Question about tape on original art

[Coach]

It seems clear that the tape is causing the paper to brown. I am curious if certain current or prior adverse storage conditions can speed up this process or if storing the artwork in a cool, dark environment can significantly slow it down? Or is the tape going to do its damage at the same rate no matter what you do?

 

Thanks,

 

Darren

[buttock]

Thanks. How old are the pages? I think the boards from the 70s were stronger than they are today. It might end up being a decision made case-by-case.

 

The examples below are both from the 1980's.

 

Things to note:

The discolouration you can see on the front of both pages is not the masking tape on the back of the board showing through due to paper translucency, but the art paper itself has browned. Presumably, this is due to the glue from the tape breaking down over time and accelerating the aging of the paper in front of it.

 

The rest of the art board is very white, but the paper browning does seem to be spreading beyond the tape boarder, again presumably due the decaying glue spreading.

 

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in these matters, but just judging things from my own collecting experience, and other examples I have seen over the years. Maybe a paper conservationist can chime in with a more accurate synopsis of what is going on here?

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it does look like you are correct on this one. Seems browned where the tape is. What's interesting is that I definitely have older art that this hasn't at all happened to. I'm thinking art board stock changed in the 70s somewhere and modern boards can't handle it.

 

So, my guess would be leave alone the stuff from the 70s that has held up and maybe take it off the moderns?

 

Hari

 

It will also be a function of how it was stored and what type of tape was used.

[pinupcartoonguy]

Is that plain old masking tape? Also, as a side query, why is the masking tape there at all? Was a panel cut out and replaced?

[blowout]

Is that plain old masking tape? Also, as a side query, why is the masking tape there at all? Was a panel cut out and replaced?

 

Yes to both of those questions. A common practice with Marvel pages particularly in the 1970's and 1980's.

[blowout]

 

Well, it does look like you are correct on this one. Seems browned where the tape is. What's interesting is that I definitely have older art that this hasn't at all happened to. I'm thinking art board stock changed in the 70s somewhere and modern boards can't handle it.

 

So, my guess would be leave alone the stuff from the 70s that has held up and maybe take it off the moderns?

 

Hari

 

Maybe. But even with the 1970's boards the damage will still be happening, although probably at a slower rate.

 

The thing to remember here is that masking tape is a very cheap, and temporary, taping solution. It is not designed to be attached to anything long term, and is about as far away from an archival material as you can get.

 

If you leave the tape on, it WILL damage that art long term.

 

[blowout]

It seems clear that the tape is causing the paper to brown. I am curious if certain current or prior adverse storage conditions can speed up this process or if storing the artwork in a cool, dark environment can significantly slow it down? Or is the tape going to do its damage at the same rate no matter what you do?

 

Thanks,

 

Darren

 

Certainly storage conditions will pay a part. But I deliberately picked two thirty year old pages that are otherwise white.

 

Conclude from that what you will!

[oceans11]

That's the exact type of situation that I'm in with the Spectacular Spider Man page. It's white in the front upper left corner and along the front left edge. On the lower front right hand corner it has started to discolor. To me it looked like the tape was having this affect, especially as there was a lot of it on the back due to replacing the bottom two panels. I was also going to ask about storage and climate having and affect on this but it has been confirmed that it would.

 

So, the question then becomes, If the tape is removed and replaced with acid free tape, will the damage that's there continue? Or is replacing the masking tape with an acid free option good enough?

 

 

[AKA Rick]

I heard some tape you can get an electric hand held hairdryer to, on low heat and slowly wave it back and forth to soften, almost remoistening the tape properties, and can slowly peel the tape off without damaging the art. I can't confirm if that works or not since I've not had that problem, so do some research before trying this method.

 

Some tape is so old and dried out, it comes right off. I've seen that, same with word balloons and any logos, stats or paste ups, where things fall off.

 

Some tape is gooey, and when you remove it, it leaves a very sticky residue. In that case, what I did with one piece was leave it out to "air dry" and it took actually a couple of months.

 

Most clear tape is near impossible to remove, so I'd leave it alone, especially if it's on the original art surface (front, as opposed to the back side).

 

If you do have tape that is "stuck" (having been on the page for a long time) rather than risk ruining a piece, I'd say leave it, since the amount of archival damages that will eventually occur quite frankly will probably not impact the aesthetics so dramatically in your lifetime and the art will outlive the owner.

 

I've seen lots of art from the Silver - Bronze age, that's 20 to 40 years old with tape that looks none the worst for wear, with no acid seeping through to the front of the art. I've seen stuff from the 1960's (over 50 yrs old) with tape on the actual artwork that's not impacted the inks (no bleeding or fading, nor absorption).

 

What I do, when I've gotten modern pages, more the "double page splashes" where the artist tapes the 2 (two) pages together, is remove the tape, not even replace the tape with acid free, and just keep the 2 pieces as freestanding individual entities. If you're framing up your art, you'd want to use a minimal amount of acid free tape to ensure the piece his held together for display, but if you're just sticking the art in a portfolio, it's okay to have 'em separated I think.