Are Museums Using Enough Protection? - Gothamist

Are Museums Using Enough Protection? - Gothamist: "In light of the recent Picasso accident at the Met, it's sort of nerve-racking to see a masterpiece like this out in the open, no? One blogger recently spotted this painting being unloaded at the Guggenheim during lunchtime, noting how it 'is only clad in plastic wrapping and the 2 handlers look about as professional as the college stoners I used to hire to move my Ikea furniture in a minivan.' And what artist gets this kind of handling? Joan Miró, who is certainly worthy of some bubble wrap, at least. We contacted the Guggenheim to clarify what exactly is happening in this photo, and in the meantime, MOBIA director of exhibitions Paul Tabor has enlightened us about the practice of handling art in museums. He tells us 'there are two types of specialized packing methods for works of art, hard crating and soft crating. Both begin by wrapping the art in glycine paper and then a layer of foam or bubble wrap to give it a cushion of air. Hard crating involves placing the artwork into slots inside a larger wooden box. With soft crating, cardboard is wrapped around the frame of the work and then it’s packed into larger cardboard boxes.'"