Does silk painting deteriorate over time?

Tags: Art, China, Japan, Painting, Silk
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I have recently become interested in old Chinese and Japanese silk paintings, and I quickly accepted the yellowish/reddish tint they all have. However, none of the 20th century silk paintings I have seen have any yellow tint, the silk seems to be very white. Why is this so? Does silk simply deteriorate over time and acquire a yellow tint, or have they developed some new technology in the 20th century to have white silk available for painters?

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@Axi2,

In the antiques fabric trade, the "patina" of white silks is well studied. Maybe you can find something re: fabric conservation at the WInterthur Museum Labs sites. SIlk will naturally yellow as a result of chemical reactions that occur in the protein structure. ALso, exposure to light can speed the whole process up. I do not believe that its reversble.

Ikat and silk painting with modern photo stable dyes will keep the colors vibrant longer but as for the white "ground", I dont think you can do anything to reverse it by much.

I used to do "picking" for antique silk ties and Id be careful about the color fastness/

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@Axi2,

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The silk fabric is soaked in hot water and bleached before dyeing in order to remove the natural yellow coloring of Thai silk yarn. To do this, skeins of silk thread are immersed in large tubs of hydrogen peroxide. Once washed and dried, the silk is then woven using a traditional hand operated loom.

I guess hydrogen peroxide has another use other than bleaching bottle blondes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk

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Does silk painting deteriorate over time?

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