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which are often painted black and
red rather than gilded, and feature
figurative rather than decorative
accents. “They’re not so pompous,
not so regal, so they appeal to a
Brooklyn boy like me,” he explained.
When Larry first started working
at Lowy, learning the ropes from his
father Hilly, many of the company’s
clients came from elite, old-money
families like the Whitneys and the
Rockefellers, whose collections
dominate the walls of New York
museums to this day. They were
confident, idiosyncratic art collectors who chose frames from the gut,
often with an eye to fitting in well
with the rest of their decor.
But many of Lowy’s clients now
think of paintings as investments
more than beautiful objects. So
they tend to choose frames that
they think will make an artwork
marketable. A frame’s historical accuracy is a selling point that translates easily from buyer to buyer, unlike its subjective aesthetic appeal.
“In today’s world, it’s more a
thinking man’s game,” Shar said.
“50 years ago, we’d put French
frames on American 19th-century paintings. They were expensive paintings, so we’d put a
fancy frame on it.”
But just because a frame fits a
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HUFFINGTON
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painting’s historical period doesn’t
mean it’s the right one. For that
reason, Shar sees historical accuracy as just one of many factors that
should be considered when choosing a frame. The underlying principle, he says, is to strike a balance
between “contrast and harmony.”
Shar notes that some bids for
In today’s world, it’s
more a thinking man’s game.
50 years ago, we’d put French
frames on American 19thcentury paintings. They were
expensive paintings, so we’d
put a fancy frame on it.”
historical accuracy result in awful pairings. French impressionists, for example, would often fit
gilded 18th century French frames
from a century previous to their
paintings—so it makes no sense to
insist on a 19th century frame for
a Monet today. Meanwhile, many
mid-20th century American painters used low-quality frames for
their artwork merely because they
couldn’t afford better ones.
“If you want to put that kind of
trash in your living room, around
your multi-million-dollar painting,
by all means, do it. But it seems like
a pretty narrow-minded
approach,” he said.