They claim this material is archival. Is it?
Thank you for this. We see plenty of oil paintings that are five hundred years old and in great condition. Other artworks are thousands of years old and cave paintings that are fifty thousand years old. (Who among us makes anything that will last fifty thousand years, even with all our high technology?) Manufacturers who say their product will last “a long time” but actually mean mere decades, really do need to be taught that art has much higher standards. Thank you for the work that you do.
Regards,
Clay
The manufacturer’s website doesn’t disclose a lot of technical data about the products, but I don’t see anything in the product listings that would warrant any special skepicism. I would recommend that the artist reach out to the company and ask specific questions about fiber content, sizing/adhesive, whiteners, etc. and see what the response is. I do want to point out, however, that when artists describe a material as “archival” they usually mean “durable to the standards of permanent art”. “Archival” is certainly overused as a marketing term, sort of like “all natural”. “Archival” more specifically refers to products that are safe for long-term contact with valuable objects in libraries, museums and other collections.
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