Mechanical loads caused by handling during in-house transport with main focus on Munch’s porous paintings

Abstract

Loose paint, which occurs in Munch’s paintings after exhibitions caused by mechanical loads during transport, handling and storing in deposit or exhibitions, is a recurring challenge and a major concern. An essential feature of many of the Munch paintings in the MUNCH collection is the porous and brittle paint layers with weak cohesive and adhesive properties. In this paper, we present some initial measurements of the accelerations that cause mechanical loads that act upon such paint layers during handling in-house on trolleys. This study is a part of a larger project that aims to investigate the effect of vibrations on fragile paintings during in-house transport, storing on screens and the impact of sound in exhibitions. The main objective is to determine acceptable vibration levels, and develop methods to reduce the damaging vibration and shock loading. In doing so we will manage to optimize ROS-analyses and develop more reliable preventive strategies.

The authors are grateful to the art technicians Andreas Hans Mikael Öhman, Enrique Eduardo Roura Perez, Andrea Galiazzo and Tomas Siqveland Einarsson for transferring the trolleys during the measurements and making these measurements possible. We also acknowledge the collaboration with Barbara Ida de Haan and Kine Lillestrøm, former project leaders at MUNCH for the project Moving MUNCH to a new Museum, Ingvild Vestvik, former registrar at the same project. We also want to thank Mohammadreza Salehi at OsloMet who contributed to the measurements on the trolleys, and Mie Mustad, paintings conservator at MUNCH, for input and collaboration. A huge thanks to Clare Brignall for spelling and grammar check.

Peer Reviewed

Postprint (published version)