When we advertise for art handlers there are inevitably calls and emails in response saying essentially: “I’m not exactly sure what an art handler is or does, but I know I would be super good at it!” Well, you might — most art handlers are trained on the job and people from all sorts of backgrounds have succeeded in the role. But it isn’t an easy job and it takes the right blend of skills and personality to make the cut.

In the next few posts we’ll take a look at art handlers and art handling; the more the public understands what we do and why and how, the better. And perhaps there are some future art handling superstars out there in cyberville waiting to be discovered!

So, for starters, what is an art handler?

An art handler typically works for an art services, transportation, or storage company and performs some or all of the following tasks:

• Drives a truck, either locally or long distance between cities
• Picks up and delivers a variety of artworks including paintings, sculptures, and mixed media works of all descriptions
• Inspects artworks to determine how, where, when, or if to touch them and how to pack for transport
• Understands how to properly wrap, load, span, tie in artworks within a truck to keep then safe and stable during transport
• Selects proper archival and other packing materials depending upon the medium, surfaces, condition and fragility of the works in question
• Packs and crates artworks of all descriptions
• Interacts positively with a typically educated, professional, and often opinionated customer base in the field
• Installs artworks professionally in settings ranging from corporate to residential, including selection of proper hardware and exercise of aesthetic judgment as needed
• Prepares condition reports and photographs artworks as needed
• Completes critical paperwork such as inventories and bills of lading with accuracy and attention to detail
• Has the “people” skills and situational awareness to work with a partner or larger crew in a seamless way, taking leadership and direction as needed to complete the task at hand
• Is familiar with basic art terminology and art history

Not all art handlers necessarily need to drive trucks, crate, or install artworks; in larger companies there are departments and an art handler may never be required to drive a large truck, make a crate or softpack paintings. But the wider the applicant’s skill set the more valuable he or she is potentially to any employer.

It should be noted that art handling in a for profit competitive business like art transportation is quite different from the job of a preparator or art handler in a museum or gallery setting. There is a tremendous emphasis on dealing with the public and many services of necessity are are performed with third parties looking on. Ever put a $5 million dollar painting into a crate with a room full of museum staffers looking on? Or install a painting on a 20 foot white wall in a living room overlooking the ocean with the owners of the artwork, gallery representative, art consultant, and artist all offering input and suggestions?

It takes a certain personality and sense of forward motion to get the job done both safely for the artworks and expeditiously enough to keep the company in business. Time counts, and the extra caution slow motion rules which are standard operating procedure in some institutional committee cultures simply don’t apply. Many otherwise talented art handlers can’t make the shift to the “for profit” culture or are fine working alone in a shop but not comfortable out in the field with onlookers checking their watches, asking questions, and sometimes second guessing methods and materials. Whatever their other qualifications, art handlers who are loners, can’t do paperwork, or who fail to develop a good “art side” manner with customers don’t last long.

Betsy Dorfman

While Certs breath mints supposedly offer social insurance of a kind, CERTS is also industry shorthand for an actual insurance product: CERTIFICATES OF ADDITIONAL INSURED.

So what is a CERT and why are they used?

CERTIFICATES OF ADDITIONAL INSURED are documents obtained by vendors such as art handlers which permit them to do work in many public and private buildings. They serve to assure the risk managers of the job site that the company coming onto their premises carries proper insurance on their crew and coverage for any damage that might be caused by that crew during the course of their work. Without proper CERTS in place, entry is denied to the vendor, so this is no minor detail.

What types of CERTS are involved?

Typically the building in question will ask for two types of CERTS: one which shows that the vendor has current Workman’s Compensation Insurance and one which shows proof of General Liability insurance and the amounts of that coverage. The CERTS in each case are issued by the vendor’s insurance carrier and name that specific building or location as a temporary ADDITIONAL INSURED under the terms of the vendor’s policy, for a specified date or date range. By obtaining this coverage the property owner is limiting their risk and essentially “piggy backing” on the vendor’s policy coverage.

So if FINE ART SHIPPING sends a crew into a condo lobby and one of our crew puts a nail into his thumb, the building is reassured that the worker is properly covered by our Worker’s Compensation policy and will make no claim against theirs. Similarly, if our truck backs into the dock and runs over a prized potted palm in the process, the claim will go to our Liability Insurance carrier and not to the building’s own insurer for recovery of costs.

