Learn how to pack, post and ship art

Have you ever found packing art or shipping art to be a bit of a challenge?

This is a time of year when a lot of artwork gets packed and mailed or shipped. Here's some polls from my website How to pack, post and ship art - Resources for Artists which highlight what most people find a challenge - and what some of the best solutions are in terms of which mail or courier service people like to use and will recommend.

POLL: Packing or shipping - which is the biggest challenge?

The top three challenges for artists are:

• Which is the best mail / courier / shipping service (27.3%)
• Which are the best packing materials (20.9%)
• Where to buy good packing materials (16.5%)

POLL: Packing or shipping - which is the biggest challenge?

You can find lots of information and links to resources and yet more information on my website.

• How to pack art for shipping
• How to ship artwork internationally
• UK, USA and International Post and Shipping Services

Given that choosing the best mail/courier/shipping service is such a major challenge, I have two more polls on this website which review which are the best post/shipping services in the UK and the USA respectively.

Here's a reminder of how the votes have been cast.

POLL: Which is the best post/shipping service for artwork in the UK?

Which is the best post/shipping service for artwork in the UK?

POLL: Which is the best post/shipping service for artwork in the USA?

Which is the best post/shipping service for artwork in the USA?

At the end of last year I also ran an independent poll and this also confirmed that Shipping art: FedEx is the most trusted service

Art in Transit: Handbook for Packing and Transporting Paintings

Art in Transit: Handbook for Packing and Transporting Paintings by Mervin Richard
Marion F. Mecklenburg and Ross M. Merrill is available for free from the Smithsoninian Institute.

Art in Transit: Handbook for Packing and Transporting Paintings by Mervin Richard

Marion F. Mecklenburg and Ross M. Merrill is available for free from the Smithsonian Institute.

Title:  Art in Transit: Handbook for Packing and Transporting Paintings

Synopsis: This technically detailed Handbook focuses on different approaches and procedures that will enable museum specialists (packers, registrars, curators, and conservators) to effectively use the results of the research of specialists in the field.  It includes tips and techniques also of relevance to those transporting high value artwork.

Summary review:  If you’ve ever wanted a comprehensive document telling you what to do when packing and transporting artwork, this is a good place to start. Although written for art galleries and museums, there’s a lot of information which will also assist the professional artist who is transporting valuable paintings.  Other artists will also find useful information in this large and comprehensive handbook.

Highlights Accessible: written in the language of lay people rather than art technologists / historians bullet points unpack the processes into easy stages key terms are highlighted in bold lots of useful sub-headings Comprehensive and evidenced synopsis of scientific evidence for best practices in the transport of paintings and other artworks Advantages and disadvantages of different techniques are identified Fascinating glossary Information derived from a variety of publications of note Use of a pdf format enables easy navigation of the document onscreen searches of the document

Think Again? NOT a “how to send paintings for beginners” document NOT for everybody.  Is it relevant to artists producing low value paintings (relative to art in museums)?  However some tips still relevant - and a useful resource of questions arise (eg case labels in different languages) NOT a quick read.The language may be accessible - but there’s still an awful lot of information. NOT a small document - 6.1MB pdf

Who should buy this?: Those wanting to know about good practices detailed in this book Those transporting valuable paintings to clients and to/from exhibitions Museum conservators Gallery transport technicians

Who should not buy this? Those unconcerned about archival practices and nature of packing required for valuable paintings and other works of art People who don’t work in museums have no need to buy this since its is freely available online

Author / (Publisher) Mervin Richard, Marion F. Mecklenburg and Ross M. Merrill / (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Available from: no need to buy - it’s available for free from the Smithsonian Institute (click the title).   However if you’d like you'd like your very own personal copy you can try buying from via Amazon where copies are available for between $250-$1,000

Technical data: Copyright © 1991, 1997 National Gallery of Art First edition 1991. Second edition 1997 No. of pages Hardcover - pages Paperback pages; ISBN-10 ISBN-13 pdf document - 6.1MB file size

