When it comes to the restoration of art, art preservation and conservation take the lead as it is important to conserve your artworks, so they do not get to the stage of needing restoration. Art restoration is the process of trying to bring an artwork back to its original state, a process which is minimally invasive and can change the true state of an artwork. Conservation is the approach to stabilizing and preserving an artwork using preventive measures to inhibit future deterioration of the work while preservation involves minimizing future risks and deterioration of a work by controlling environmental factors or pest management or correct storage etc. Both processes do not alter the artwork in anyway.

All traditional artworks are organic, the mediums, the binders, the pigments the adhesives etc and environmental factors play the most havoc in deterioration of artworks. Humidity is the most important factor of deterioration. When the humidity is high it can cause mold growth, paint layers to swell and flake, the stretcher and wooden sculptures to expand and contract causing cracks and paint deformations, canvas warping and cracking, shadowing of varnishes and pigments and copper disease on sculptures. Dusty layers on artworks exacerbate this as dust is hygroscopic and absorb moisture from the air causing accelerated deterioration. It is best to use dehumidifiers to keep relative humidity at 45-65% and dust down your artworks at least once a year.

The UV rays and heat of sunlight can damage your artworks. It is most noticeable with paperworks where they are more prone to colours fading. With oil and acrylic, some pigments are more prone to fading in UV light like greens that have copper in them which fade to a brown or a blue pigment to a light grey. For paperworks you can use a UV protective glass while framing but all works should be kept away from direct sunlight and heat.

Mold growth can cause various issues on an artwork, from fading of pigments, cracking of paint layers, canvas decay and destabilizing the integrity of the whole work. Works with mold should first be isolated from other works as the spores can be transferred onto other works. You shouldn’t try to clean these yourself as once the spores are broken, they can cause more damage to the canvas once it seeps into the canvas weaves or the paper.

Other things to be mindful of are not burning incense and candles around artworks cause the soot from these works build up over time, making the surface hygroscopic and thus susceptible to damage. Gold paints will oxidize and turn black which is irreversible. Aerosols and perfumes should also be kept away from artworks as the chemicals in these can cause reactions with the organic matter of the artworks.

If you intend to keep a sculpture outdoor, may it be wooden, metal or marble, should be treated with a protective layer before being installed outdoors. The heat and humidity can cause the works to crack, rust and even split. Many European and American works of art intended for the outdoors will not be able to withstand the heat of the UAE so to prevent any damage they should be treated first. Marble sculptures should not be watered down as the water droplets can seep into the holes causing fissures which undermines the integrity of the work.

With canvases you should make sure they are stretched well over a wooden stretcher and not a strainer. A strainer is four wooden planks nailed together but a stretcher has gaps in the corners which allows small wooden keys to be inserted to change the pressure and tension in the stretcher. This allows the artworks to expand and contract without damaging the artwork. The strainers can cause issues in the future from strainer lines on the artwork, ripping of the canvas to paint layer cracking and causing deformations.