Auction Eve May 4th 2016

Auction Eve in Paris has their next antique frame auction on Wednesday 4th May 2016. A very good selection of some 500 lots of antique frames. I like that their catalogues always have a humorous and interesting cover photo!

A PDF catalogue can be downloaded from their website: 

Auction Eve Beaux et Importants Cadre.

Repertorio Della Cornice Europea.

The outstanding collection of Roberto Lodi will be up for sale by auction at Pandolfini in Florence, on 21st April 2016. Mr Lodi is the co-author of the beautifully illustrated and one of the most important frame reference books; 'Repertorio Della Cornice Europea'.

Antique frames from an important Italian collection.

An article about Mr Lodi and the upcoming auction is on the;
 
Frame Blog

Frames at Auction

A small Carved Florentine frame at Mallams, Abingdon, on 14th March.

Late 17th C Louis XIII/XIV flower corner frame at Tajan, Paris, on 22nd March.

Suzanne Smeaton - Frame Historian and Consultant

Frame historian, educator, and author, Suzanne Smeaton has an interesting and good looking website, which includes a blog on antique frames and framing.

www.suzannesmeaton.com

Online Images of Paintings in Frames

I've mentioned before that the Yale Center for British Art has a fantastic online archive of frames in their collection (see link on right side menu), they now allow the download and open use of very high resolution images of art in their collection, a good number of which also include images of the frame. I think this is a great step forward in showing paintings online (and in catalogues and books) how they look with their frames, instead of just cropping to the image. This is unlike the newly launched Art UK website, which admittedly does an excellent job of making all art held in public collections available online, but all the images are cropped to exclude frames.

A few examples below from the Yale Center for British Art.

A Lion Attacking a Horse - George Stubbs 1724-1806

Study of a Greyhound - Sir Edwin Henry Landseer 1802-1873

Landscape with Church - Frederick W. Watts 1800-1862

A Wooded Lane - Richard Parkes Bonington 1802-1826

A Man Called Mr. Wood - Thomas Gainsborough RA 1727-1788

Hadleigh Castle - John Constable 1776-1837

The Irish Girl - Ford Maddox Brown 1821-1893

This Green Earth - Exhibition at Worcester Museum and Art Gallery

An exhibition at Worcester Museum and Art Gallery called 'This Green Earth' showcases work by artist Bridget Macdonald alongside a very small number of works by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Claude Lorrain, and Samuel Palmer. 

The exhibition runs to 25th June 2016. A few examples of frames below.

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/museums/directory_record/77/2016_this_green_earth/category/7/the_commandery_learning

The Royal Household - Frame Technician

The Royal Collection Trust, which is a department in the Royal Household have a two year position available for a Frame Technician. Full details on the Royal Household website:

Frame Technician - Painting Condition Survey Team

Met Museum Online Archive

A quick search on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website brings up a large number of frames, some on display and others not. Below is a tabernacle frame by Stanford White (which is not currently on display), and the wonderfully decorated 17th C French cassetta frame. Great to see Museums putting the frames in their collections online.

 http://metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/461445

http://metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/130

Framemaker T-Shirt Shop

You can now buy t-shirts and many other different items of clothing with this antique engraving of a carved Italian leaf frame. This is the only design at the moment, but more will be added in the near future. I had some frame designs printed on t-shirts some time ago for myself, other framers saw them and a few said they would buy them if they were available, so that is what I have done.

Framemaker - T-Shirt Shop

Framing at the Museum of New Zealand

Here is an interesting framing article I found recently, it is about the re-framing of a painting by Nicholas Chevalier, called 'Cook Straits' (circa 1880). The painting arrived at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in just a slip frame, so a more suitable period reproduction frame was made by Matthew O'Reilly. There is also an article about the conservation of the painting.

Constructing the Frame for 'Cook Straits' by Chevalier

National Gallery of Victoria - Frame Resource

I posted this link on my frame facebook page when I came across it a couple of weeks ago, it is such a good website that I thought I would also post it here. The National Gallery of Victoria has an excellent resource section on framemakers, antique frames, and associated paintings. Featuring a list of framemakers with works framed by them. Each work has a good selection of some or all of these images; with and without frame, the makers label, any canvas/panel labels, and a wonderful detailed cross section of the frame along with information about the frame style and construction.