Screening tool

In addition this is an expedient way for the property owner essentially to screen the credentials of companies. Many “one man and a van” art handlers and installers don’t have such policies and so cannot provide CERTS. We get many job referrals each year from such independent operators. It isn’t necessarily a matter of skills - many independent installers are professional and talented - but typically it takes a larger operation to maintain insurance coverages at the levels required by major major metropolitan properties.

What about individuals having work done at a home or office?

If you are a small business or residential customer, it is a good idea to inquire whether an art handler who will perform installation or other services at your location is properly insured.  Short of requiring a CERT, you protect yourself from possible liability if a worker is injured at your location, or from a claim against your own liability insurance in the event your property is damaged by the vendor. Consider this: if a worker sustains a serious injury at your location, and his employer has no worker’s comp coverage, who will he or she look to for payment of potentially serious medical bills? They may well claim that some condition existing at your property contributed to the accident, and you will be forced at the very least to defend against this. You may have exposure simply for not checking that the employer had the legally required insurance for his crew.

Or if a vendor’s truck parked in your driveway loses its brakes and crashes through your pool house, a business without liability insurance will leave you only two choices: an expensive lawsuit against a company with unknown assets, or a claim under your own liability policy which may well raise your rates for the future.

So while a CERT does not offer a rating of that company’s skills, it does signify that the company is operating legally, is most likely solvent (paying their premiums!) and that they are considered insurable in the marketplace. From a risk manager’s point of view, this is as good as fresh donuts on a rainy Monday morning.

Betsy Dorfman

The most recent and local controversy over museums de-accessioning artworks involves a decision by the Orange County Museum of Art to sell multiple artworks to a private collector. Having learned of this transaction only after the fact, the Laguna Art Museum lodged a protest, upset that they were not offered an opportunity to acquire the artworks in advance of the offer to a private citizen.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/06/ocma-sells-paintings-to-private-collector-prompting-criticism.html

Without knowing the details, and having a working relationship with both museums, we have no interest in taking sides, except to say that hopefully the new owner of these artworks will see fit to lend them early and often. As is obvious the basic difference between works held so-called publicly, in museums, and those held privately, does often come down to a matter of access. But there are museums who hold art off public view and, likewise, some private lenders whose artworks are out on loan more often than not. Some lenders loan freely, some sparingly, and some grudgingly. In 25 plus years of dealing with lenders and borrowing institutions we have pretty much seen it all. We thought you might enjoy a peek into this process which is not as cut and dried as you might suppose.

In some cases purchasers of high end artworks agree to loan the work to bona fide requestors as a part of the acquisition process. In other cases no guidelines apply and it is simply up to the borrowing institution to contact owners of prospective works and convince them to participate. Such convincing can be a simple phone call or a long process involving delicate negotiations over many weeks or months.  Luckily, that’s not our turf.  If these efforts are successful a loan agreement is drafted which sets forth various stipulations such as term of the loan, conditions of transport, insurance, etc.  We generally come into the picture once the loan agreements are in place; we receive an inventory of artworks and a corresponding list of lenders. It is our responsibility to contact the lenders to arrange packing and transport to the exhibition venue. On paper, this is all very organized. In real life, not so much.

Hi, this is FINE ART SHIPPING and we’d like to arrange a date this week to pickup the Prestigious Artwork which you are kindly lending to the Prestigious Museum Exhibition next month.  Hello ?  Hello?

Some lenders, having agreed to the transaction some time ago, change their mind or, let’s say, their enthusiasm diminishes once the reality of giving up the artwork becomes apparent through our phone call. We leave messages, they don’t call back. Or they do call back, and claim the loan agreement is faulty in some way. More delay. Or, the artwork it turns out has been taken to their ranch in Montana, and the caretaker can only be reached there on alternate Thursdays by meeting him in town at the feed store. Where there’s a lack of will there’s no way.

