Framed

Part of my job at The Suter is giving tours of the collection store. I take groups of people, usually no more than 12, into the store to tell them the stories of the collection. In here the first thing they see is our movable racking system, upon which hangs a carefully planned jigsaw of artworks. On these tours I not only highlight specific tales from the collection, but I talk about our roles as kaitiaki of these taonga and the ongoing care artworks need. This invariable leads to talk of re-framing artworks, and on any tour in which this comes up I am met with at least one person who is horrified at the idea that we would re-frame an artwork. How could we! What about the artist’s intentions!?

This is a legitimate question and an understandable concern. So how do we decide when and if artwork should and can be re-framed?

Charles GOLDIE (New Zealander, b.1870, d.1947), Hamiora, 1901, oil on canvas, 816 x 918mm. Presented by the Suter Art Society in 1904.

For some artists the frames were integral to the conception and execution of the artwork. C.F. Goldie was very clear about the ways in which his paintings should be framed. Broad and dark kauri surrounds are synonymous with his work. Given that almost every Goldie painting over his 50 year career has a version of this frame, the size and colour showing only slight variations, it is clear that he had clear intentions and control over the framing of his work. They lend his work a sense of scale, and their angled mitres focus the eye into the painting as a kind of shutter through which we view the subjects. This Goldie painting has also been in the care of The Suter for 116 of its 119 years, making it clear that the frame is original. With this historical knowledge, clear artistic intent and the link between the content of the painting and the presentation of it, makes the preservation of the original frame a priority.  

Irvine MAJOR (New Zealander, b.1922, d.2000), Summer in Nelson, 1960 , oil on canvas, 896 x 1050mm. Purchased in 2001.

In contrast, audience favourite Summer in Nelson by long-time Suter supporter Irvine Major, is a work I am very keen to see reframed. Painted in ­­­1960 it is the quintessential example of fashion framing. With its dull bronze tone and matte fabric insert, it is likely familiar to many as a classic example of mid-century framing. While I cannot confirm that the frame is original as it has only been in The Suter’s collection since 2001, but given that it is stylistically in keeping with other frames of the time, it can be assumed that it has always surrounded the painting. If this is the case, and the artist chose it, why would we think of reframing it? Not all artists are artistically invested in the framing of their art, and their decisions are based around the fashion and aesthetics of their time. Whatever the circumstances in which it was framed Summer in Nelson’s one does it no favours. Below you can see it without the frame – I would argue that seeing it this way reveals the ways in which the colour and form of the frame detract from Major’s skill as a colourist.

Irvine MAJOR (New Zealander, b.1922, d.2000), Summer in Nelson, 1960 , oil on canvas, 896 x 1050mm. Purchased in 2001.

It is impossible to think about frames without considering gilding. A guaranteed crowd pleaser, these frames shine with the metal that is adhered to the wooden support. It is a technique that has been used for centuries, but fell out of favour in the mid-20th century with the rise of modernism. In a work like Petrus van der Velden’s Otira Gorge, a dark and brooding landscape, the gilding serves an important purpose as a source of light, like a halo surrounding the work. Part of the Hague School in his native Holland, van der Velden famously met and was admired by Vincent van Gogh.[1] When he arrived in New Zealand in 1890 van der Velden brought with him a decidedly European aesthetic. The framing of Otira Gorge is characteristic of this type of romantic landscape and it is hard to imagine it without it! 

Petrus VAN DER VELDEN (Dutch, b.1837, d.1913), Otira Gorge, 1893, oil on canvas on board, 1300 x 1542mm. Presented by Mrs Menlove in 1943.

Our approach to framing now is to protect the original frame when it has clear aesthetic and artistic purpose, and when reframing is required to keep it as simple as possible. We don’t want the frame to detract from the artwork, only to enhance it. No doubt a curator 50 years from now will be shaking their head at the decisions we have made, but as long as everything we do can be reversed by future generations I can sleep without guilt.

Sarah McClintock
Suter Curator

Read more about the history of art framing here:
https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2009/11/11/picture-frames-figuring-the-edge-of-art/
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fram/hd_fram.htm

You can read about the artists here:
Petrus van der Velden
Charles Frederick Goldie

Once the lockdown is over I recommend the books:
Roger Blackley, Goldie, Auckland Art Gallery, 1997
Peter Vangioni, Van Der Velden: Otira, Christchurch Art Gallery, 2011

[1] https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2013/04/15/thinking-on-petrus-van-der-velden-and-the-rijksmuseum/ accessed 6 April 2020