Huntsville Museum of Art
Huntsville, AL
256-535-4350 or 800-786-9095
The Frame in America: 1860-1960
"The Frame in America: 1860-1960,"
which will feature more than 100 American frames, will open September 10
and run through October 22, 2000, at the Huntsville Museum of Art. The exhibition,
which was organized by The International Institute for Frame Study in Washington,
D.C., chronicles one of the most prolific and creative periods of American
frame design. The exhibition will also focus on the tools, materials, and
methods used in gilding and frame manufacture. (left: (Frame on outside)
Tabernacle Style Frame, circa 1900, Designed by Stanford White ,Manufactured
by the Newcomb-Macklin Company, Chicago, Ill, pine, composition, and 23k
gold leaf, Jean Reasoner Plunket Collection; (Frame inside) Tabernacle
Tripartite Frame, circa 1880, Ex-Paul Levi Collection, pine, composition,
and 23k gold leaf, Adair Collection)
"By
removing the frame from its original context, this exhibition allows the
viewer to appreciate the incredible diversity of design and technique of
the American frame," Peter Baldaia, Museum chief curator, said. "While
many examples owe much to their European precedents, others represent a
departure in aesthetic conception and function, offering a distinctly American
style which speaks to its unique cultural experience." (left:
(Outside) Folk Art Frame in the Eastlake Style, circa 1880, pine,
bronze paint, and oil paint, William Hodges Collection; (Middle) Cut
Leather Frame, circa 1870, leather and pine black asphaltum varnish,
Adair Collection; (Inside) Fencing Motif Character Frame, circa 1901,
Designed for the Alfred S. Campbell Art Co., Elizabeth, N.J., basswood,
composition, aluminum powder paint, and oil paint, Adair Collection)
Included in the exhibition are working drawings, photographs,
cross-sections of frames, and many other associated items. James Abbott
McNeill Whistler's reeded frames, Renaissance-inspired frames designed by
Stanford White, and painted frames created by American modernists John Marin
and Lee Gatch are some of the artists' frames featured.
The contributions of leading late-19th-century establishments,
such as the Newcomb-Macklin Company of Chicago and the Carrig-Rohane Shop
in Boston, are also highlighted.
The Frame in America: 1860-1960
is a program of ExhibitsUSA. ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America
Arts Alliance, is generously supported by the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, the H&R Block Foundation, Cooper Foundation, Richard Florsheim
Art Fund, Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Sprint, the National Endowment for
the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the state art agencies
of Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Major local support has been provided by the Women's Guild of the Huntsville
Museum of Art.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum will present
an Opening Lecture and Reception, A Historical Overview of the Frame
in America, with Edna Kendall on Sunday, September 10, at 2 p.m. in
the Great Hall. Kendall, who has over 25 years of experience in the framing
industry, will give a slide presentation focusing on major developments
in 19th and 20th century American frame design. She is currently a member
of The Professional Picture Framers of America.
Read more about the Huntsville
Museum of Art in Resource
Library Magazine
Please click on thumbnail images bordered by a red line
to see enlargements.
For further biographical information on selected artists
cited above please see America's Distinguished
Artists, a national registry of historic artists.
This page was originally published in Resource
Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for
more information. rev. 3/23/11
Search Resource
Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art.
Copyright 2011 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights
reserved.
"The Frame in America: 1860-1960,"
which will feature more than 100 American frames, will open September 10
and run through October 22, 2000, at the Huntsville Museum of Art. The exhibition,
which was organized by The International Institute for Frame Study in Washington,
D.C., chronicles one of the most prolific and creative periods of American
frame design. The exhibition will also focus on the tools, materials, and
methods used in gilding and frame manufacture. (left: (Frame on outside)
Tabernacle Style Frame, circa 1900, Designed by Stanford White ,Manufactured
by the Newcomb-Macklin Company, Chicago, Ill, pine, composition, and 23k
gold leaf, Jean Reasoner Plunket Collection; (Frame inside) Tabernacle
Tripartite Frame, circa 1880, Ex-Paul Levi Collection, pine, composition,
and 23k gold leaf, Adair Collection)