Other lenders could not be more helpful, but experience separation anxiety once our art handlers actually arrive to collect the piece. In one case, a lender actually cried, seeing the bare space left on the wall where her favorite “child” had lately hung. We moved another favorite over from an adjoining room to compensate, calming her down and making the room livable again. At the other extreme, we’ve shown up only to be waved into the living room with an offhanded “take whatever it was you came for…” as the housekeeper or spouse went on with more pressing business.

I once had the personal trainer of a lender who was out of town sit me down at a table and go over every comma in the loan agreement, occasioning many calls back and forth to the museum representative, before “Hans” would release the piece. We were supposed to wrap the painting, but I was so fearful Hans the Inquisitor would change his mind that I simply picked it up “naked” and carried it out through the lobby. The (by now new) security officer on the desk apparently had no problem with a person he had never seen before carrying a valuable painting off into the sunset.

Then there are the occasional lenders who try to get our crews to do extra work, tacitly or even not so subtly expecting that such activity will be billed to the borrower or organizer of the exhibition. Take the artwork off the wall? Sure. Put another painting quickly in it’s place? Reasonable, if essentially a switch of like sizes. Bring the two heavy framed antique mirrors and the chandelier in from the garage and install them “so the room will look nice again”?  I don’t think so. Upon return from exhibition, some lenders see this as a chance to re-position all the art in a room or to have us unpack and install a few new paintings that have arrived in the meantime. Generally this works out, and lenders are able to separate (and be willing to pay for) services beyond what is included in their agreement with the borrowing institution. Sometimes the institution agrees to pay even for quite outlandish “extras” based on the deep pocket status of the benefactor in question. Basically, “do whatever they want and try to get the hell out of there” is the instruction, delivered with a sigh. Every art handler has stories of moving the refrigerator out to the pool house, or switching dressers in upstairs bedrooms, all in the normal course of putting a 20 x 20″ framed artwork back on the wall in the den. Lenders have to be made happy, on this the art world depends.

Betsy Dorfman

Every once in a while, a crate will pass through our warehouse with those air-filled plastic feet, each in the shape of a torus with one flat side, such as Skid-Mates by Hardigg Cases. They come in several densities to support different loads, indicated by a color code. These “donuts” are occasionally used in lieu of skids in the art shipping industry (more often in the general shipping industry), presumably to add that extra bit of cushioning between the crate and the floor, or to create forklift access for loads shipped without pallets or custom skids.

For each plastic-footed crate that comes and goes without incident, one or more have shown up with a crushed or missing foot; sometimes more than one. An incomplete set of feet obviously makes for an unstable crate. Those aren’t much fun when they are tall, thin and six hundred pounds or more. This can be especially serious for anything that shouldn’t be tilted, much less rocked back and forth throughout its transit. For this reason, I like to keep a few different types of donuts around the crate shop. When a crate passes through with such a problem, I simply slap a new one on wherever it is needed.

That said, I am of the opinion that plastic donuts have no place in custom art crating. By “custom” I mean crates that you design and build to unique specifications; as opposed to prefab crates and pallets for, say, a beer botting plant. Any crate that doesn’t pack an artwork sufficiently on the inside is in trouble before it’s built, and needs to go back to the drawing board. Why not design an adequate crate and then add a little extra cushion to the outside? Because that can easily lead to taking the donuts into consideration when designing the interior packing in a crunch. Such a thing might never occur to you or me, but somebody out there is doing it right now because they are on a budget and in a hurry. If your custom art crate needs donuts under it, you’re doing it wrong. There are better ways to give your shipment multiple and separate levels of cushioning.

But donuts are not merely unnecessary on a good art crate. There is a reason or two not to use them. As I mentioned before, they come with different load strengths so that you can take the crate’s weight into account when balancing the sturdiness needed with a bit of cushioning. But what if your crate with well-balanced donuts is dropped on one edge or corner, temporarily putting all of the weight on fewer donuts? Or what if another company’s crate is stacked on top of yours? Or two more? It would seem that the feet of higher densities would be the safe bet in terms of avoiding donut failure, but that would often as not eliminate most of the cushioning for which you have chosen to use them in the first place. However unlikely the scenarios above might sound, the fact remains that I see at least one of a set crushed more often than not.

