Help! I have a giant painting trapped in my house!

[steamedxmaspudding]

This will out me to anyone who knows me but...

I have a giant oil painting upstairs in my house (about 2m square) which I have to move as we're having some building work done in a couple of weeks. Only problem is, it won't fit down the stairs! Or into any of the other rooms on that floor. What the hell do I do? I love it and really don't want to damage it. I have been in touch with various art conservators/reframers etc but none of them have been able to help or even offer any advice.

Current plan is to take it off the frame (it's not framed under glass, just canvas stretched over wood) and then just bend it a little bit to get it downstairs but I'm really worried about the paint cracking 😫

Any ideas gratefully received!

Oh no! Ignore that. It doesn't!

Whoops sorry

Contact Fame or Fortune and say you think it's by an Old Master?

This reminds me of a story my husband told me about a distant cousin who built a boat in his house but couldn't get it out when it was finished. I'm afraid I can't remember how/if it was resolved. Good luck!

It would make sense to let the art experts become involved but that would also be probably a very expensive course of action, it would maybe be cheaper to pay for the banister work!

Ah. Forget that idea then!

I love the painting, but my main question is how on earth has it never been damaged in that position? Hands running along it, handbags swinging against it? I have no solutions but heavliy invested on the solution you do find.

I think that's just as far as they've managed to get it so far, not the wall it's been on.

I missed this somehow (that it's not going back on that wall). Where is its final destination? Removers are definitely your best hope if it HAS to move to another location. Where it ends up has a big bearing on what you do with it now.

It sounds like the bannisters aren't being touched so package it and secure it against the bannisters it is currently facing? Assuming taking that minimal amount of space away won't stop builders passing by.

I know this might be absolute sacrilege, but it is massive, and unless you have a giant room downstairs presumably it's never going to be veiwed from a head on position, so it's only ever going to be at angles, so maybe perspective and balance might matter less so could you... chop a bit off? I'm cringing even suggesting it though!!
Also so curious where it's going downstairs if your DH hates it!

I think with the banisters out it could be done - without them I could slide it into the bathroom at the end of the corridor (at an angle), then partway down the stairs and then drop it over the edge of the staircase to the ground floor. That's how we got it up, although we had more ceiling clearance at the time. But it might be a bit touch and go!

You need professional to advise
Art movers
Framers
If you take off frame how much to stretch it back on?

This.
But also - how on earth have you avoided damaging the painting so far? Do you not allow children in your house?!

Sorry I have no suggestions, but I’m so invested in this now.

Also, would really love to know how you came by it, what’s its significance to you but totally understand you might not want to say!

If work is not being done on that wall I'd just explain to the builders and show them the problem - so they can appreciate and visualise the delicate nature. Then wrap it up carefully as per suggestions above and ask builders to work around it as best they can.

I've done this with very large furniture during reno work. Each set of builders has been great once they understood, worked around it and had no problems. I just checked each morning that any new workmen joining them that day had been told and were aware of the issue to rule out poor communication / no handovers.

Before doing the above I'd speak to a removal firm to rule out any better ideas from them...

Former picture framer here - you should be able to release the canvas by remove the nails from where it's is attached to the inner wooden frame, then the canvas should have enough 'give' for you to get it downstairs without damaging it. Don't try to roll it up though, just in case the paint cracks. Then the frame could be carefully taken apart and reassembled. You could either use the old nails to reattach the canvas or staple it back on, or get a picture framer to do it for you. Good luck.

Sheer luck! It was never meant to go on that wall but ended up there thanks to building work and some very poor planning on my part. Before that it was in a bedroom but when we moved the location of the bedroom door I realised we wouldn't be able to get the painting out if it stayed there so it moved into the hallway and then got stuck there instead...

Make a mocked up version out of cardboard to test if you can get it out without the bannister.

Take up some floorboards on the landing, make hole in downstairs ceiling (avoiding pipes etc) and lower it through. Then put floor back and get the ceiling re-plastered, easy!

Now that I've seen the whole picture (it's on MutualArt), I have to say OP that I like it. I can see why it caught your eye. But I can also see it wouldn't be to everyone's taste, and there's a lot of it!

Fortunately dd doesn't spend much time on the landing 😂

Maybe you need a framer round to have a look. I love the painting btw.

Can it be taken out/off and rolled? Or too old for that?

Remove the bannister. Surely you're likely to be redecorating it anyway after the building work.

Surely removing and replacing them is less work and les risky than any of the other options?

Apart from the small matter of the joists which are holding the floor up!