Paintings

Keying out

There are a number of problems which can arise when a work is keyed out. For this reason you should never attempt to key out a work unless you have been trained to do this properly by a conservator and you are aware of potential problems.

Older canvases can be extremely brittle and may tear at the corners, or elsewhere along the rollover or tacking edge.

Some paintings which have been distorted over a period of time may have a very strong plastic memory in their canvas or paint layers and keying them out may cause severe stress with cracking and even cleavage and flaking in the stressed areas.

You should carefully consider the strength of the adhesion on mixed-media works such as collage, which may delaminate with movement of the canvas.