Even when none of the donuts are damaged and they are doing their intended job, the exterior cushioning they provide can cause a tall and heavy crate to feel unsteady before any of the feet leave the floor. If a transport is not properly loaded with this in mind, it leaves the crate free for all kinds of motion during transit. Hollow feet designed for specific load ranges can always be exposed to unexpected and adverse conditions during shipping.

Finally there is the potential for damage of a more violent kind. In contests with forklifts, donuts always lose. Wooden skids can also be knocked off by wayward forks, but only if the crate is too heavy to be pushed away by the forks (or it is pinned in place by something like a wall), and if the skid is also broadsided by the shock. But in most cases wood skids are placed perpendicular to logical forklift access; giving a full-length beam of solid wood nowhere to go. So the shearing of a properly assembled wood skid is relatively uncommon. Custom skids also look better, as they can be designed as a solid, seamless part of the crate rather than just being pinned on as an afterthought.

In my opinion, donuts go with coffee - not fine art shipping.

Because every holiday for us is potentially a busman’s holiday — there is art everywhere  – it isn’t unusual for my husband and I to check into a hotel and immediately make ourselves suspicious to the staff. Without removing anything from the walls or touching the frames we nonetheless make ourselves conspicuous, craning to see how artworks in the common areas and in our room are attached to the walls. We can’t help it; this is how we are wired (pun intended). We’re always on the outlook for interesting solutions, and any new hardware or technologies that might be in play. Glamorous as it is to be mistaken for art thieves, our interest lies in how artworks are put up, now how we can take them down!

I should be clear that we are not looking to sell our services to these establishments. Most hotels and conference centers buy art in bulk and install in bulk, an entire floor or even the entire hotel at once. The vendors who do this type of installation typically do so under contract and frankly at a rate per piece which is below what we charge to install fine art. There are of course exceptions including boutique hotels, corporations, and law offices etc. who purchase and display truly fine art, and hire us to install it. But large hotel chains, not so much.  Nor does  our crew of installers with master’s degrees in art, some of whom teach at the college level, want to go to a hotel for four weeks and install lithographs of tulips and swans. Maybe in Hawaii. But even there, probably not. It’s a different culture and the demands of the workplace and the knowledge required in each case, as similar as they seem (putting up art) are actually quite different. But I digress.

So we have seen a lot of approaches to installing art in public places, some brilliant, some silly, most standard and unremarkable. But recently we ran into something entirely new: we entered our room and immediately saw that every painting was screwed to the wall with four or more shiny metal screws put right through the frames — and not tiny screws either. In some cases these were gilt frames. Expensive or not, most likely not, it was still jarring  and made us wonder if this hotel, a nice one, had for some reason a major problem with theft of southwestern themed amateur art. Or fear of earthquake perhaps? Something must have possessed them to go to this extreme of ruining the frames, not to mention the aesthetic senses of the onlooker, in favor of securing the art.   

Having explained our interest to the owner (this was a small hotel) he said, first, that we were the only guests ever to inquire — figures! And second, that theft was not the issue, or earthquake, but crookedness in another sense. The pictures, originally hung on wire, were always getting knocked off of kilter, and he was tired of paying staff and taking his own time to straighten them. Times ten artworks per room times however many rooms — adds up. So having had enough at some point, they simply nailed and/or screwed all the paintings to the walls, end of problem, done.  

Needless to say there are there are a number of less drastic possible solutions,  although perhaps none cheaper, which don’t ruin the frames and allow for removal or repositioning  with less trauma to plaster or drywall. We will discuss some of these approaches such as security mounts in an upcoming blog post. We certainly sympathize with the need for alignment — the world is pretty much divided into two groups, those who can’t be in a room with an askew painting without breaking into hives, or straightening the painting properly, and those who are fine with it or don’t notice. For the former, like the hotel owner, and who also clearly owns the building and so won’t catch hell from the landlord, this was an immediate and inexpensive fix which only disturbed, apparently, us. Those screws ! Right into the wood frames!  Pretty big screws ! After a couple of glasses of white wine out by the pool we managed to overcome our professional horror and enjoyed our stay. We slept without fear of anything coming down on us in an earthquake, except perhaps the walls themselves with those paintings of ponies and pink mesas everlastingly attached….

Betsy Dorfman

We get requests on a regular basis to send boxed or otherwise “softpacked” artworks via package services such as UPS or Fed Ex, or by freight, to various destinations.