National Gallery of Victoria - Frame Resource.

The resource was compiled with the help of references from the extensive archive at the National Portrait Gallery run by Jacob Simon. Hopefully all museum collections will one day pay as much attention to frames, with the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, and Yale Center for British Art currently leading the way.

Yale Center for British Art - Frame Collection

The Yale Center for British Art has done a wonderful job of making virtually its entire collection available online, and unlike most online images of paintings they include the frames. There is a dedicated frame search page, and it's a great resource for framers interested in historical styles and designs. Here is the full list:

Yale Center for British Art - Frame Collection

An example of how useful it is to have frame images reproduced online is this British 18th Century frame that I have, with a very fine example above it seen in the Yale archive. This frame is clearly the same, probably by the same maker, and the images of the complete example would make it much easier to restore this frame to an original condition. It is not a particularly common design so a reference image and some information is invaluable.

Frames in Focus: Sansovino Frames Exhibition

I visited the National Gallery last week to see the Frames in Focus: Sansovino Frames exhibition. It was nicely presented and in a good central location within the museum. Unfortunately photographs were not allowed inside the exhibition, however a beautifully illustrated catalogue is available in the National Gallery shop. I believe and hope that this will be the first in a series of exhibitions dedicated to frame styles, and will help to make the importance of frames known to more people. I enjoyed the exhibition, however I am very interested in frames so it does not take much to please me. I spent about 25 minutes looking at the frames and quite a few members of the public walked in while I was in there, most looked a little uninterested and confused as to where the paintings were and walked out within seconds. A number did take the time to look round, so that was encouraging. The exhibition runs to the 13th September 2015 so still plenty of time to see it if you are visiting London. 

Fitting Frames Art Blog

Here is an interesting new frame related blog called Fitting Frames:

Fitting Frames

There is also a facebook page

Art in Frames

As many people who are interested in frames know, paintings are rarely reproduced in books or on websites with their frames, it is something I have mentioned on here before. This tumblr 'Art in Frames' has some lovely images of paintings with frames, the way all art should be reproduced.

Art in Frames

National Gallery - Titian Frame Appeal

The National Gallery have an appeal to raise the funds needed to buy a fantastic Venetian 16th Century frame, for a painting by Titian called 'An Allegory of Prudence'. The image  above shows a mock-up of the painting, with the frame that has been sourced to present the painting at its best. The painting is currently framed in a later 17th Century French frame which is considered unsuitable for various reasons. Details can be found here:

National Gallery Frame Appeal.

Antique Frame Sale on Facebook

If you follow my framing blog and you also like antique frames, or are looking to buy an antique frame for a painting, mirror, or to hang on the wall as a piece of art in its own right. Then I recently started a Facebook page for my Antique Frame Sale service which will offer a large selection of antique, vintage, old, and reproduction frames for sale. I will also use the page to post antique frame related links. Please take a look and like, if you want to be kept up to date with the frames I have for sale, thank you.

Leeds Museums and Galleries

A detailed post on the Leeds Museums and Galleries blog about making an oval frame:

Madonna and Child - Oval Gilded Frame

National Museums Liverpool

The National Museums Liverpool website has some frame restoration and conservation information:

Carlo Maratta Frame Conservation

The Frame Department section of the website has a number of frame articles.

Google search

It's interesting what comes up when searching, I was looking for 'felt frame rebate tape', which is used to line the rebate (rabbet) of a frame to cushion and protect the painting, and I found the excellent Knole Conservation Team Blog, which has some frame related posts. It has some fascinating snippets and insights into the handling and treatment of frames at a National Trust house.

The first link is the page I landed on from my search, the text is hard to read in places due to the background images, but still interesting frame related posts:

Objects-Loans-Exhibitions

Second link is the home page:

Knole Conservation Team Blog