my opinion on restoration & linenbacking:
I only have a single poster in my collection that I paid to get
linenbacked and I will not get that many restored for myself
there are posters I have which must be backed & restored for
conservation & display.
But they have to have serious issues as I'm just as happy displaying
a poster with tears and small pieces out as I would be with a nmint
poster and I don't care if a poster shows folds. I'm all for
originality. Some posters cannot be owned that way
I also know people who linenback every poster for their own
collection even if the poster was NM to begin with. I disagree with
this position.
I like originality, if it's messed up.. so what, it's messed up - but
I still love it.
(note, I actually realize I have 3 posters that paid to have backed.
two are 3 sheets)
At 12:59 PM 9/2/2009, Anne Coco wrote:
I have been reading the discussion surrounding the recent
revelations about forgeries have been discussed and there is one
point I would like to make before this topic is sidelined as old
news. The over-restoration of movie posters has contributed greatly
to forgers' ability to fake old paper. Too much paint makes it
difficult to determine not only how much (if any) original paper
actually exists but it also plays into the hands of those with
nefarious plans. As I understand it, the forgers not only
distressed the paper that they used but they also applied
over-painting because this is a common practice within the field of
collectible movie paper. I would advocate for movie paper
collectibles to instead be evaluated based on their original
condition not some ideal that can be created via the application of
over-painting.
If anything good comes out of this, it would be (in my opinion) that
collectors would look at posters with fold creases and paper losses
and learn to love them just the way they are without paint to
brighten the colors and obscure the signs of use. If the practice
of over-painting could magically disappear, it would be much easier
to determine what is and is not real. Visible fold creases should
be viewed as a clue that the paper is truly what it claims to be
while a lack of fold creases should be a cause of concern for
collectors. If the fold creases, background and borders have been
over-painted, how can you be certain that what you are buying is
more paper than paint? And I haven't even touched on the problems
of what happens to paint and paper when they age. It's not pretty,
especially if the piece was exhibited under less than ideal light
conditions in a frame on a wall in your house for a long period of time.
That said I completely understand that paper losses particularly in
the image area can detract greatly from the enjoyment of a
poster. In these cases, those in the field of paper conservation
would tell you that whatever you do should be completely reversible
serving only to trick the eye at a distance but completely revealing
itself upon close inspection.
Whether you collect for personal enjoyment, as an investment or as
part of a larger institutional mandate, the posters we all hold are
part of our larger cultural heritage as well as assets to be
protected. Please take my comments as an attempt to ask the field
to re-evaluate current practices and think about the long-term
implications of over-restoration. The benefit will be increased
transparency which will make it more difficult for forgers to ply
their trade and collections that will continue to awe for generations to come.
Anne Coco
Graphic Arts Librarian
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