Our answer in 99% of the cases is, no. We don’t ship softpacked art by freight service, period. Or, (with apologies to O.J.) if it’s freight it needs a crate! For starters, the package services don’t differ from freight in terms of handling; they are freight.

Freight handling is rough and tumble, or can be. We get crates in regularly that have footprints on them from being “stood” on, sometimes a whole line of footprints showing the crate was walked on most likely to reach other objects in a truck. If that container had been a softpack or box — curtains.

Most freight shipments are handled multiple times enroute, are fork lifted to and fro, and may get conveyor belted as well. The extra foam padding used within a properly built crate gives far better “shock” protection than a standard softpack. If you have ever seen the result of a cowboy driven forklift tine striking a cardboard box, it isn’t pretty. With a severe blow even a crate might be breached, but the chances are better for a positive outcome.

In addition, freight shipments are generally not “tied in” within the transport vehicle or aircraft. Which means they can shift, turn over, or other items can lean against them or fall on them. Thus, the more rigid the container the better. 

Moreover, crates can be constructed using various tricks of the trade along the top or bottom which make them suitable to ride only one way i.e. in a given orientation as to LWH. While this is not foolproof, and we never rely on freight carriers to ship art that might be damaged if turned from the vertical, it is more possible to secure the orientation of larger crates than boxes or cartons. Any small box or package shipped via freight is guaranteed to be turned this way and that, no matter what orientation marks appear on the exterior.

There are exceptions to the  freight=crate rule. Several companies sell prebuilt shipping containers or “strong boxes” composed of heavy corrugated cardboard, seriously foam lined, and sometimes incorporating additional puncture proof linings. These offer protection approaching that of a plywood crate, but are more crushable, still. And there is the occasional very sturdy artwork that can survive double boxing in a foam lined box.

Your local pickup guy may hand carry your box out to his truck, and may lovingly place it in the proper orientation, but it’s not going to be handled that way for the rest of the journey, chances are. We see packages every day which are handed to us upside down, or where “fragile” markings are ignored with parcels tossed casually into trucks despite cautionary labeling. A crate offers superior protection outside and in and gives what can be an art saving margin for error. 

If you stick with our rule of thumb you have a far better chance of your shipment arriving in good condition. 

Betsy Dorfman

Here’s a quick update to our recent post about crating the longest urinal west of the Mississippi. Terence Koh’s sculpture arrived safe and sound, and now hangs serenely on the wall of the Mary Boone Gallery.

Credit is also due to the NYC art handler, Winchester Fine Arts, who received the crate and took care of the destination services.  Shipping an artwork of this size, weight and fragility successfully is always a team effort. 

*Photos by ArtObserved

And here is a link to more photos and review of the show. Not to mention the after party! http://artobserved.com/ao-on-site-koons-kelley-koh-curated-by-javier-peres-at-mary-boone-gallery-in-chelsea-saturday-march-4th-show-runs-through-may-16-2009/

Chris Barber

Just a follow-up to my review of Let the Right One In from a while back…

So the recent DVD release by Magnolia included faulty English subtitles. Unfortunately, those who missed the theatrical release would not notice that the dialogue was dumbed down and stripped of all character for the DVD. Gone was the dark humor and distinctive voices of each character. Some examples of the difference can be seen here.

But there’s a happy ending after all. In response to the blogic outcry, Magnolia films is now manufacturing DVDs with the original (theatrical) subtitles intact. To see which version you are holding, look on the back of the case. The new discs will actually say that the subtitles are the “theatrical” version.

Chris Barber

 Rule 1 : The condition of an artwork is never “good.” … Or you should at least approach an inspection in this frame of mind. Keep looking until you find the exceptions. An “exception” is just an instance of possible or apparent damage - any imperfection worth noting. 999 times out of 1000 they are there to be found.

 Sample condition report format:

Rule 2:  Report what you see. The most important quality of a condition report - and what allows it to function at all - is clarity. Photography, drawings and verbal description should be employed effectively to document any exceptions that you find. Identify the exception, locate it on the artwork and indicate its scope. Strive for short and precise notes, and limit your use of relative terms; such as bad, small, severe, etc. The standard industry jargon should help you sidestep generalities and lengthy descriptions to address specific conditions concisely.

