What Do Fine Art Handlers Do?
Fine art handlers are trained specialists who pack, crate, move, install, and store artwork without damaging it. They work for museums, galleries and art logistics companies, and they handle anything fragile, valuable or irreplaceable: paintings, sculpture, works on paper, antique furniture and collectibles. Most jobs need at least two.
What is a fine art handler?
A fine art handler is the person who physically touches the work. Where a mover's job is to get boxes from A to B, a handler's job is to make sure the object arrives in the same condition it left, and to be able to prove it.
That takes two kinds of skill. The first is craft: wrapping, building and packing crates, rigging, hanging, driving a climate-controlled truck. The second is judgment about materials: how a canvas reacts to a cold loading dock, where a sculpture can bear weight and where it can't, which frame is holding the glass and which is holding on by habit.
At Atelier 4, handlers are trained in-house, and every job is staffed by at least two. Many of our technicians studied art themselves, which helps more than you'd think when you're deciding how to lift something nobody has lifted in forty years.
What does an art handling company do?
An art handling company puts trained handlers together with the equipment and facilities the work needs. The core services are:
Packing and crating. Soft-packing for short local moves; custom crating built to the object for long-distance, air, and museum shipments.
Transport. Local moves with fine art movers, scheduled long-distance shuttles, and exclusive-use trucks when a job calls for one. Vehicles are climate-controlled, air-ride, and alarmed.
Installation and deinstallation. Hanging, placement and mounting in homes, offices, galleries and museums.
Documentation. An Articheck report records the work's condition with photographs at handover, so any change can be traced to a point in the journey.
Storage. Climate-controlled warehousing between moves, exhibitions or homes.
International shipping. Export and import paperwork, customs clearance and freight. (See how to ship art internationally.)
Full-service firms do all of this under one roof, so the same company that packed a painting is accountable for it at the other end.
How are art handlers different from regular movers?
The difference is in what each is built to protect.
Packing. Household movers: Blankets, stock boxes; Fine art handlers: Glassine, foam, corner guards, custom crates.
Truck. Household movers: Dry van; Fine art handlers: Climate-controlled, air-ride suspension, alarmed.
Crew. Household movers: Whoever is on shift; Fine art handlers: Trained handlers, at least two per job.
Paperwork. Household movers: Inventory stickers; Fine art handlers: A photographic condition record at handover.
Specialists. Household movers: Rarely needed; Fine art handlers: Riggers or conservators brought in when a job needs them.
A sofa can survive a bad afternoon. A pastel can't.
What training do fine art handlers need?
There's no national licence for art handling, so training comes from the employer and from industry standards. Atelier 4 is a member of ICEFAT, the international association of fine art logistics companies, and trains its crews in-house on packing, crating, lifting, installation and documentation. Handlers are TSA background-checked, which also lets A4 tender air freight directly as a TSA-approved carrier.
[CONFIRM BEFORE PUBLISHING, Gary: how long a new handler trains before leading a job, and what's covered. One or two sentences.]
What tools do art handlers use?
The kit is less glamorous than the art. On a typical job you'll see moving blankets and furniture pads made for art, glassine and acid-free tissue, corner protectors, foam, padded A-frames for moving large paintings upright, gantry lifts and rigging for heavy sculpture, levels and laser lines for hanging, and a tablet for the condition record. The truck outside matters as much as anything inside it: climate control, air-ride suspension, GPS tracking and an alarm.
Who hires an art handling company?
Private collectors, for purchases, home moves, installations and estates
Galleries, for client deliveries, exhibitions and art fairs
Museums, for loans, traveling exhibitions and collection moves (see how museum art transport works)
Interior designers and art advisors, for installs in client homes
Companies, for office art programs and relocations
When do you need professional art handlers?
Call one when a work is valuable, irreplaceable, fragile, heavy, large, or going a long way. A good rule of thumb: if you'd be upset to see it scratched, or you'd need to file an insurance claim if it was, don't move it yourself. For a single small piece going a short distance, the guide to how to ship a painting covers what you can do on your own.
For the full picture of how the trucks, crates, shuttles and storage fit together, read how fine art transport works.
Atelier 4 has handled fine art since 1989, with in-house crews in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Charlotte. See our art handling services →
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between an art handler and a mover?
An art handler is trained to pack, move, install and document artwork using museum methods: custom crates, climate-controlled trucks and a photographic condition record at handover. A mover handles household goods. For anything valuable, fragile or irreplaceable, use art handlers.
How many art handlers does a job need?
At least two. Atelier 4 staffs every job with a minimum of two trained handlers, and adds more for large works, installations and rigging.
Do art handlers install artwork?
Yes. Installation and deinstallation are core art handling services, from hanging a single painting at home to installing a gallery or museum exhibition.
Are art handlers background-checked?
At professional firms, yes. Atelier 4's handlers are TSA-background-checked.
Do art handling companies store art?
Full-service companies do. Atelier 4 has climate-controlled fine art storage in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Charlotte.