If you recently painted a masterpiece or have expensive oil paintings in your living room, you might be curious about their longevity. Oils are durable, and a painting can last a lifetime. But there are many factors that ultimately decide how many years a painting will stay fresh.
The answer to the question, how long will an oil painting last, depends on the fashion of the painting and the quality of the materials used. On average, oil paintings last at least fifty years or more.
Today we’ll discuss the longevity of oil paintings and how it changes under different conditions. To help new artists, we’ve added five basic tips on preserving oil paintings that make a difference. Let’s get right into it!
Table of Contents
How Long Will an Oil Painting Last?
When painted on linen canvas in a scholarly fashion, oil paintings can last
hundreds of years. There are many ways you can improve the longevity of your paint. But it comes down to mixing, layering, and most importantly – the quality of your canvas, which determines how long your art will eventually last.
If you’re not a professional artist, you might be tempted to use cotton canvasses and low-quality substrates. But there are certain types of substrates that protect the oils for a longer period, such as linen, hemp fiber, and wood.
A majority of artists protect their paintings with traditional or synthetic varnishes. In short, oil paintings can last for many years (even decades) as long as you use quality materials and take proper care of the artwork. An artwork made on a cotton canvas lasts half a decade, and then it will start to rot.
What Causes an Oil Paint to Degrade with Time?
It’s heartbreaking to see the works of your favorite artist in ruins. Due to chemical cross-linking and the use of certain binding materials, paintings dry out and crack. You might be interested to know why it specifically happens with oils. So, we are listing down four main reasons why paintings deteriorate with time.
The Adhesion Quality of Linseed Oil
Linseed is the main ingredient in these paints. It also has weak adhesion, which means the oils may separate from the pigment particles, causing a chemical modification in color.
Pigments like titanium dioxide also affect the polymeric binder in paints so much that many artists use alumina to prevent fading and cracking.
A high amount of pigment makes paintings stiff, accelerating premature cracking and shrinking.
Ongoing Chemical Process
Ever wondered how old oil paintings are so delicate and brittle? It’s because paint cannot completely stop reacting to its surroundings. Every reaction sparks a minute change in the chemical bonding of the paints. With time, these changes become more visible in each paint layer.
Moreover, all paints have a binding agent, which in this case, is vegetable oil. When vegetable oils dry, they cause the work to shrink, sending raggedy lines across the entire surface.
Direct Sunlight and Humidity
An artwork done with archival quality materials will withstand years on the shelf. Hang it in a humid room, and the next thing you know – the paints are peeling off of the substrate.
So, there are a lot of things that make oil paintings crawl out of their skin – starting from temperature, ultraviolet light to the fumes of turpentine and mineral spirits.
Oil Paints Turn Yellow with Age
Oils have a yellow tinge to them, which has become more prominent over the years. Acrylic paints yellow slowly in a normal situation. But oils will most definitely turn yellow regardless of your painting process. Light colors are mixed with poppy seed oil – the only pigments that appear less yellow and have a slower drying process.
Five Tips to Make a Painting Last Longer
Museum paintings are hundreds and thousands of years old. It’s possible that they have undergone chemical changes, handling, and restoration. So, it might come as a surprise when your recently painted artwork starts to peel. Follow these five tips to make your paintings last without having to buy extra paint supplies.
Tip One – Mix Oil Paints Reasonably to Prevent Cracking
Over-diluting paints can render lighter colors on canvas. It also lifts the hues and makes an artwork peel away from the substrate. The more a painter waters down the binder, the less sticky it becomes.
For the best results, make sure that the linen canvas is all primed and dry before you lay the first stroke.
Carbon blacks and iron oxides are good pigments that double up as UV screeners. They increase the weatherability of the finished painting. Just to minimize trouble in the future, no paintings should be kept under direct sunlight or left out in cold temperatures.
Tip Two – Use Stretched Canvass for the Best Results
Canvas is the best substrate for oils. Speaking of, surfaces with high alkaline levels such as bricks, statues, stones, and other masonry react poorly with oils. Especially if the weather is humid, the paint can flake off very quickly.
If a linen canvas in a particular size is unavailable, you may use a cotton canvas. But let us warn you, most methods of art restoration could be ineffective on cotton. Invest in stretched artist-grade canvasses and some specialty canvasses made of hemp fiber and jute.
Tip Three – Avoid an Oil Paint with Poor Lightfast Rating
The lightfast rating indicates how well the paint will handle light exposure in the long term. It’s mentioned on the paint tubes. Fluorescent colors have a poor lightfast rating and fade comparatively faster than vibrant colors. If fading is a concern for most mediums, use high-quality supplies with a solid rating.
Tip Four – Layer Slow-Drying Pigments on Fast-Drying Pigments
To make your paintings naturally resistant to cracking and peeling, place the slower-drying pigments on fast-drying ones. It gives you a chance to play with the shades and make longer-lasting paintings.
To sum it up, each coat should contain more oil than the previous layer. Artists also recommend applying the white spirit and varnish in intervals. It’s all about timing in the art world!
Spraying a thin film of linseed oil also prevents old paintings from cracking. If you need more time to finish your paintings and want the paints to remain buildable, add two drops of clove oil to your palette.
Tip Five – Protect Your Oil Paints from Drying Out
You can protect artworks by applying a layer of varnish. It must be done after six months, once the art has completely dried. Art collectors agree that it’s best not to use dammar varnish because of the lavender spike and turpentine-based solvent.
However, you can use gloss varnish instead. It brightens the vibrant colors and saturates the bright colors. You need to cover the whole painting with a thin layer of varnish. Allow time for the natural curing process before applying varnish.
How Does Acrylic Paint Last Longer Than Oil Paint?
When it comes to longevity, acrylic paints beat oil by a large margin. Acrylic paintings are more long-lasting than oils because they have polymerized paint molecules. Unlike oils, acrylics do not go through an endless chemical process.
Acrylics resist cracking, fading, peeling, and yellowing. They’re the top choice of art materials in modern times. Does that mean acrylic paintings will last millennia?
Considering water-based acrylics have only been around for 60 years, it’s hard to tell how long an acrylic painting will last. But from a scientific point of view, acrylic paints will definitely last longer than oils!
Moving forward, acrylic paint layers are soft and flexible. It makes them less likely to degrade when exposed to oxygen, airborne particles, and ultraviolet light. The combination of humidity and alkaline conditions does little harm to acrylic paintings.
Final Words
Making artworks with oils is a luxurious experience. You love how they blend on canvas and the expensive-looking gloss that comes after curing.
Now that you know how long will an oil painting last, follow our instructions on preserving paintings at home.
We left many painting preservation tips and hacks along the way so that you never have to despair over a rotten painting again. All the best!