There are numerous guides and sample condition reports only a web search away. You can reference several of them for guidance in formatting your own report, and gathering inspection tools such as special lighting and magnifying lenses. That being the case,  I’ll limit the following to a short glossary of exceptions.

These are the most common bogeymen of art objects:

Abrasion - a type of erosion often caused by the friction of rubbing or scraping the surface.

Accretion - the accumulation of foreign material on the surface, not always dirt.

Blanching - a milky stippling in a painted surface, often caused tiny faults puncturing the surface.

Bleeding - a post-production migration of pigment, often caused by exposure to water.

Bloom - a milky area where the clarity of the paint or varnish has been compromised, but more superficial damage than Blanching.

Blush - like Bloom, but in lacquer.

Check - a gap along the grain of a piece of wood, smaller than a Split.

Chip - a Dent that involves a broken piece of material.

Cleavage - a type of Crackle involving the separation of a material’s strata.

Cockling - a set of small parallel waves in a sheet of paper, in which the surface is not creased.

Corrosion - a chemical reaction between a surface and a foreign agent, accompanied by a slow process of Loss.

Crack - a linear or planar fault in a surface or a form that does not involve Loss.

Crackle - an area of perpendicular cracks that does not involve Cleavage.

Craquelure - a fine network of Crackle often caused by a material’s reaction to climate changes.

Crevice - a narrow but deep type of Crackle

Dent -  a concave distortion in the surface that does not include Loss.

Dig - a Dent that includes Loss or Displacement.

Discoloration - any change in color.

Dishing (aka Draw) - a distortion in the canvas of a painting caused by unequal tension around the stretcher.

Disjoin - a separation of elements or portions of an object, in which the separation can be complete or incomplete.

Dust- self-explanatory

Embrittlement- self-explanatory, a loss of plasticity in the object, often caused by exposure to heat.

Erosion- a loss of material, usually due to Abrasion or Embrittlement.

Fading - this type of Discoloration is the loss of saturation or value.

Fingerprint- self-explanatory; Grime in the form of a specific kind of Smear.

Foxing - the Corrosion of a paper element, often caused by mold or iron rusting within the pulp.

Gouge - a Dig where material has been lost in a scooping action.

Grime - dust sticking to the surface with a oily medium.

Lacuna (aka Loss) - a specific depression where a portion of the surface material is missing, such as a painting’s varnish.

Rift - a wide but shallow type of Crackle.

Run - a dried rivulet of a foreign liquid.

Smear - a specific instance of grime, such as a fingerprint or other contact with surface.

Spatter - a type of dried splash from a foreign liquid.

Split - a Check in wood grain that runs the entire length of that element.

Stain - this type of Discoloration usually involves both Fading and a darkening of the surface.

Stretcher Crease - a literal crease or line of fine cracks along an edge of a painting’s stretcher.

Tear- self-explanatory, usually applied to cloth or paper.

Chris Barber

The crating challenge presented here is to adequately protect this table within the crate so that the delicate spindle-mounted top element has little or no downward pressure on it. This is accomplished by securing the sturdier base element to the bottom of the crate. The feet are secured by custom ethafoam bumpers, and the cushioned straps hold the structure in place. The revolving tabletop is immobilized by more bumpers above and around the edge, but is in no way stressed by the pressure required to secure the heavier base. Although this is a simplified packing solution for a travel crate, no portion of the table comes in contact with anything other than tyvek-lined ethafoam.

Our crating department describes this as a “hybrid” crate:  it contains many of the elements of a full museum standard crate but is not painted or lacquered on the exterior and the contents are not further packed within an inner box. These are intentional choices and illustrate the extent to which each crating project is unique and both the crater and the customer can together elect elements from a “laundry list” of possible goodies.

The crate exterior shows the heavy battens and bolt closures typical of a museum standard crate. Bolt closures facilitate opening and closing repeatedly without structural damage. The crate is marked with orientation arrows, “fragile” notice and directions as to which end opens first. Statistics show that most damage occurs during unpacking of packages, so having this type of information clearly marked on crates is not an afterthought but an integral part of the risk management process.

Betsy Dorfman