Urban Art Association

 damn man.  does your house have humidity issues that you know of?  Did the tube get wet?

keep us posted~

Try here chap. www.grahambignellstudio.co.uk/

Yep, like Ruggs said, a professional can most likely take care of that.

Sounds like foxing. Humidity and the acids in cardboard had sex with your print and produced bastard foxey children.

In most cases a good result can be had. And with that particular print well worth the investment to repair. It won't be 100% but depending on the degree of damage still very framable.

+1 for Graham Bignell. That man is a modern day miracle worker.

Agree with +1 for Graham Bignell... And more

I had a one time water issue in my basement. It was fixed and the water dried up. A few months later a very good framed print on paper from the 1960's had a yellowish grey mold/fungus on the front of the paper. It was in 100% acid free matt and backing so it was not foxing from the backing board. I took it out, gently rubbed it off with a paper towel. It will need proper restoration though for the stains. 3 works on paper unframed were completely ruined.

So yes in extreme conditions even a framed print is not 100% safe. That said, many other pieces survived without damage.

I had this a few weeks ago with a print of mine in my spare room. There wasn't too much damage to the back of the print and it's a print i'll never sell but it still stung a bit.

Assuming it's because there must be damp in the room....but i've never noticed it!?

Where is this 50% humidity figure from? It sounds very low to me - lower than 99% of houses in the UK!

Mould won't generally grow until the high 60%s.

Damp can be a condensation issue as many of out homes are virtually hermetically sealed these days - so making sure window vents are open may help and definitely make sure air bricks aren't blocked as houses are generally, especially older ones, meant to breathe.

50% is to be safe. If the overall relative humidity is lower than 50%, it helps prevent localized humidity from getting too high. It also helps prevent issues with condensation if your walls have poor insulation or otherwise inconsistent temperatures.

I ran into a mold problem about six or seven years ago. I had to have a mold remediation company come out and remove the mold, which was in the drywall and carpet. I learned my lesson the hard way.

I've had this problem in a few Victorian properties I've lived in over the years, but usually on the backs of frames when hung on an outside, cold wall. I've tried pads and giving adequate ventilation but for external walls this never worked.  I've also tried spraying the back of frames with various mould sprays and watered down bleach solutions - again this only prolonged the onslaught. Pretty much when a porous material has mould it's very hard to get rid of. Better to reframe and move the print somewhere else, (preferably an internal wall).

Best advice is to buy a dehumidifier and monitor the humidity of rooms, you would be amazed at the amount of water these things suck up on a daily basis. I've been realatively lucky and avoided any damage to artwork but have had to replace backings and mounts in the past.

As Dappy has said above there are many very good sites you can check for helpful tips to reduce mould forming. Also be careful you treat mould properly and don't spread or inhale spores otherwise you may be at risk of spreading the problem to other areas of the house. Don't cross contaminate.

forbiddenlove: it sounds as if your tube may have gotten damp at some stage, they suck up residual moisture from the atmosphere and maybe with changes in temperature mould has developed.
It sucks, but I'm sure insurance or a good restorer will sort the problem.

I have dehumidifier and you would be surprised how much water it collects. You just need to put it on at random times and it pretty much ensures that the problem is solved. Loads of rain plus heating on etc

However as per Dappy n Jantalb good air circulation is the key but if you have dehumidifier it's great when you don't have the circulation or want to open windows etc.

Just to update the print is now getting restored. We shall see what happens.

Jusdeep it happened when I had loads of family over and they insistently asked for the heating constantly on at 10000 degrees. That was deff a change in room temperature and remember it happening around this time.