How Your Artwork Ships
Every listing states, in its artwork details, whether the piece ships flat or rolled. Here is what each method means in practice, and what to do when the package arrives.
How the Method is Chosen
The choice is never arbitrary. It follows from the medium, the support, the size of the piece and, above all, what is safest for it in transit. Nefer makes the final decision together with our fine art logistics partner, who assesses each work before it travels.
As a general rule, larger works travel rolled and smaller canvases travel flat — a large stretched canvas in a crate is both more exposed to handling damage and considerably more expensive to fly than the same canvas in a tube. But size is only the starting point, and a piece that should not be flexed will be shipped flat whatever its dimensions.
Every artwork on Nefer is sold unframed. A frame adds significant weight and volume to an international shipment, and that cost would land directly on your total. Selling unframed keeps the price down and leaves the framing decision to you — there is guidance on how to approach it in A Guide to Art Mediums.
Flat Shipping
A flat-shipped artwork is softpacked, then packed into a rigid crate or box and cushioned so that it cannot move during the journey. Nothing about the work changes: it leaves the artist's hands in one state and reaches you in the same one.
We ship flat for smaller stretched canvases, for works on board, and for any piece — of any size — where flexing would carry risk. That includes paintings with heavy impasto, where the paint stands proud of the surface, and older works whose paint film has hardened over time.
Rolled Shipping
Rolling is standard practice in fine art transport for larger works, and has been for a long time. The piece is interleaved with protective paper and rolled around a wide-diameter core with the painted surface facing outwards, so the paint film is never compressed. The tube is rigid, sealed, and shipped with the same tracking and insurance as any other order.
Where a stretched canvas is to be rolled, the stretcher is removed in the artist's own presence before packing.
If your work is on paper
Unroll it gently on a clean, flat surface and let it rest rather than leaving it in the tube. Any residual curl relaxes under a mount, and your framer will flatten the sheet properly during mounting.
If your work is on canvas
A rolled canvas arrives unstretched, and needs to be stretched onto a stretcher before it can be hung. This is routine work for any competent framer and it is arranged and paid for by you, so it is worth budgeting for alongside the framing itself.
Take the tube to your framer unopened if you would rather not handle the canvas yourself. If you do unroll it, do so on a clean flat surface, handle it by the unpainted margins, and lay it flat rather than rolling it back up.
If anything about the package or the artwork concerns you when it arrives, photograph it and contact us before going any further — the window for raising a concern is set out in Ordering, Delivery & Returns.
Not Sure What to Expect?
The artwork details on every listing tell you which method applies, so you know before you buy. If you have a question about a particular piece, or want advice on framing and stretching once it arrives, we are glad to help.