The contents include the following.  As you can see this is a technical document rather than a “how to send paintings for beginners” document.  It’s also particularly related to the conservation of very old paintings where the painting may be fragile

• Assessing Risks
• Criteria for the Selection of Paintings for Loan
• Selection Criteria for Frames
• Selection Criteria for Paintings on Canvas or Paper Mounted on Canvas
• Additional Issues for Large Paintings on Canvas
• Selection Criteria for Contemporary Paintings on Canvas
• Paintings on Wood, Ivory, or Bone
• Paintings on Metal and Other Nonporous Rigid Supports
• Transit Climate Conditions
• Expected Transit Environments in Summer and Winter
• Temperature Protection
• Insulating Materials
• Temperature Half-Time
• Temperature Half-Times of Packing Cases
• Relative Humidity Protection
• Wrapping Materials for Paintings: Polyethylene
• Wrapping Materials for Paintings: Glassine
• Wrapping Materials for Paintings: Kraft Paper
• Wrapping Materials for Paintings: Kraft Paper or Glassine Covered with Polyethylene
• Wrapping Materials for Paintings: Inner Packing Case
• General Properties of Silica Gel
• Use of Silica Gel in Packing Cases for Painting
• Shock and Vibration Hazards
• Shock and Vibration Hazards
• Vibration Fragility of Painting
• Shock Protection
• Fragility Factors
• Probable Drop Heights
• How to Use a Dynamic Cushioning Curve: Procedure A
• How to Use a Dynamic Cushioning Curve: Procedure B
• Optimum Static Loads - Quick Reference Table
• Load-Bearing Areas
• Vibration Protection
• Vibration Control for Canvas Paintings - Backboards
• Vibration Control for Canvas Paintings - Foam Inserts behind the Painting
• Vibration Control for Canvas Paintings - Stretcher Lining
• Packing Cases
• Case Construction - Structure
• Handles
• Skids
• Chemical Stability of Packing Materials
• Soft Packing
• Sample Packing Case No. 1
• Sample Packing Case No. 2
• Sample Packing Case No. 3
• Sample Packing Case No. 4
• Sample Packing Case No. 5
• Sample Packing Case No. 6
• Sample Packing Case No. 7
• Case Labels - English, French, Spanish, German, Italian
• Role of the Courier
• Glossary

Shipping art: FedEx is the most trusted service

I've been running opinion polls about posting and shipping art in 2011.  These have consistently identified FedEx as being the service most people seem to trust when shipping artwork.

One caveat is that the numbers responding to the polls have not been high - hence why I'd like to encourage more people to participate in the two ongoing polls listed below.

• In February 2011, the Making A Mark Poll for February asked the question Which service do you trust when posting/shipping artwork?
• Results were reported in Which service do you trust when you post or ship artwork? (Results)
• On my information site How to pack, post and ship art - Resources for Artists, I've been running
  two polls.Click the links if you have still to vote. 
• POLL: Which is the best post/shipping service for artwork in the UK?
• POLL: Which is the best post/shipping service in the USA?

Below you can see the charts of results from the three different polls - together with the number of respondents to date

February Poll - Which service do you trust when you post or ship artwork?

FedEx came top in February with 28% of the poll

Results of Making A Mark Poll February 2011 (29 respondents)

FedEx(UK) is the clear leader in my poll about the best post/shipping service in the UK

FedEx is just ahead of UPS in my poll about the best post-shipping service in the USA

If you are an artist and post or ship art in the UK or USA - and you have not yet responded - you can help give other artists an even better picture about which services artists prefer to use by voting in one or other of the polls on How to pack, post and ship art.

Just click the links to the polls to vote.

On Making A Mark today, there is a post which is a Review of Specialist Art Couriers in the UK.  This is primarily about the couriers used by artists to get their artwork to and from an exhibition.  Follow ups to that review will be posted on this blog.