Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a frame?”. Well, almost, but everyone knows that pictures go in picture frames. Throughout history people have wanted to complement, enhance and embellish the work of artists by providing the surround of a frame. In some instances, the art of the framer even appeared to challenge that of the painter.
On the walls of caves long since abandoned, there are the smears and scratching of our ancient artistic ancestors. Here the first artists tried to leave evidence of the harshness of their existence. Their paints were simple and their skills limited, but they made the best of what they had and, as difficult as it was, they tried to capture their experiences on the rock. Yet, try as they might, they may have been constantly disappointed and they could have looked for the reason their work lacked significance; the reason that it appeared so small.
But his companion, having suffered through the long guttural murmurs of his disapproval for a season too long, may have wrenched from his hand whatever he used to draw and scratched a rugged perimeter around the scene. And so, the picture frame came into being.
In time the borders began to appear on vases, pottery and even on the paintings in tombs. They began to become decorative as mosaics and panels developed into works of art in their own right. Narrative scenes were displayed around images that recorded epic moments and eventually frames grew from borders and began to play an important part in displaying artworks.
By the end of the first millennium A. D., the practical purpose of the frame was at odds with its opportunity to exude and exhibit its sparkle and splendour. As the sixteenth century came to a close, a new age had seen the creation of picture frames that displayed the opulence and excesses of the times. Leaves intertwined with spiralling shells ran the length of the frame and gold-leaf glowed about the works of Rembrandt and Wren.
When at last photography brought the beauty of pictures into the life and home of the common man, the need for frames to reduce in grandeur was evident. A simple piece that embellished the picture, but refrained from overwhelming it, now had a place.
Specialty frames can be designed for the occasions such as the birth of a baby or the celebration of a wedding anniversary. More formal frames to subtly empower a university degree or encourage a certificate of appreciation can be designed in colours that harmonize with the decor of a room.
Picasso may not have felt the world made sense, but the right picture frame can bring the perfect sense to any image.
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