Conservation and archival framing, trusted by museums
Nothing touches the artwork that can’t be undone.
Archival framing means three things.
Your artwork is never altered. Everything that touches it or sits next to it is acid-free or neutral, so it protects the piece and helps it last. And every method we use is reversible, so your artwork can always be taken out of its frame unchanged.
This is the service our owners put first. Protecting your artwork is our commitment to you, to the art community and to the generations who will inherit these pieces.
The same standards used to protect national museum collections.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Working with Larson Juhl and Tru Vue, Chelsea Frames helped set up the reglazing program at the Rijksmuseum, using Optium Museum Acrylic. More than 8,000 works have been reglazed over ten years, and the work continues. Daniel worked on about 800 of them himself during the first phase and put the program in place.
New York and US museums
Our studio has also worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and, most recently, the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Product testing
Manufacturers ask us to test their new conservation products.
Certified framers
Six Certified Picture Framers (CPF®) are on our staff, and three more team members are in training for certification.
Every piece stays in our Chelsea studio for the entire process.
On-Premises.
All of our conservation and archival framing is done on our premises. When you bring your artwork to us, it stays with us until the project is finished and you collect it. That is how we make sure every step is done the way we promised.
Lifetime Guarantee.
Our lifetime guarantee covers this service too. We stand behind our work for as long as our label is on the back of the piece.
Collectors, galleries and interior designers who need work done right.
Collectors and families.
For valuable or sentimental pieces, from artwork bought at galleries or on your travels to a child’s drawing or a family photograph, we frame to the same conservation standard.
Designers and Galleries.
Interior designers and galleries bring us work for their own clients, in New York and across the country, and rely on conservation-grade results they can stand behind. We frame single pieces and entire shows.
Every step is reversible, and nothing alters the artwork.
Assessment
From the moment you arrive at our studio, we review the piece with you and agree the best methods and the finished result before any work begins.
Materials
We use archival, acid-free materials throughout. Our preferred glazing is acrylic with 99% UV protection, the museum standard, because anything less can let harmful UV light damage the artwork. We use cotton rag matting rather than treated paper matting, and even the dust cover on the back is 100% acid-free paper.
Reversibility
Your artwork is attached with reversible methods, whether long-established or newly developed by the conservation community, so it can always be taken out of its frame unchanged. We keep up with new methods and products, and protecting the piece, never altering it, always comes first.
Timeline
Most projects take two to three weeks. Handmade frames take four to six weeks, and some specialty finishes take six to eight weeks.
Protect what matters. Talk to our conservation team.
Tell us about the piece you want to protect, or visit our studio at 197 9th Avenue in Chelsea.