All that glitters...

[Messerve]

So oddly enough the back of the painting I saved also has a paper layer over the cardboard... The exterior of it was painted light blue as I said, but because it got wet I can see writing that came through the paint a little. It looks almost looks like an old advertisement for soda or something...? It seems to be a much older painting that I thought originally, if the ads underneath are as old as they look.

I have to winder, though, was it normal to attach a painting to cardboard and then also attach a layer of paper to the back? What would be the point?

 

[Chris V++]

So oddly enough the back of the painting I saved also has a paper layer over the cardboard... The exterior of it was painted light blue as I said, but because it got wet I can see writing that came through the paint a little. It looks almost looks like an old advertisement for soda or something...? It seems to be a much older painting that I thought originally, if the ads underneath are as old as they look.

I have to winder, though, was it normal to attach a painting to cardboard and then also attach a layer of paper to the back? What would be the point?

Was the painting painted directly on to the back of the cardboard advertisement? If that's the case it was probably that the cardboard was convenient to paint on. If the painting was glued to the cardboard advertisement, it might have been glued before the painting was started to stiffen or reinforce the cardboard so that it wouldn't warp when it became wet. The only other reason i can think of is to thicken the project so that it would fit more snugly in a frame. The painter was trying to cover up the advertisement, so likely this painting was sold or for sale at one time. He or she wouldnt have cared about hiding the advertisement otherwise

 

[Messerve]

Was the painting painted directly on to the back of the cardboard advertisement? If that's the case it was probably that the cardboard was convenient to paint on. If the painting was glued to the cardboard advertisement, it might have been glued before the painting was started to stiffen or reinforce the cardboard so that it wouldn't warp when it became wet. The only other reason i can think of is to thicken the project so that it would fit more snugly in a frame. The painter was trying to cover up the advertisement, so likely this painting was sold or for sale at one time. He or she wouldnt have cared about hiding the advertisement otherwise

Yeah it's like they glued the thin paper to a piece of cardboard and then another piece of paper (with the advertisements) they glued to the back of the cardboard. I understand the painting surface needed to be strengthened, but since the cardboard was already just plain brown, I'm confused why they felt the need to glue another thin piece of paper to the back? Since it's painted over, it does appear they didn't want the advertisements to be obvious. But why even bother with the back paper at all when cardboard would have been good enough? Hmmm...

It's still drying some. I decided to prop it against the wall since laying flat was trapping moisture. Everything's peeling apart, except the painting itself, thankfully. I'm going to try treating ti with polycrylic once it's fully dry and then try to reframe it with glass.