Transporting art – with the care of a gallery
Paintings, glass frames, or sculptures: art needs padding, secure footing, and a calm vehicle – no shared routes and no reloading.
- Instant price before booking
- Insured transports
- Carrying help bookable
How to transport art correctly
Pack like a gallery
Corner and edge protectors on the frame, tape an X across glass surfaces, cover the picture surface with acid-free paper, then bubble wrap – bubbles out, never on the paint layer.
Standing, never stacked
Paintings travel standing and slightly tilted, picture side towards the padded wall. Never lay them flat or stack them – not even for a short hop.
Avoid climate and jolts
Avoid direct sun, frost, and long idle times in the vehicle; use blankets as buffers. On a direct drive, the artwork stays in the same vehicle without reloading.
Which vehicle do you need?
Single paintings travel padded in the compact van; collections, large formats, and sculptures book an exclusive special transport – the vehicle then drives for your art alone. All dimensions and payloads in the van guide →
Fine-art shipper or direct drive: what your work needs
Not every art transport needs a fine-art shipper – but some need nothing else. Fine-art forwarders work with climate-controlled vehicles, purpose-built crates, courier escorts and condition reports to museum standard. That is the right route for loans to museums and exhibitions whose loan agreements stipulate such conditions, for international transports with customs formalities and for works whose insurer requires specific transport conditions.
For the everyday art market in NRW, a direct drive is often enough: the painting won at the auction house, a purchase from a Düsseldorf gallery, works from the studio going to the framer, or a collection moving from Cologne to Bonn. What matters then is that the work stays in the same vehicle without reloading or other cargo, stands upright and is well padded.
Maxmove drives art as a direct transport with blankets, straps and carrying help if you like; climate control and courier escorts are not part of the standard service. For large-format works, sculptures or entire collections, request a special transport and describe dimensions, weight, packaging and value.
Transporting paintings: canvas, glass, fresh oil paint
The painted surface is the most sensitive part of a painting and must never come into direct contact with film or tape. Cover the paint layer with acid-free tissue or glassine paper and fix it only to the back or the frame – tape goes on the paper, never on the picture. Bubble wrap goes on top of that, and the corners get cardboard corner protectors.
On frames with glass, a taped X on the pane holds splinters together if it breaks; the tape sticks only to the glass. Fresh oil paintings are a special case: oil paint is touch-dry after a few days but often only fully dry after months. So do not wrap a freshly painted picture in film; transport it with spacers in a picture box or crate so nothing touches the surface.
Paintings travel upright and slightly tilted, picture side towards the padded wall, with several pictures separated by cardboard or rigid foam boards. Inside the building, a picture trolley makes the way from the wall to the vehicle easier: the weight rests on castors and your hands only guide – a real help with large formats in stairwells or gallery spaces.
Document the condition, state the value, check the insurance
Every art transport starts with documentation. Photograph the work from the front, the back and along every edge, record existing cracks, craquelure, scratches on the frame or loose areas, and note dimensions and weight. This condition report is the basis if any question comes up after the drive. You will find a template to fill in with our damage report.
State the value when you book. If you move valuable works regularly, check your own art insurance: many policies are set up as nail-to-nail cover, protecting the work from being taken down through packing and transport to being hung again. Whether a transport with a particular provider is included is set out in the terms – for high values, clarify the cover before the appointment.
At the destination, Maxmove documents the handover digitally with a timestamp, photos and the recipient's signature. Compare the condition when unpacking with your own photos and note anything unusual straight away, not days later.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the transport cost?
Gallery purchase, auction pickup, or moving the collection: driven exclusively, insured, at a fixed price.
Calculate the price in seconds