do artworks in transit suffer from environmental impact?

The answer is "yes". The author has been attracted by the question beyond since the early days of the legendary " Art in Transit" conference, back in 1991, organized by The Tate, and the book "Studies in the transport of paintings : International Conference on the Packing and Transportation of Paintings, September 9, 10, 11, 1991, London" edited by Marion F. Mecklenburg.

The three insitutes "Canadian Conservation Institute of Communications, Canada", " Conservation Analytical Laboratory of the Smithsonian Institution"  and "Tate Gallery"  had prepared that important event.

 

Up to that conference date in 1991 not many of the packers and shippers had thought too deeply about this aspect. 

Édouard Manet - Execution of the Emperor Maximilian- will the painting survive its transit to London?

The National Gallery in London owns one of three Manet paintings with the theme of " the execution of Maximilian" ( see their website) , whilst the second is owned Museum of Fine Arts Boston (196x259cm, Oil on canvas) and the third is owned by the Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany ( 252 x 302cm, Oil on canvas). More information about the artwork can be found on David Bojes site.

 

Prior to agreeing to lend the Mannheim work  for the London venue at the National Gallery, the director of Kunsthalle Mannheim by that time, Dr. Manfred Fath, required a feasability study from his Head of Conservation, Hans Becker.  

Hans approached two german shippers for consultancy. The contest ended in a project negotiation of the project with the author of this article.

Now, what has been the cutting edge, the brand new approach, in 1992?

 

The request for a feasability study prior to realtime packing & transport was the first in industry.

 

Whilst Hans Becker conducted research on the canvas, the shipper joint Professor Stuehler form the TU Technical University in Berlin for consultation. Professor Stuehler by that time already had done some reasearch for the State Museums in Berlin, and as a result invented the so-called "Stuehler-Safe". The concept was a floating platform, connected by dedicated dampers to an outer crate. The painting or object case was mounted to the platform, and through the dampers isolated from external shock hazards impacting to the outer construction.

 

The difference of Stuehlers approach versus  other concepts of that time was the use of hydraulic dampers, which could be tuned to the real weight of the actual case + artwork's, plus to the perspective range of main hazards én route. Thus this was the first concept which reflected not only the mechanics, but also considered the possible variations of impact during an entire voyage.