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Fine Art Trade Guild Standards

The Fine Art Trade Guild standards are developed for the guidance of the professional trade and to enable consumers to make informed choices. Guild management oversees the pooling of best practice and knowledge from throughout the industry in striving for a consensus on specifications. The standards seldom represent a unanimous position. The standards are developed through proven facts, evidence based, using accepted UK accredited test procedures and their equivalent but giving weight also to established practice and experience of products that have proven to stand the test of time.

The Fine Art Trade Guild works through its committee structure and through special interest groups to develop its standards and qualifications. The standing committees are: Framers Committee, Fine Art Committee, Retail and Marketing Committee, Contemporary Art Dealers Committee, Printers and Publishers Committee.

These standing committees meet in person approximately quarterly, as necessary, and communicate through e-mails to address relevant issues and develop recommendations to the Court of the Guild. Each committee has a member of staff nominated to work with it to achieve optimum effectiveness, the Committee Secretary. Meetings are usually held at the offices of the Fine Art Trade Guild and Guild Members can feed into this process or ask to join a committee at any time.

In addition to the standing committees, the Guild seeks input from relevant experts and bodies such as the British Museum, ICON, and other trade associations and standards bodies, both in the UK and elsewhere. Materials manufacturers from the Tapes & Adhesives sector and the Paper sector are widely consulted, though the proportion of their interest in the art and framing sector may be too small to warrant Guild Membership; Fine Art Trade Guild membership is encouraged in order to educate them on the specific needs and aspirations of the sector and encourage greater involvement.

It is Fine Art Trade Guild policy to review and update standards from time to time, through consensus, to accommodate new products, technology and knowledge.