I varnished a print several years ago (20 at least) using Strand's
formula as published in one of Ansel Adams books. It was on Cranes
Paper. The varnish itself was a golden yellow right from the beginning.
It hasn't seemed to have changed since.
The advantage of varnishing is that it emphasizes separation in the
blacks. People who are dedicated to silver gelatin prints always comment
on that print.
I was told Strand varnished many prints just for that reason. The Fogg
Museum at Harvard has a wonderful print of Strand's wife Rebecca in
which a small part of the print missed the varnish. It is worth looking
at to see the effect.
Be careful with waxes as all are not the same. Renaissance was
formulated by the British Museum for works on paper. Bees wax
(Encaustics) can be used but must be heated then wiped to take off
excess. Jasper Johns's newspapers are still very fresh underneath his
Targets. I find waxing detracts from the way platinum prints pull you
into the paper but someone else might want the effect. I prefer the
varnish if you experiment in this direction.
Mike Silver
Dan Cardish wrote:
>
> At 02:37 PM 20-03-98 -0700, Wayde wrote:
> >On Fri, 20 Mar 1998, Luis Nadeau wrote:
> >
> >> At 4:49 AM 98/03/20, Donald Cardwell wrote:
> >> >G'morning M Nadeau
> >> >
> >> >In the midst of the dye sub thread, I wondered what the long term affect
> >> >of varnishing prints, as did Strand, has been ?
> >>
> >>
> >> I can't think of an old varnished print that has not yellowed to some
> extent.
> >
> >While we're at this, any information about the long term effect of waxing?
> >
> >I recently had a print with some abrasions in the super coating. Waxing
> >with Johnson's floor wax fixed the problem, but I am wondering how this
> >print will hold up over time. I guess I'll just watch and wait if nothing
> >else.
>
> In theory, shouldn't it be possible to remove the old wax and apply a fresh
> coat every so often?
>
> Dan C.