History of framing
A Short History of Picture Framing by one of the owners of Country Picture Framing and Art Gallery

Gill Turner from Country Picture Framing recently gave a lecture about the History of Picture Framing at Truro Art Society's AGM the contents of which is as follows:

Part I

A picture frame is normally needed to act as a boundary and therefore plays an important role in the composition. Without limits, the whole idea of composition may become meaningless and the shapes in the picture merge into a surrounding surface such as a patterned wallpaper. On a more practical level, a frame protects the artwork from damage, guarding against accidents when handling and against general wear and tear.

In the ancient classical world, frames were made mainly for mirrors. The Romans and Greeks painted frescos directly onto walls and Chinese and Japanese artists developed their own very unique approach and painted their works on screens which divided rooms and on wall scrolls without frames.

In medieval times, artists began painting onto the slightly hollowed surface of wooden panels and decorated edges which gradually developed into a formal picture frame. To begin with frames were frequently part of the solid piece, rather than existing in their own right, and the first separate frames were imitations of their original architectural surroundings which were usually cathedrals and large churches. As these became more elaborate so did the frames as can still be seen in lavish architecture such as in the Strozzi Chapel in Florence. A popular frame was the Tabernacle frame in which make believe 'pillars' pr columns flanked the painting.

The real breakthrough for the picture frame came in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when painters began to see themselves as individualists and artists in their own right and they then began to need frames to set their paintings apart from their surrounding. Some of the best frames ever made date from this period such as the intricately carved, wide gilded 'Tondo' frame surrounding the Holy Family by Michelangelo. Around this time frame makers often tried to outdo each other an elaborate frames often outshone the painting!

Late Sixteenth Century frame makers were more restrained and more sympathetic with the paintings. With the industrial revolution and improved transport systems, wealthier people began to want to have paintings for their own homes whereas before they had mainly been for institutions such as the church and for public display. It became a product which increasingly needed to be transported and therefore became a practical necessity. Painters became more in demand and began to pass their work to separate specialists and so frame making became a skilled craft in its own right. It was often the property of the cabinet maker and changed in style as furniture styles changed.

With the growth of Modernism in the early twentieth century, frames were widely denounced as over-elaborate and unnecessary and simpler frames were chosen. Some artists such as the American abstract expressionist,
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) disregarded them altogether, feeling it inappropriate for his large energetic work. In recent years however, there has been a definite revival of interest in the frame including a rise in the popularity of more elaborate frames. Critics report that some artists have turned to the frame for its ability to enhance and even interact with the painted surface.
 

Part 2