Loan Agreement

What’s in the document

• Twelve numbered conditions of loan, printed in full
• Schedule of loaned works with agreed values for insurance
• Stated display conditions: 20°C ± 2°C, 50% ± 5% RH, 200 lux, 50 lux for light-sensitive media, UV below 75 µW/lumen
• Wall-to-wall insurance placed on the borrower, with evidence required before collection
• Condition reports required on despatch and on return, signed by both parties
• Blanks for exhibition title, venue, dates, loan period and credit line
• Signature blocks for lender and borrower, with an express acknowledgement of clauses 7 and 12

Why the loan agreement is the lender’s only leverage

Once a work is in a borrower’s building, the lender’s position is entirely contractual. Whether the work is displayed under lights that will fade it, moved to a second venue, photographed for merchandising, re-framed by a preparator with good intentions, or returned in a different condition — every one of those outcomes is governed by what the agreement said before the crate left, and by nothing else.

Institutions expect this. A museum registrar will normally have their own loan form and will not be surprised or offended to receive yours; the negotiation between the two is routine professional practice. The lender who has no form is the one who ends up accepting terms drafted entirely by the party holding the object.

The environmental clause, stated in numbers

Clause 7 is the reason to have this document rather than an email, because it converts "museum conditions" into figures a facilities report can be measured against. The values print as fixed contract text that the borrower signs to, not as per-work fields you edit.

Temperature: 20°C ± 2°C

A stable set point with a stated tolerance. Stability matters more than the number itself — repeated cycling drives expansion and contraction in panels, canvases and their grounds.

Relative humidity: 50% ± 5%

The band most institutions can actually hold. RH swings are the mechanism behind cupping, cracking, cockling and adhesive failure, and the ± 5% is what a borrower’s environmental logs will be judged against if a problem arises.

Illumination: 200 lux for paintings

The conventional ceiling for oil and acrylic on canvas or panel. Light damage is cumulative and irreversible: it is a function of intensity multiplied by exposure time, which is why a ceiling in the contract is worth more than a promise about lamps.

Illumination: 50 lux for works on paper, photographs and other light-sensitive media

A quarter of the painting limit, because the substrates and colourants are far more vulnerable. If you are lending a photograph, a watercolour, a drawing or a dye-based print, this is the line that protects it.

Ultraviolet: below 75 µW/lumen

UV accelerates fading and embrittlement without contributing to what a visitor sees. The limit is met with filters on windows and fixtures, and it is a straightforward thing for a borrower to confirm.

The other eleven conditions

Clause 4 puts wall-to-wall insurance on the borrower for the agreed value in the schedule, from packing at the lender’s premises until return delivery and unpacking, with evidence produced before collection. Clause 5 requires a specialist fine-art shipper approved in advance by the lender, at the borrower’s expense, and requires the original packing to be retained for the return journey. Clause 6 requires a condition report signed by both parties on despatch and again on return, with any change reported immediately, in writing, with photographs, and before any remedial action.

Clause 3 confines the work to the named exhibition and venue and forbids onward loan. Clause 8 restricts handling to trained personnel and prohibits cleaning, restoration, re-framing, re-mounting and the removal of any label or marking. Clause 9 keeps copyright with the artist and licenses reproduction only for the catalogue, exhibition publicity, related press and the borrower’s archive — no other reproduction and no merchandising. Clause 10 prints the credit line as a blank, so the wording is yours rather than the borrower’s. Clause 11 returns the work at the borrower’s expense with risk passing back only on delivery and acceptance, and clause 12 makes the borrower liable for loss or damage in its care whether or not negligent, excepting inherent vice and the lender’s own acts.

What it does not do

It is written from general museum practice as an outgoing loan from a lender’s point of view; it is not legal advice and it is not adapted to your jurisdiction. It does not address immunity from seizure for international loans, indemnity schemes that some governments operate in place of commercial insurance, or export licensing — all three are real considerations for a loan crossing a border, and all three need specialist input. It does not verify that a borrower can meet clause 7; ask for a facilities report. It does not collect signatures electronically or track the loan period, and it does not produce the condition reports clause 6 requires — generate those separately, at despatch and at return.

Questions, answered

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