The care of antique works on paper

Porcupine, 1951, woodcut by Leonard Baskin

All works on paper have special needs; some problems, such as the damage caused by sunlight, have been touched on above, but this needs emphasis, and other risks need to be mentioned. Whether used for drawings, watercolours, prints or books, the healthy survival of paper, or otherwise, depends upon its quality. Until the early nineteenth century paper was made from linen rags, and the cellulose content in linen meant that added chemicals were unnecessary: this type of paper is the most resilient.
Paper made from wood pulp, as much was from the 1840s onwards, included lignin, an acidic light-sensitive substance which eventually turns the paper brown and brittle, while certain methods of sizing paper, and bleaching it, have also caused susceptibility to damage.

Upcoming auctions: Old Master drawings at Sotheby's

Old Masters drawings
Sotheby's, New York
25th January 2012

Portrait of a young man, head and shoulders, wearing a cap
Attributed to Piero del Pollaiolo
Pen and brown ink over black chalk
360 by 228 mm
Estimate: 300,000 - 400,000 USD

In what is one of the richest and most varied Old Master Drawings sales for years, perhaps the most remarkable single sheet is the exceptional, large-scale portrait head of a young man, executed in the late 1460s or early 1470s, and attributed to Piero del Pollaiolo.  An exceptionally well preserved masterpiece of Florentine Early Renaissance draughtsmanship, nothing like this drawing has appeared on the market in recent years.