Comments on: PICTURE FRAMES: figuring the edge of art.

By: mattheworeilly

mattheworeilly — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:15:16 +0000

Thanks for the conundrum, LWPF. A hard one. I assume the pictures in your frames are irrelevant. Assuming that, then you can regard all the frames as your content, (and remove or cover the existing content,) therefore you need to arrange them as though you were organising a composition, according to your preferred aesthetic. Perhaps you could think in turms of collage, or…? This is your choice. However as a framer it would help to think about what it is you are framing, and therefore what kind of frame would best express your intentions for the work. Best of luck. Matthew

By: large white picture frame

large white picture frame — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:34:00 +0000

I have all these great picture frames and would like to use them to decorate the wall in my dinning room. But i don’t know how to combine them so they flow together in some way. I.e. should i put the same matte in all of them, should I make all the pictures black & white etc. What can I do so the different frames, with different pictures and different sizes aren’t all competing with each other?

By: jeasksmag

jeasksmag — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:26:15 +0000

What a post!! Very informative… Looking for more posts like this!! Keep you the goodwork!
Anyway thank you for this info.

By: Jo-Anne Knowles

Jo-Anne Knowles — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:40:26 +0000

It is true that we need to look and look, and yet I wonder how much the visitor takes in almost subconsciously on a first viewing of a picture. For example the two different frames on the painting Death of a Peasant, you have above. For me the carved frame feels like home and family clutter and love, whereas the plain wooden frame is very institutional, it feels almost communist. It is interesting as so many of the messages contained in a painting and its frame, are in a cultural context that may be foreign to the viewer. For example the Medici paintings in their Baroque frames would have all sorts of messages for a European visitor that would not be able to be decoded by an Asian visitor who did not have an understanding of European history

By: mattheworeilly

mattheworeilly — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:32:03 +0000

Hi Jo-Anne, thanks for your enthusiastic comments. You have brought up much that I intend to address in later posts. Here is a short reply.
What you say is true in that frames can be a very important tool, indeed a primary one in interpreting and expressing context. Therefore it is important to know as much about the provenance of the frame as possible.
Because the frame is wrapped physically around that which it contextualises, it is therefore very important that it delivers well (truthfully) on that, otherwise it only deceives. It is wise to remember too that frames are creatures that owe at least as much in history to the taste of art collectors, art dealers, the market, periods, styles, fashion etc., (as they do to artists) in each of the possible transformations that a painting may undergo in its sometimes considerable lifetime. It is quite rare for original framings to come through the centuries at all, and very rare for original surfaces to have survived.
Cardinal Leopoldo de Medici, uncle of the grand duke, between 1650 and 1670 changed the frames of many of the masterpieces of the renaissance works in his family’s collections into supercharged baroque fantasies one or two hundred years after the paintings were produced. Did he do a bad thing? It depends on your point of view but as an admirer of that creative effort and spectacular results, I don’t think he did too badly at all. Now how many visitors to the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace would realise that such frames do not exactly interpret the true period of the paintings they contain. They do interpret the Medici taste in a particular period. So it is a tricky business unless we look and look.
I believe it is important to understand as exactly as possible what the frame is interpreting, and I think your sensitivity to the issue at The Elms is laudable.
Thanks again Jo-Anne.

By: Jo-Anne Knowles

Jo-Anne Knowles — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:59:28 +0000

Postscript to above

Perhaps arguement was the wrong word, it was a very civilised discussion of course.
Jo-Anne

By: Jo-Anne Knowles

Jo-Anne Knowles — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:42:29 +0000

Hi Mathew, I loved your blog as the importance of the picture frame is a subject which I have debated loudly. I believe the frame sits the picture in its historical and cultural context as the frame is made in the style of the day and so reflects the thinking of the time and of the artist. At The Elms here in Tauranga we had a bit of a debate about whether it was worth investing money conserving a gilt frame for a portrait in the collection. My arguement was that we were preserving the correct hostorical references for the picture by conserving the original frame. I am happy to say I won the arguement and the beautiful gilt frame was conserved. I look forward to reading more of your blog.
Regards Jo-Anne