just be sure to keep your environmental control systems and red velvet ropes well maintained. Also, a good health care plan for your security guards...

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that you had a big dog guarding your personal gallery

Just an update, I spoke to a really helpful lady that deals with Izu’s platinum prints at the Howard Greenberg gallery last night and she said that when they exhibit any of his platinum prints at the gallery they have no glass in front of them, however once one is sold they tell the buyer to put it behind glass, they used to use den glass but you cannot get that anymore so they recommend tru vue.

I also spoke to the John Stevenson Gallery as i was trying to arrange a visit next week for a friend of mine. They told me that they ‘used’ to show platinum prints without glass too but recommend that buyers put glass in front of them. The person on the telephone mentioned that the gallery had closed and they had sadly had to stop representing around 30 photographic artists and are only representing around 10 now at the new location. Apparently according to him over the last two years there has been a significant downturn in sales of contemporary photographers work and more of a return to sales of their vintage work. He said that they are now focusing on painters as opposed to photography as a result of this ‘downturn’. That’s pretty sad news as I would have loved to have seen their main Gallery in New York as people have told me how special the place was.

I mentioned about this 'downturn in contemporary photographers sales over the last two years' to the lady at the Greenberg gallery and she was of the opposite view but did state that the shaky U.S economy has had a slight effect on sales.

Aaron Siskind regularly showed his silver prints without glass....all of the deep blacks and the glass reflections just didn't mesh.

Just to upsdate and correct my post re: "True View Ultra Clear" ...

Correct name was True-Vue Ultra Clear. True-Vue Inc no longer makes it - extremely low demand for next-to-no-lead, almost 100% light transmission, zero u/v protection glazing. Their 98% "Museum" is the best they can do and if I recall I tried that and didn't like it.

The UV blocker in their museum glass or coating (what ever it is) just doesn't cut it. Just regular framing glass with no UV filtration is even better than that for viewing. They do sell an acrylic, I think it is called something like OP-3 that may be better than glass. I haven't tried it.

For general display, I put platinum prints behind glass to protect them. But, I use frames with quick release clips. When I am showing the prints to photographers or others who can truely appreciate them, I just snap out four clips, take out the print and pass it around.

That is a good Idea Allen, are the frames readily available? How about a high quality plastic instead of glass?

Hi Dave,

I buy the frames at Michaels at the mall. I wait for them to go on sale and then stock up on them. I matt to standard sizes so I don't have to keep alot of different sizes on hand. The frames I use are sometimes called Weston Frames. The mount is held in place by four clips or springs on the back.

Allen

Allen Friday said:

Hi Dave,

I buy the frames at Michaels at the mall. I wait for them to go on sale and then stock up on them. I matt to standard sizes so I don't have to keep alot of different sizes on hand. The frames I use are sometimes called Weston Frames. The mount is held in place by four clips or springs on the back.

Allen

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Thanks

Dave- when it comes to framing, high quality plastic is an oxymoron. Especially when framing platinum/palladium prints . Utrecht art supply has a selection of metal or wood frames that look quite nice and are inexpensive, and easy to open/close.

I think he meant something like Tru Vue Optium Museum Acrylic.

Jon

Jon Shiu said:

I think he meant something like Tru Vue Optium Museum Acrylic.

Jon

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Yes,

There are several plastic companys here in Vegas that manufacture end product for the gaming industry...awhile back I was shown some really nice acrylic for museum use that inhibited UV and also was quite scratch resistant. It looked really good, and of course as opposed to glass was quite light weight.....was thinking of the out door art show scene etc and having all that glass weight; Here it goes on slot machine fronts, displays and for display cases for expensive sports paraphanalia etc, using that plastic with Allen's frame idea I thought might be worth a shot.

The last time I showed a collection of prints without glass in a public exhibition, I did have one idiot actually touch one. Would I do it again - yes - I think glass hides the best qualities of platinum and the other iron-based processes. It's a risk, but in this case I believe it to be a risk worth taking.

Dave-

it might work- most of the plastic I've seen used in framing is not rigid enough on its own, and will eventually bow out under the pressure of the clips. That's what I meant by high quality plastic and framing being an oxymoron. Even the high-end acrylics I've seen applied in frames (even the Tru Vue) scratch fairly easily.