ABSTRACT
In an article discussing the importance of frames to works of art, Emma Crichton-Miller (2015) characterizes them as the “Cinderellas of the art world” due to their multi-faceted functions: stressing structure, patterns, and colors; suggesting a painting’s value; and perhaps most fundamentally, protecting the piece. Yet despite this work, “anomalously, to all but certain connoisseurs and collectors, museum curators and auctioneers and the artists and dealers who depend upon [frames], they are practically invisible” (Crichton-Miller 2015). Thus, except perhaps to those with expertise, a frame’s function remains crucial – shaping the viewer’s relationship to the art work – yet largely imperceptible.
